Why do I paint?

I began to analyze this again. Why do I like it? Why do I do it?
These are some things I began to discover about myself:

STRESS REDUCTION - Painting gives me incredible release from stress. Stress is like accumulated dirt. I just need to wash most of it off of me. It clings to our souls like grass stains on a child's play pants. Most of it just needs to come off. Stress is not all destructive, but its dosage needs to be monitored.

Creativity - I cannot get enough. I love to create. It connects me with purpose. I continually ponder the bigger question of life - why am I here? To be a procreator is to find meaning and purpose. I have been told over and over, "do not worry about the things you cannot change". I have been troubled by that advise. Through the painting experience, I can change things and make them appear the way I see them and the way they need to exist.

Preservation & Production- As I age, I am reminded of my mortality. It is uncomfortable, but not totatlly unsettling. Painting allows me to explore that mortality and gives me a chance to touch the immortal at the same time. People say to me, "you have such a gift". A gift? Yes this is a good way to see the ability to create, grow, manufacture, repair, produce..... it is the ability to perpetuate and express, given to us by someone else. I do not see the creation process as an end in itself, it is my connection to my Creator. He bestows upon us these gifts. He is a creator. I become a procreator in the process of acceptance of the gift. It seems to me that the ability to create allows us to go on. Life and death is based on this process. A seed must DIE and fall to the ground to give LIFE to the next plant. Painting allows me the opportunity to participate in this process.

VISUAL AND SPIRITUAL STIMULATION - ironically, most of my spiritual experiences have been largely invisible. Painting allows me to bring these experiences into a tangible realm. It has been said, FAITH is a substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
For by it others have obtained a good report. Painting is my vehicle of Faith.

..... to be continued......