Your Life Is a Canvas, The Colors Are You

“The Chance to start over is all that it takes.
You want to believe it. You know that it‘s true
Your life is a canvas, the colors are you.”
Magne Furuholmen, White Canvas*

Authenticity is about allowing our true colors to shine on the canvas that is our life. For some of us it’s about getting our lives back-- taking back our power. Many of us spend a lifetime giving our personal power away to family, peers, society and religion.

Giving our personal power away is like giving our paintbrush to another person and allowing them to paint our self-portrait. Many of us have done this. We’ve abandoned ourselves and given someone else the right to decide who we should be. We’ve become the nurse Mom always hoped to be herself, or the soccer player who “makes” Dad happy. We’ve dressed a certain way to please Sister Mary-Mary. Or we’ve stuffed our feelings because society says we aren’t allowed to show weakness. And many of us have gone to church out of “obligation,” not because we love God or neighbor.

Magne Furuholmen is a member of the Norwegian pop band A-ha. As he says in his song lyric, our life is like a canvas and the colors are intended to reflect who we are. We begin painting “our” portrait from the moment we inhale our first breath. The colors on our canvas represent our God-given uniqueness. We are the primary painter of our own self-portrait, and the colors on our life’s canvas need to honestly image who we are-- not Mom or Dad or anyone else.

Look closely at your life’s canvas. Does it reflect your true colors-- your authentic beauty? Are your eyes clear and bright, expressing great self-understanding and self-love? Do they invite others to see through to your soul? Or are your eyes dark, fearful and inaccessible like shuttered windows?

What about those clothes you’re wearing? Do they reflect your true taste and the originality of your spirit, or do they remind you more of Aunt Loretta or your best friend Toby? How about the colors? Are you painted in dazzling colors? Muted colors? Or shades of gray? Do they represent your inherent values and dreams, or do they speak to you of someone else's standards or preferences?

Now, look at your body language. Is it relaxed and flowing? Do you see a joyful, confident person who feels good in their skin? Or is your body language insecure, rigid and defensive? If you were someone else, would you feel comfortable approaching the person you have painted yourself to be? By looking at your canvas, can someone know the real you? Or are you hiding behind others?

Aside from God, know one can know the real “you” before you do. If we’re not seeing the real us on our canvases, it’s time to start over. God will give us the chance. All we have to do is ask, and God will help us wipe-away the false colors that cloud the beauty of our authenticity.

Allow your soul to shine!                                                  
                                                                                     *From the CD “Lifelines” by A-ha