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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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16-STROKE MASTERPIECE
A four-year-old came to my office with her mom and disappeared into a room where there are art supplies. Ten minutes later, she returned with a sheet of paper. On it were three swatches of color. The longest was a narrow, vertical set of purple lines. At one end of that were horizontal green lines, shorter than the purple ones. At the other end were some horizontal white lines. I said the drawing was beautiful, and asked her to tell me about it. She replied, "It's for you." Rather than ask outright what it was, I thanked her and taped her drawing on the side of my file cabinet. A huge smile filled her face, and her chest expanded. Then she turned on her heels and left with her mom. I took the drawing to a cafe that displays children's art. The owner said it looked like the letter "I" to her. That interpretation was obvious, but I suspected that the drawing was more than that. So I took it along when I visited an investment advisor. All he saw was three sets of scribbles, but his secretary held the paper with the green on top and said, "It's a tree!" Still curious, I took the drawing to an adult art studio. The instructor thought it was interesting. One student deemed it precious. Two others were certain it was the letter "I". No one else expressed an opinion. Finally, I took the drawing to a toy store. When I mentioned the suggestion that it was a tree, the clerk turned the paper around and pronounced that it was not only a tree, but that there was snow on the ground. I'll never know for certain what the drawing depicts, but I'll recognize her self-esteem each time my little friend sees her drawing still taped to my file cabinet.
© 2004 David Bentley David Bentley, M.Ed. & Personal Coach, coaches clients through the game of life, helping them find balance, clarity of direction, and purpose in an ever-changing world. You may contact him at 360.378.8436 by e-mail at david@coachbentley.com or visit his Web site: www.coachbentley.com |
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