Often in the middle of the night, I’ll awaken, get up, and realize I’m in a strange place. Yet another hotel room in this road warrior life. Before mobile phones and smart watches, I’d sometimes roll over, call the front desk, and ask where I was. Hotel rooms blend together over time, and sometimes you simply forget where you were when you checked in the night before, especially on a tour of 10 cities in 20 days. 

This morning I immediately know I’m not home, but it’s no hotel room. Instead it’s our annual Christmas journey as a family, living aboard a houseboat in a marina in Florida. It’s a tradition we’ve followed every Christmas for years. 

Splash Splash

The water is splashing against the sides of the boat, ever gently rocking it, lulling us to sleep. Though quarters are tight, it brings family closer and away from our home distractions of homework, housework, studio work, and office work. It’s a break we all look forward to, but the best part, of course, is time with family, a treat we don’t have as often as we would like. It’s also a treat for our good friends who use our home back in Austin as their Christmas HQ while they visit family.

Memories Over Pain

Though Christmas is a busy time, I still love the anticipation, the joy, the magic, and the great feelings it can provide. For some, it brings up difficult memories, or it can bring sadness over loved ones no longer with us. And though missing them is hard, sometimes the joy of those holiday memories outweighs the pain. This is my first year without my mom. She was all about Christmas, and even last year, she had her tree beautifully decorated; though it was a much bigger chore in her mid-90s, she always looked forward to it. 

Have you stopped to think about your precious Christmas memories?

Christmas Magic

I love the wonder of not being able to sleep the night before, of wanting something so badly that I was nervous whether Santa would show up. I still remember that gold-colored Schwinn bike sitting unwrapped under the tree — it was so exciting. Another year it was an artist’s easel, which I suppose was a prediction of what was to come. 

Christmas Mission

This year for Christmas I have a special mission. Instead of my red hat, I’m putting on my Christmas ears. Rather than making things all about me and talking too much, I want to listen more carefully. When mom left us, there were unanswered questions about long-lost family members. This year my goal is to learn as much about my family as possible, try to find things I never knew about them, and of course try to document old family stories and history.

Will you be listening?

With Christmas comes anxiety for some, having to deal with difficult people, old family issues, and other pressures. But perhaps next week you can put all that aside, heal and forgive, and break the patterns that have plagued your relationships.

Don’t Carry Your Past

The reality is that no one on this earth is perfect. As parents, we make mistakes with our kids, though we all try to do the best we can. As siblings, there may be old rivalries we are clinging to from our childhood. Maybe we are stuck on something someone did 50 years ago. Let it go, if not for your relationship’s sake, for your own sanity. Harboring the negative causes internal festering that is hurting you physically and mentally without your realizing it. Be forgiving.

Make It Fun

Rather than dreading relationship issues or worrying about dealing with your weird aunt or with family members who have made bad choices, try to put it aside and make it fun. Do things as a family … play games, start the interesting conversations you never have, go for walks together, be playful by making snow angels or doing something else fun. Go out of your way, and if others remain sourpusses, ignore it and keep trying to draw them in.

How Many More Christmases?

My friend Richard Saul Wurman always talked about how many summers we each have left … and encouraged us to make every minute count. The same is true for Christmas. How many do you have left? Maybe a lot, maybe no more. We simply don’t know. 

For most, the magic of Christmas is the result of memories created by parents, grandparents, and friends. That magic does not have to be lost — each of us can play a role in bringing it back and making it special. Just have fun.

Oh, and no matter how passionate you are, and how differently someone thinks about politics, you can’t change their mind and they can’t change yours. Don’t even try. Our country is being divided by strong opinions. Leave them alone. Let Christmas be about common ground.

My Christmas Rule

Here is the Christmas Rule: At the beginning of gatherings, simply say, “No politics spoken here.” And if someone starts, “ding” your glass, and it will be a signal for everyone not to go there. 

I hope you make this holiday time special. Set a goal for yourself for something you want out of it … maybe, like me, it’s listening or learning, maybe it’s just having fun and creating memories, but be deliberate. Make it the best yet, and don’t take it for granted. What if it’s your last?

Merry Christmas.

Eric Rhoads

PS: One of the great joys of my life has been sitting here each Sunday morning to write my thoughts to share. I started out intending to share thoughts with my kids, to prepare them for life, and a friend suggested I share it with others. I’m told we’re hitting about a quarter million people each week because many of you are forwarding it to friends. Thank you, I’m very grateful. If you like what you see most of the time, I appreciate your forwarding to others and suggesting they subscribe for free. We would hit a million readers this week if each reader found four people to send it to. That would be nice.

I love hearing your feedback in the comments section, and I try to read them all. It means a lot that you would take the time.

One point I want to make … I don’t want to tell anyone how to live, what to think, what to believe. One lady objected to my mentioning God, but that’s part of who I am. If it offends you, know that it’s not my intent, and I hope you can read past it and find some value anyway. My intent is not to push anything on anyone, just to stimulate thought or conversation. 

One more thought … I’ve found that success in my life and my year is all about being deliberate. If you have some quiet time, think about where you want to be a year from now, and make a plan. I have several stories about that at www.coffeewitheric.com, which is also where you can subscribe.

I’m grateful for you, and for your taking the time to open and read these stories. Thank you!

The old screen door slams behind me and the boards under my feet creak as I walk to the old wicker couch, whose basket weave also makes a sound as the weight of my body sinks into the red cushions. My cozy gray fleece jacket is all I need; the morning is pleasant enough to return to the porch. Beaming strongly into the yard, the orange-colored sun silhouettes a giant buck and his Christmas tree of antlers as he slowly grazes the smorgasbord of natural treats in my yard. The distant mountain is a light purple gray against the bright yellow-white sky.

Last week, I disappeared. I’m sorry I was not there for you. But I had a good reason. I am the father of teenagers, after all.

Sage Wisdom

Advice comes as needed, as I alluded to recently in Butterflies and Angels. One friend, Dr. Dave, swooped into my life last week, as if knowing I’d need his advice soon. I had been talking about a stressful week at work when he told me that our natural tendency when we’re going through stress or crisis is to sleep less, drop our routines, eat poorly, and not take good care of ourselves. Entrepreneurs like myself tend to put in longer hours to solve a crisis. His advice: Take care of yourself. This is when you need sleep, nutrition, and exercise more than ever because your immune system is being attacked by stress, and it needs to be strong. Plus, if you’re not rested, not eating well, and not exercising, you’re not thinking clearly.

Focused Energy

His advice came just in time to deal with another issue that was significant enough that I decided to drop everything I could in order to be there for my family. Though I try to give to others as much as possible, last week I had nothing more to give. I hope you’ll forgive me for not showing up in your mailbox. I don’t do it often. But I needed to preserve my energy, my resources, and my time. And I needed more time at the gym, working harder to make sure that the much-needed husband and father was showing up.

Deep Answers

I’ve also been reminded that when emotions run high, we tend to grab at the first answer we come up with. My friend and mentor, author Keith Cunningham, taught me to never resort to the first answers, but to take time to think and come up with 100 answers — and never use any of the first 20, which are typically reactive. That, too, was helpful.

Great Counselors

And times like these make our friendships that much more important because friends can offer non-emotional suggestions, solutions, and experience at a time when clarity isn’t present. Thank God for great friendships. To have someone to talk to, someone to listen, someone to offer perspective, ideas, and encouragement is so helpful. And when the world around you appears to be crashing down, they help point out that it’s not as bad as you think it might be. They help you see that the other side of it is right around the corner. Light always comes after the darkness.

Our other default thought in tough moments is often, “Why me? Why would God do this to me?” Thankfully I did not have that reaction this time, but I get it a lot. I think the answer is, “Why not me? What am I to learn? How am I to be made stronger?”

Parenting Pain

As I think about parenting, I think about the importance of pain. Keeping pain away from our children is not doing our kids any favors. Though I hate to watch my kids go through pain, sometimes seemingly unbearable pain, I know I made it through it. My parents protected me from some of it, but helped me get through much of the rest. It’s a reminder that blue steel is the strongest steel, because it has been forged, many times, through the hottest fires. 

Why Be Angry?

I’m not sure where the idea started that we should be mad at God when our lives don’t go the way we want them to go. I think that, being a loving dad, I’m helping my kids when I allow them to go through pain and suffering. I’m there to step in if it’s life-threatening, I’m there to turn to for advice, but they will be stronger if I don’t rescue them. I think it’s showing incredible love to watch your kid go through a horrible thing — and let them go through it. It’s not easy. It’s painful to watch. I also don’t think it’s loving to solve every problem for them so their expectation is that life will be perfect. Pain happens to be part of perfection. Perhaps this sounds harsh to some, but the best thing we can do for our kids is help them be stronger, help them look at pain as part of life, and give them coping skills. That way when they face difficult times, like the ones we’re going through, they have perspective, knowing that it’s part of the process.

Pain Reduction

I’ve cried a lot of tears through my life. I’ve lost a lot of loves and it devastated me at the time. I’ve lost friendships. I’ve lost jobs, businesses, partnerships, and I’ve been on the edge of bankruptcy. I’ve had tough things happen, lost loved ones, and remember moments where I didn’t think I could get through the pain. Yet today, it hurts less, and I’m more prepared, more experienced, know it’s part of a process, and I know there is a bright light on the other side of the dark moment. Perspective is a wonderful gift.

Molding Us

I don’t know your pain, but I know you have it. We all carry things with us that we’ve never fully been able to get over. And we should not get over them … it’s that pain that molds us into who we are, makes us better, makes us stronger, though it does not seem like it at the time. But don’t be mad at the world, or the universe, or God. Be happy that you’ll grow from everything that happens. That no matter how horrible something is, even death, there is growth and value, and light at the end of it all. Embrace what you cannot change. Change what you can. Make the best of a bad situation. Somehow, just thinking this gets us through. 

Great Lessons

Look back on your pain. Chances are you’ll find lessons, growth, and outcomes that were benefits. Things you never would have otherwise known. Just like when we feel we’re not accomplishing enough, we benefit from looking back to see how far we’ve actually come. Looking back on pain helps us see growth and strength we would not have had.

Having experienced the major loss of my mom this year, that horrific pain brought important lessons, growth, and even special moments that would not have occurred without it. I embrace what we went through.

Pain is growth, lessons, and forging strength. Handle it with dignity and the peace of knowing that though it seems dark, there is light around the corner.

Eric Rhoads

PS: In the midst of my pain, taking an escape moment, I decided to go Christmas shopping. It was very hard to get into the spirit with something looming over me. Yet there are people I love whom I want to give something special, not out of obligation, but because I want to honor them with a gift to show appreciation. It’s easy to fall into a Grinch attitude that you hate Christmas shopping and the pressure that comes with it. Instead, give of yourself, of your heart. Make something with your own hands if you can, at least as one gift. And think about the person and what really lights up their eyes — what do they get excited about? It’s not about the volume of gifts, it’s about showing you know them and are tuned in to them.

Other than her love, and our three amazing children, the greatest gift my wife ever gave me was an art lesson. It was great because she sensed that I needed to be creative, and she was right. That lesson 25 years ago resulted in a new career filled with painting, art, and creating a lot of things to help artists and collectors scratch their itch. Maybe an art lesson isn’t the gift for your special person, but if there is interest, I’ve listed some of the things we do that would make great gifts. I’ll explain each. But I don’t want Sunday Coffee to be a commercial environment, so please stop reading here if you have no interest.

Shop My Holiday Gift Recommendations >

The crunch of crispy leaves under my feet leads me into my cozy warm art studio, which is backed up against some massive pine trees and at the base of a small hill. The fireplace on the porch is flaming furiously, the wood sounds like snap, crackle, pop, and the scent of smoke is soothing. Yet writing on the porch had me blowing into my hands and wringing them too much to stay warm as my fingers hit my cold keyboard, so I’m here in my studio. 

Color hits this part of the country late, and this week is our peak week, just before most of the leaves flutter to the ground in high winds.

Speaking of fluttering, we all know butterflies exist, but what about angels?

Have you ever encountered random angels who drop into your life at just the perfect time? 

Drop-In Visitors

I can tell you I’ve never seen an actual angel with wings, the kind described in the Bible. But I’ve had angels drop in, serve a purpose, and go away. Have you?

I have also experienced people who fly into life, dazzle you by bringing the beauty of big smiles at a time you need them, making you laugh, being a friend, lending an ear … they flutter about to make your life better and then fly away. Maybe these butterfly-like people are also a form of angel. 

I’m convinced that we’re given what we need at the perfect time… 

An Ugly Problem

Decades ago I had a major problem with an employee who I discovered had seriously broken the law by taking a bribe in a job years before he worked for me, and, unbeknownst to me, he had been going to court to fight the charges. Then one Friday he came in and resigned, telling me he had been sentenced to three years in prison, starting the next week. Not only was I surprised and shocked, I hated to lose him because he seemed like such a nice guy and had become a key employee. Of course it had never even crossed my mind that he was a criminal.

No, Don’t Go!

“You can’t leave,” I said. “There is too much dependent on you. We’ve always talked about how if you were to leave you would give me three months notice and have time to train your replacement.”

I was dumbfounded. Worse, I was stuck, and it could have had a seriously negative impact on my business, yet I had no idea how to solve the problem. No one knew what he knew. So I went to my office, got on my knees, and asked for an answer.

A Call from an Angel

Out of the blue that very night, an old client called me, told me he was in town, and insisted we have dinner. He was only in town for the evening and needed to see me. I declined because I was not in the mood. Yet he insisted. “I wasn’t planning on calling because it’s a quick trip, but something is telling me we need to get together. I have no idea why. I was led to you for a reason. We need to do this.” He was insistent. I was curious.

At dinner I told him what I had just learned about my employee and shared my worry and stress about the problem. “That’s it,” he said. “That’s why I was led here. I know exactly what to do. I’ve had this very problem and I’ve got a perfect solution for you.” 

He then told me that I needed to FedEx a letter to the judge and insist that, by not letting the employee give me notice, he was hurting my business. I asked him to delay the employee’s incarceration for three months. It never would have crossed my mind because it was such an unusual situation, yet this man not only felt compelled to call me out of the blue, he had experienced the very problem.

Surprisingly, the judge delayed the sentence for three months, and I was able to properly transition the employee out. Though it made me nervous having a convicted felon working for me, I had time to hire and train a replacement. It was the best option.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But since then, I’ve always thought of that client as an angel.

Almost Bankrupt

For decades I struggled with my business. I went seven years without a paycheck and without a single dollar of profit. Everyone else got paid before I did. And I was on the edge of going bankrupt.

One December day, my bookkeeper told me we could not meet payroll the next Wednesday. We needed $18,756.18. But there was no money. When I was discussing it with Mike, one of our employees, he said, “Make your prayer specific to the penny,” which I did. 

Meanwhile, I was calling everyone who owed me money, trying to get enough cash in. But it was a recession, and everyone was struggling. Then, out of the blue, my phone rang. It was my client Marty at ABC Radio Networks, and he said this: “We have a little budget left over. Would it be OK if we prepaid some of next year’s advertising?” He FedExed a check that arrived the following morning, for $18,756.18. It was the exact amount we needed. Was he an angel? It sure seemed like it.

Prayer, asking the universe, manifesting things. Whatever you want to call it, it works.

Dying with No Hope

My friend author Lee Milteer proved this recently. Her friend (and my acquaintance), a very famous speaker and author, had been sent to hospice because problems with his diabetes had become very serious. He was expected to die within a couple of weeks. He was a multimillionaire with the best medical care, but they still could not help him. 

Lee posted about the situation on her Facebook page and asked everyone to manifest his wellness and to pray for his recovery. She kept reminding people for weeks, even though the situation was dire and worsening. Yet she encouraged us to keep it up and not to let it happen, believing we all had that power. 

Weeks went by, and his condition improved. And after many weeks, he came out of hospice and is healing at home, expected to fully recover. 

This is an example of the power of manifesting and prayer.

Dream Exactly

Lee once explained to me that one of the reasons many entrepreneurs succeed is because they tend to be daydreamers. That’s always been true for me. I always dream things in exact detail, and do it so much that I end up believing I can do it and believing it will happen. And things tend to happen exactly as I imagine them. I even imagine how things will go on the way to meetings, and they almost always go exactly that way. 

Crazy Talk

You may think this is just crazy talk, yet what you see in your mind is what happens. That’s why negative thinking is so dangerous. That’s why we have to be careful about what we put into our minds.

Like angels, butterflies may be manifested, or they may just show up because you need something you don’t know you need.

I’ve had people pop in and lift me up when I didn’t even realize I was down. Some bring such clarity, or energy, or passion, or laughter, or they just dazzle you for a needed moment. Others bring an important lesson, a needed answer, or a different way of looking at things. That’s why I call them butterflies — because they swoop in with beauty to make your life better for a moment.

Ever call someone out of the blue and have them tell you your timing was perfect? Or you just told them something they needed to hear? Maybe you were being a butterfly at that moment.

Where are you being called? 

If you ever feel the need to pick up the phone or pay a visit, but don’t know why … follow your gut. You may have been tapped on the shoulder to play a special role as either a butterfly or an angel. Or you may say something out of the blue and lift someone up unknowingly.

Where are butterflies and angels showing up in your life?

Where are you manifesting your needs?

Are you asking for what you need?

You don’t always get what you ask for, but you always get what you need. Especially if you listen carefully and have high expectations that your needs will be met.

How is it an invisible signal can show up through the airwaves on different frequencies to play music or news on the radio? Sometimes you can’t see things. 

How does the wind blow? You can’t see it, you can only see the effects of the wind.

Our entire world is made up of vibrations. Molecules are continually vibrating. We are vibrating, and signals are being sent. There is actual evidence. For instance, new Google research indicates that trees send signals through the ground to other trees, as do other plants. Is it really all that hard to believe that we each send out signals of needs for others to pick up?

Manifest your perfect life, and expect it. Listen for it. And always take action (a drifting boat eventually hits the rocks).

Listen for angels and butterflies and embrace their purpose. And try to be an angel or butterfly to others.

Now spread your angel or butterfly wings and get busy. The world is waiting for you.

Eric Rhoads

PS: Whew! I’ve been running nonstop since September … first with 100 people at Fall Color Week at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, a painters’ retreat; then a smaller painters’ trip for 12 special people in Saint-Paul de Vence, France; then our annual Fine Art Connoisseur art trip in Provence and the French Riviera; then to FACE, my Figurative Art Convention in Williamsburg; then to my Radio Ink Forecast conference at the Harvard Club in New York; then to speak with an esteemed panel of station owners at the FCC. It’s exhilarating, but time for a break. 

I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving with family before the insanity begins again.

I’d like to leave you with one important thought. Your family, no matter how screwed up, is a part of who you are. After losing my mom this year, I would give up everything I own for one more Thanksgiving with her. My friend Frank just lost his 19-year-old son this week, and his Thanksgiving will never be the same. Embrace your family for who they are, forgive them for whatever they’ve done, and leave every past issue behind. Don’t engage, don’t take the bait. Use this special time to celebrate family. They won’t all be together forever, and no matter your issues, you’ll regret it when they are gone. I just had a friend tell me she was mad at her dad for 10 years and did not talk to him, and then he suddenly died. How sad. Don’t look back wishing you had healed a wound and invited someone who is currently not in your favor. Even soldiers in past wars stopped fighting for special holidays. Thanksgiving is sacred because family is sacred, no matter how imperfect we are. Put your ego aside, swallow your pride, and have a loving and memorable weekend together.

I should mention something else … Since April we’ve offered the same price for our Plein Air Convention in Colorado, but the price ends on Black Friday. We’re down to less than 200 seats for the world’s largest celebration of plein air painting, and you don’t have to be a good painter (or a painter at all) to attend. It’s a week of the world’s best painters, there to teach you. Last week someone told me they had been too intimidated to come and missed several years, only to find there was no reason to be afraid. Maybe if you’re interested in exploring this fun and challenging lifestyle called plein air painting, you should consider it. We usually sell about 300 seats before the first price increase, but again, we have fewer than 200 seats left.

Streaks of yellow light are streaming toward me through thick purple fog and silhouetted gnarly oak trees. I shiver as I try to extend my porch time once more before winter. Warmth hits my goosebumped skin as the light increases, and the sides of my old cabin are washed with a rich red-orange glow. 

Stage Exhaustion

Last week exhausted me — being on stage, using my voice more in one day than in most months, giving and getting hugs from enthusiastic artists, wall-to-wall meetings between stage time, entertaining our VIP guests and faculty in the evenings till the wee hours. And exhausting as it was, I feel like the luckiest man alive to be able to serve others and give them a special week of high energy, learning from the best artists in the world, and time with old and new friends.

Joy and Exuberance

A recent realization has been that my art is bringing people together, and even if I have to put my ability to do paintings on hold so I have time to do things like last week’s Figurative Art Convention & Expo, it’s worth it to see the joy and exuberance in the faces at FACE. Dozens, probably hundreds, told me it was a life-changing experience, the best of anything they had attended, and that they got more than they expected. I feel like I’ve done my job.

True Purpose

Comparing notes with a friend recently, we both determined that life is better when we’re changing the lives of others. Though it used to be about the money for me, it’s now about the gold … the golden glow in people’s hearts when they experience change, when they have a revelation or an aha moment. I live for those moments, and that encourages me to find ways to give more.

Digging Deeper

And for every convention session, panel, demo, or other event people could attend, there were that many and more personal interactions where I felt I was able to coach and counsel people who had lost their way, who needed someone to point out what they could not see, to offer clarity where they had none. The two things they all had in common were self-doubt and being too hard on themselves.

Life on Override

Beating ourselves up, negative self-talk, and insecurity are the games we play in our own heads. I play them all the time, even though I was raised in a positive environment. It’s a self-preservation mechanism rooted in our reptilian brain. It’s natural for the mind to protect us, and it’s unnatural for us to override its protection. Yet overriding is the only way to escape those voices and build an awesome life.

What do the voices in your head say to you?

I wanted to understand what mine were saying, but most of the voices tend to be at an unconscious level. So I made a point of writing them down every time I noticed one. I knew I had head trash, but no idea just how much.

Then I took the list and asked myself, “Is this true?” and, “If it is true, can I change it? How?” I also asked myself, “What would be a better thought I can substitute?”

Have you ever had something come out of your mouth and you didn’t even know how or why? I also started writing down my automatic responses to others. 

The Monsters Are Hurting You

Those are the monsters lurking inside your subconscious mind, and they are blurted out, as though they were natural responses to protect you. But instead of protecting you, they are hurting and limiting you and others.

If you do both of these exercises for a week, you’ll learn more about yourself in that week than you’ve learned most of your lifetime. Just pull up a notes app on your smartphone and write down every negative thought whenever you catch yourself thinking or saying them. It’s almost better than therapy.

Mama Calling

Ever hear someone say, “I find myself sounding like my mother when dealing with my own kids, even though I swore I would never say those things”? That’s the instinctive monster inside, most of which was implanted generations earlier and passed along.

You get to be the lucky one. You can break the cycle.

The weak never break their chains — the strong break them. It starts by telling yourself you can overcome any possible obstacle, no matter how difficult, and that the ability to overcome anything lies in your head.

Are You Tired Yet?

The other good news is that the weak can become strong. All it takes is getting sick of the results you’re getting now and being determined to overcome the voices in your head.

Fantasy World

We all tell ourselves stories and lies. We all live a certain percentage of our lives in a fantasy world. Those lies cause the drama in our lives, our families, our friendships, and in our own heads, preventing the best possible life from happening.

“Oh, Eric, I don’t deserve the best possible life,” you say? That’s the first monster to slay. Of course you deserve it. Why wouldn’t you? (More monsters will come out about now.)

Slay the dragons in your mind, and you’ll live the life of a true dragon slayer.

Start today.

Eric Rhoads

PS: Words simply cannot express the gratitude I have for the people of the FACE convention. We had a faculty filled with generosity to serve others, attendees who were on fire with enthusiasm and energy, and I feel like the most hugged man on earth (one of the perks of my job, I guess). Thank you for allowing me to serve. Well over half the people attending signed up for next year, which is unheard of this early for a convention. We are very excited about seeing you in Baltimore next fall.

Tomorrow I’m off to a week in New York for our annual Radio Forecast conference at the Harvard Club, and then to Washington, D.C., where I’ve been invited to offer my opinions to the commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission. If we don’t talk, have a wonderful Thanksgiving — though I fully intend to report next weekend before the holiday. And if you have a chance, invite someone to Thanksgiving who needs a family to spend the day with. No one should be alone if they don’t want to be. It’s something my parents did every year on Thanksgiving and something we try to do.

Oh, and if you encounter someone who needs a jolt of Sunday Coffee, pass it on.

Flickering, crackling, and the soft smell of burning wood come from the old fireplace, tucked away in a tiny sitting room at the hotel here in Williamsburg, Virginia. The decor is Early American — pineapple-patterned wallpaper, old brown furniture, and portraits of presidents.

It’s quiet here, most guests are not yet awake, and no one has discovered this little reading nook. I hear the occasional distant ding from the service bell at the front desk, done to call the bellman like in the old days.

Going Back in Time

My morning walk brought me back to another time, a different era. This old town made up of original buildings from the Revolutionary War era is tightly closed up, but later will bustle with tourists and kids who will march alongside the red-coated soldiers. Later will be the smell of baking bread from the bakery, whose old brick oven uses real fire. The candy maker will be handing out samples, and you can go into the tin shop to see cups being made, or the print shop as they make reproductions of old Revolutionary War posters one sheet at a time, with moveable type. It’s truly a place every family should experience at least once. I came here as a kid, then once as an early married couple, and now, for my Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE), which starts today.

A Rockefeller Vision

Last week I mentioned that I was grateful for the wealthy who built great homes and art collections that because museums. Today I’m thankful for John D. Rockefeller, who had the vision to create Colonial Williamsburg by buying up houses in different villages and moving them here to create a living museum. Today we’ll do a plein air paint-out (outdoor painting) in the streets with costumed models before the official start of the convention at four.

The Last Year at Home

Living a life of travel has its benefits, but few things will drag me away from home next year; it is our last season with the triplets, who go off to college in the fall. Life will change for them, and for us. Though I’ll need to keep working to pay the college bills, I’d be working anyway because I love what I do. But I’ll miss feeding the kids each morning, chatting with them randomly on the couch, eating dinner together — even now a rare occasion since everyone is off to jobs and friends. Soon it will be time to reinvent, to ready ourselves for this new chapter.

The Storms of Life

Life is like a series of storms. A hurricane comes in slowly, with ample notice to get ready and get out, but a tornado comes with no notice. It just shows up. We’ve known college was coming since the kids were born, preparing little by little by setting money aside, yet like most, we don’t do all the prep we should until we get closer and closer to the event. I consider knowing in advance and being able to prepare a gift.

Storms, tornadoes, or other sudden, uncontrollable events also happen. Or, as is the case now, fires that sneak up and force you out, if you’re lucky enough to get out. It’s then we have to rebuild, often from scratch. I’ve been closer to this than I want to because of friends who are suffering through fires and losing everything, and friends who lost everything last year and the year before.

The Power of Reinvention

When storms come, we have to reinvent. One friend had enough of the fires and decided not to rebuild, but to move here to Texas (we have plenty of room, and y’all are welcome here). Another stayed in California but moved to a different community and started a life as an art gallery owner. 

Being Happier than Ever

If you live long enough and get out a lot, you start knowing people afflicted by all kinds of disasters, and almost everyone has told me that their disaster was the best thing that ever happened to them, though it was horrific at the time. Disaster or tragedy force reinvention. Most are happier and have told me that they had things in the back of their minds that they wanted to do, but never got around to doing them because of the ties or strings they had.

For your sake (and mine) I hope YOU don’t have to face storms, fire, or a tragedy that forces you to reinvention. But I do hope that if you feel the need to reinvent, you don’t wait for a disaster.

What Do You Dream?

Do you have things in the back of your mind you always wished you had done? Places you always wished you had tried living? Careers you would like to switch to?

Don’t wait for a storm.

Roving Gypsies

Laurie and I have a sense of adventure. We find it exhilarating to make new friends and try new places. Since we’ve been married we’ve moved several times to new communities. We’ve lived in Florida, the Bay Area of California in two different homes, and here in Austin in two different homes. And we’re excited about the prospect of living somewhere new once the kids are in college, or soon after if the kids stay in Texas. Though it’s hard to leave friends, we can always visit them (some we see only a couple of times a year anyway because we’re all so busy). 

The prospect of reinvention is exciting. Laurie’s big dream is to get an RV and go around to visit people we know or work with. Visiting clients and art shows. She can drive, and I can work in the back. Sounds fun to me.

I’d like to try living in Italy or Spain or France (or all three). And I think it would be fun to do the RV thing there. And I want to build a dream art studio somewhere.

Aligning Your Dreams

One thing that’s important is to get in alignment. It would not be fair for one of us to pull rank and force the other along on a dream they don’t share. Why not sit down with a sheet of paper with three columns, “My Dreams, “Your Dreams,” and “Shared Dreams.” Then you’ve communicated and can pick the shared dreams you want to pursue.

Out of Alignment

Laurie and I loved living in Northern California. One day we decided to put our dream house up for sale because we felt obligated to move back East to be with aging parents. One day one of us said, “I really love it here. I don’t want to move.” Then the other said, “I thought you wanted to move so I was going along with it. I don’t want to move either.” So we took our house off the market and stayed a few more years.

How about today you have a reinvention discussion? Ask yourself some questions. Ask your spouse or partner some questions.

What have we always wanted to do but never done?

Where have we always wanted to live but never tried?

What dreams do you have, what dreams do I have, and which do we share?

Now, when you get to the point of practicality, shove it to the side. “Yeah, but we can’t afford that dream” is a common thing that gets in the way.

Dreams Overcome Roadblocks

I’ve found that if you have big, audacious, out-of-the-world dreams, things you both want so badly, you might be willing to sacrifice an old dream that is anchoring you. For instance, if the dream is to go live in Italy, ask what’s holding you back?

Maybe it’s the house. But if the dream is so big, sell the house.

Obligation is another dream killer. “Yeah, but we have to stay and take care of Mom.” It’s the right thing to do, but have you talked to Mom about it, or your siblings? I have friends who felt they were stuck but found out a sister was dreaming of moving back and living with Mom to take care of her. So they left to pursue their dream and visited on occasion. If you can’t overcome roadblocks, you can at least build the dream, craft a plan, and pull the trigger on the dream the second the roadblock moves.

You’ll find that if a dream has enough power, you can usually find a solution.

Which person do you want to be? 

Do you want to be the person who looks back and says, “I wish I had done the things I wanted to do?”

A Final Dream

This last October when people registered for my Fall Color Week painting adventure, there was a framed photo of a beautiful lady at the registration desk, and at our announcements all week. For privacy I won’t mention her name, but she had been to every Fall Color Week since we stated it five years ago. But after our trip to Canada last year, she died unexpectedly at a fairly young age. She once told me it was her dream to attend that event, and once she went, she looked forward to coming back every year because of the friendships. What if she had kept putting it off till the time was right? At least she lived before she died.

Are you living your dreams?

Don’t wait till a storm … or worse, the point when you can’t get out of a hospital bed. If you can walk, if you can breathe, even if you can be pushed in a wheelchair, even though it might be hard, you have dreams you need to live. We both know someday will never come unless you take action.

For most of us…

There is never enough time.

There is never enough money.

There is always something getting in the way.

There will never be perfect conditions.

You can plan it, or you can wait till you’re forced into a plan. And that plan may not include any of your dreams.

Do it now.

Eric Rhoads

PS: When we’re done here at FACE this week I’ll announce where we’re going next year and some of the rock star artists who will be coming. If you could not make it, go to the website to see who we’ve announced and book for next year (there is a 12-payment plan).

Next week I fly to New York for my annual Radio Ink Forecast event, which is held at the Harvard Club. It does not get much more elegant than that. After our day of sessions, we hold our annual “40 Most Powerful People in Radio” reception with all the high rollers in radio. I get to play host and see lots of my friends. It’s a lot of fun for me.

Then, the following morning I take a 5 a.m train to Washington, DC. I’ve been honored with an invitation to speak before the commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to share my thoughts (along with a few other broadcasters) on what they should or should not do with regulation for radio. Though I’m trying to be cool … I’m pretty excited.

Then things settle … no more trips. We’ll get to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas and reconnect. It could be our last Christmas together if the kids fall in love in college and go to someone else’s house. We have to make it special this year.

Need a great Christmas or Hanukkah gift?

The Plein Air Convention for your favorite painter, or next year’s FACE event, or Fall Color Week for next fall when we go to the White Mountains of New Hampshire (the color is on fire), or the 10-year anniversary reunion (for new and old) of my annual Publisher’s Invitational in the Adirondacks. And because next year I’ll not have to be away from home as much, I’m working on a couple of new surprises.

Eric Rhoads

PS: There is someone in your life who needs to hear this message. I’d be honored if you would pass this on so we can give them the encouragement they need, and maybe they will become a subscriber (free) and pass it to others.

This week I’m as excited as a schoolboy. A week from today my Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE) begins in Williamsburg, Virginia. We’ve got some of the top artists in the world on our stage teaching their techniques. It’s open to beginners and pros, and we might have some seats left (people often wait till the last minute), but, if so, probably not more than a couple. If you want to experience this art thing of painting people and portraits, this is one of the best things you could do for yourself. I’d love to meet you. Quite a few Sunday Coffee readers have registered, never having painted before. I think that is very brave and cool. FACE is being held November 10-13; more information here. 

If you want to be in the cast for the TV show, the producers are casting it now. You can learn about that at www.TheGreatOutdoorPaintingChallenge.com.

If you would like to give a tax-deductible donation or be a sponsor, or if you want to become an executive producer with a mega donation, please drop me a note at ([email protected]).

If you want to hear what’s happening in radio, we are gathering the biggest names in radio together at the Harvard Club on November 20, and then we have a giant, elegant party in Harvard Hall afterward. You can learn more about that at www.radioinkforecast.com.

Then … things will calm down for a while and we can all enjoy the holidays.

Porches are like portals. Spending time on a porch can be recovery time, relaxing time, thinking/pondering time, and time to take our thoughts to other places.

Time here on this porch in Austin, which overlooks distant hills of grass, gnarly scrub oak trees, and faraway cattle, is always a special time, and it’s good to be back after a couple of weeks away in France and Scotland. 

In the summer I write to you from an old screened-in octagonal porch overlooking the lake that has hosted conversations for over 120 years. Each porch brings out something special in its visitors, and each inspires thought.

A Grand Experience

This past week I stood briefly on the porch of a grand estate, Gosford House, that makes Downton Abbey feel small. The old stone porch of this house, finished about 120 years ago, overlooks 5,000 acres of Scottish countryside and the sea. We stood there in the freezing cold as a troop of bagpipers marched before us, playing pipes, drums, and flutes in harmony as we said farewell to Scotland and our annual Fine Art Trip. Tears welled up in my eyes with the beauty of this old tradition and the experience of being in this special place.

When we walked into the home as a bagpiper played to welcome us, I saw the grand foyer and a marble staircase with monumental marble walls unlike anything I’ve seen before. It truly took my breath away. I could hear the gasps of my guests as they entered.

A Table for Royalty

Once inside the house and after a brief tour, we held our closing dinner at a single 60-foot-long dining room table via candlelight, in the same seats used by royalty and dignitaries of Scotland’s history. Here, I toasted my guests as we enjoyed an unparalleled experience, a dinner like no other, and a lifetime memory.

The Largest Private Art Collection in Northern Europe

Making things even more special, the house held more art than many major museums. I’m guessing 3,000 or more paintings and sculptures, including names like Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, Sargent, the studio of DaVinci, and hundreds of others, collected for hundreds of years by the family before this house was built. I’m guessing the house was 30,000 square feet per floor, with a three-story marble foyer area that is larger than most homes. This is the largest private home I’ve ever visited, and the largest and most tasteful private collection of art I’ve seen. 

Thankful for Survival

It’s a rarity that a grand house of this magnitude survives today, with deep taxation and the costs of upkeep. Most have ended up turned over to the government for taxes, or to the Scottish National Trust, an important nonprofit that restores and maintains such houses. But many such grand houses crumble and rot in disrepair as family members try to cling to their aging homes. Thankfully, Gosford House remains in its original family, a long line of Scottish earls who have managed the delicate dance of keeping income flowing through tours, golf, and outings like ours.

Reacting to Opulence

One could have a lot of different responses to a home of this magnitude. Instead of wondering about what could have been done with all the money to help others, I choose to be grateful that its creators had such grand vision and that it’s now being shared for the world to see. It reminds me of the importance of the finest architects, the best garden designers, and taste-seeking art connoisseurs.

As we toured private homes, private collections, grand palaces, castles, and museums, I remain grateful that we can tour such places, that they have been created and are now preserved as living museums.

What Billionaires Need to Do

I remember commenting to Peter Trippi, editor-in-chief of my magazine Fine Art Connoisseur, that I wish more of today’s billionaires would exhibit such taste and vision, creating future palaces for the world to tour, or building vast art collections for the world to view. One of the ultimate gifts to the world is to build and use a grand home or palace for a lifetime, or for a few generations, then make it available for the world to see. 

Great Wealth Requires Great Responsibility

Though grand houses, estates, and palaces can become monuments to the taste of their owners, clearly we need those individuals to do great things with their wealth to change the world as well, first and foremost. Yet great wealth can do both, as proven by Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Vanderbilt. They not only helped others with foundations and institutions that continue to this day, most of them built grand estates that are now museums. If not for the vision and taste of wealthy people of the past, we would have no castles, estates, or even museums to visit. 

Rarely are such great estates built today, and rarely do we see billionaires employing the best artisans of our time to create something special that no one else could possibly afford. Thankfully, there are still some great minds building new institutions, such as the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, thanks to the vision and leadership of Alice Walton. But there are more museums that need to be built than there are billionaires. Museums that reflect our style and times are important for future generations.

Grand Vision Isn’t Always About Money

People with grand vision and great taste don’t always have money, yet can still leave a huge impact. Before this trip to Scotland I had never heard the name Phoebe Anna Traquair, yet seeing the murals she painted for the interior of the Song School at St. Mary’s Cathedral left a huge impression, particularly because she contributed four years of her life for the murals she donated. She found a way to leave behind grand beauty without big money. The Song School is now a must-see for every art lover visiting Scotland.

There is an important collection of modern art created by a couple of modest means who bought one or two pieces a year from young artists they believed in, using their small schoolteacher salaries. 

Great craftspeople, artists, muralists, sculptors, writers, poets need a way to leave their mark so the world can experience and enjoy it. Sadly, most will never be exposed to a wide audience. But people with great wealth can ensure that people creating great art have their work heard and seen by future generations. Patrons have built the world of beauty we see, whether through their purchase of artwork and making their homes into museums — such as that created by Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston — or by donating to help build a monument, a museum, a building. Even those with very little can participate or contribute in some way.

Putting Beauty Where It Belongs

What concerns me is that beauty has become secondary in many societies, including our own. Though I’m not anti-profit, there tends to be too much emphasis on profit without design. Thankfully companies like Apple prove that great design can help make the biggest company in the world. Wouldn’t it be nice if Apple funded an amazing museum of today’s design with top artists so they will be remembered and thanked 200 years from now?

For those with great wealth, beauty can be offered on a grand scale, as at Gosford House, or by turning your passion and love for collecting into a museum. For instance, the Minnesota Marine Art Museum was founded by two passionate collectors, Mary Burrichter and Bob Kierlin (the founder of Fastenal), to the benefit of their community in Winona, Minnesota. On a grander scale, heiress Maja Hoffman hired Frank Geary to build an incredible destination museum to put the town of Arles in France on the map. 

The Role of Artists

Those who make art can’t just sit on it and hope to be discovered. They need to play a role in self-promotion to make sure their gift is seen by others. Too many great artists have died unknown. It’s why I devote much of my life to training artists to promote themselves. 

It’s also important for those with means to do what they can to support artists, not just with art purchases, but patronage, commissions, introductions, and finding ways to leverage those artworks into large institutions and collections where they can be seen and enjoyed by all.

Beauty to the Masses

Many of today’s wealthy have failed to recognize the value of bringing beauty to the lives of others. Charles Rennie Macintosh, William Morris, and Elbert Hubbard made it their goal to bring beauty to the masses, not just the wealthy, and the homes they built for themselves and others have become museums filled with beauty for all to see.

Lifetime Impact

I can remember my first visit to an art museum in New York as a child, and the lifelong impact of that one-hour visit. It would not have happened if Henry Clay Frick had not donated his mansion and his collection. Impacting one little boy has helped impact the world. Therefore we cannot overestimate the importance of exposing others to beauty, to design and architecture, to grand homes that help people see what can be possible, to amazing art collections that open hearts. 

Creating and preserving beauty for all to see is critical for all societies, but especially our screen-obsessed societies who need to see how life was and how life can be. Soon they will ask what more there is to life, and the answer they need to find is beauty.

We can each play a role.

In what way will you use your personal platform, your voice, your influence to create or promote beauty? 

A Difficult but Clear Choice

I had to make a choice. Spend my life becoming a great artist, or spend my life promoting and helping artists. The choice was very clear. Though I paint for passion and love, and I produce and sell a few choice pieces a year, my life is best used serving artists, exposing art, using my platform for art education, helping artists learn to promote themselves, training artists through events, books, and videos, and helping create beauty. I’ve been given a gift of vision, and it’s where I intend to spend my time.

What choices will you make? In what ways can you play a role in the creation and promotion of beauty? 

Small things matter as much as big things. In what small way can you touch others and expose them to true beauty? 

Maybe it starts with your own kids or grandkids. Maybe it’s about dragging someone to a museum or a grand house or castle. Maybe it’s collecting artists’ works. Maybe it’s using your platform, your talent, your voice to play a role. 

If you’ve been silent up till now, maybe it is time to make your voice heard and share the beauty you see or create. Our world would be pretty boring without beauty. Together you and I can make the world more civilized and less polarized by bringing back beauty.

Eric Rhoads

PS: What if you knew nothing about art but decided you wanted to learn, or at least experience being around artists? What if you could have been seated in the cafes in Paris with Monet and friends? What if you could have experienced the artists of the great Paris Salon, a hundred years ago? This beauty is possible for you. In the interest of beauty, the interest of furthering the contemporary realism art movement, and the interest of helping all artists gain more knowledge and understanding, I am gathering the finest artists in the world for a few days in November. You can come and experience this firsthand, and sit in the cafes of Williamsburg with artists who will become or already are famous. You can watch them paint, hear their philosophies, discover how to do it yourself, and even be hands on in our studio with live models and instructors. It’s called the Figurative Art Convention & Expo, and you are invited. You can learn more here.

PS2: The beauty of life is at its fullest when you can share experiences with others you love. For the past 18 days I’ve been in France painting with friends, then leading an art tour of about 50 guests through the South of France, the French Riviera, and Edinburgh, Scotland. We had life-changing experiences, visited homes, studios, castles, and museums, and even had some unheard of private experiences like the one I described above. Though the education and stimulation and art are wonderful, the truly amazing part is the friendships that develop among us all. Even the new people made deep new friendships. I feel honored to have led this group for 10 years and hope to continue it for 10 more. I want to acknowledge and thank everyone who was on the trip for honoring me with your presence. We will continue to see the world, and the next adventure will be announced soon.

PS3: In just a couple of weeks I’ll be in New York at our annual Radio Forecast conference at the Harvard Club. Then the following day I’ve been invited by the commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission to share my thoughts on how they should handle regulation of the radio industry. After 50 years in radio, this is probably the highest honor I’ve received — to be asked for my opinion by those who make the decisions that impact America. I’m truly humbled and excited. Though I have undying passion for art, I’ve never let go of my first love and passion, my career in radio broadcasting.

The faint sound of bagpipes filters through the brisk, moist air as the sun makes a hazy entrance on this brisk Edinburgh morning. A peek out my hotel window feels like Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, but it’s the real thing … we’re here as part of our annual Fine Art Connoisseur magazine art trip for four days of viewing the best art in Scotland.

We spent last week in Provence and the French Riviera, walking in the footsteps of many great artists and learning more than we ever expected. It was invigorating spending time with art and great friends.

Overnight Change

One thing I found eye-opening is that many of the great artists were not always great  — and each had had a moment of transformation. Many had gone from average and the expected style of their time to a new style and approach almost overnight. But how?

What is it that causes us to make the different decisions that often transform our lives?

Not only did we see countless examples of artists who transformed their art, we learned about others who transformed their conditions. How is it that someone who is in a horrific situation becomes able to pull themselves out of their circumstances?

A Complete Upheaval

We visited a small museum collection in Provence that had belonged to a wealthy individual who built an incredible collection of historical art. Suddenly, as the world started to change, he gave his entire collection to his nephew and started a new collection of early modern art. He not only shed his old collection, he shed his mansion and all of his furniture, and built a new house with all new style, new furniture, and art that reflected what was new.

How is it someone who had invested so deeply, and had been so committed and passionate that he built such an important collection, suddenly took such a dramatic left turn?

Sudden Left Turns

Stories of transformations inspire me — and I’ve experienced my own, where one moment I’m moving in a committed direction, and then I make a sudden left turn to the unexpected. It happened when I transformed from my radio career to a commitment to art. Though I did not burn the bridges behind me, this change was transformational for me just the same.

Have you ever experienced a transformation in your life, where you totally changed direction?

I suspect the answer lies in the idea of continual learning. The idea of following a patch of curiosity until the weight of new information overcomes the commitments of the past.

People have “religious experiences” for this reason … new information renders old information less relevant, or perhaps irrelevant entirely. 

My perspective is that without growth, without forced transformation, we experience stagnation, and it prevents us from living a full and rich life.

The Unexpected

I’ve discovered that in almost every case of major transformation, it was driven by exposure to something new opening up new possibilities. At a time of dark, academic art, the Impressionists came on the scene with bright colors and reflected sunlight and indications instead of tight renderings. This very idea inspired others to explore and take things to new heights.

The Intersection

We all tend to find ourselves set in our ways, comfortable where we are, or maybe just not wanting to be uncomfortable. But the magic of life lies at the cusp between new and old. And sometimes, as is the case with the realism movement in art, what’s old is new again, and considered avant-garde by those stuck in the old new.

If you’re looking for transformation, you’ll find it through exploration when new challenges stimulate you to try new things. If you’re not looking for it, you have to be willing to grab that brass ring as the horses quickly pass by, knowing it may never come around again. Being aware and watching for it will help you see it when it comes.

Innovation, new ideas, new stories, new art come from transformation and disruption. Keep an eye out.

Eric Rhoads

PS: To those of you who may be stuck in doing things the way they have always been done, are you comfortable to the point where you’re unknowingly hurting yourself? I’d like to invite you to a week of transformation at our upcoming Figurative Art Convention & Expo in Williamsburg, Virginia, where we approach things differently, in a refreshing modern way, while dealing with the very important subject of realistic painting in its various forms. It’s coming up November 10-13 (and we have two powerful pre-convention workshops you can learn about here and here). You have everything to gain … including an expanded mind and a fresh new approach to painting — figurativeartconvention.com.

Like art, the tweets of birds are an international language that all can interpret, though I swear the little yellow birds that frolic in the old stone birdbath here on the porch are tweeting in French.

Breathing deeply, I take in the cool air and the view of the mountains that were made famous by Cezanne, who painted frequently near this very spot — an old yellow farmhouse with shadows of olive trees playing on its stucco walls. Looking down the long outdoor hallway, covered with vines held up by old wrought iron lamps, I can see the village awakening and begin to hear the sound of church bells in the distance. I’m here with my fine art group at a stunning five-star hotel, Domaine de Manville, deep in the countryside of Les-Baux-de-Provence, France.

Deep Gratitude

It’s hard to wake up in a place like this without feeling tremendously grateful. I’m not only grateful for the opportunity to be here, to lead and spend time with this group of friends and see all the art treasures in the area, I’m grateful for how being here changes my perspective and disrupts my comfort zone.

Scrambled Brain

Though we’re all pretty comfortable here, our brains scramble anytime we leave the comfort of our own surroundings and are exposed to new sights, new language, and new experiences.

We all strive for comfort and familiarity, yet it is discomfort that stimulates growth and helps our brains discover new possibilities.

Bumbling Along

Being here in France, trying to communicate with people who speak little or no English, really stretches my non-French-speaking brain. Reading menus without translations, making out road signs, or trying to figure out labels on a drugstore shelf is both frustrating and invigorating. I love the challenge and the stimulation.

A Grand Tradition

Back in the 1800s, wealthy families would send their graduating sons and daughters on the Grand Tour, which was six months or a year abroad. It was considered a necessary rounding of one’s education to experience Europe, its languages and great museums, and its extraordinary geography. I think it’s a valuable experience every graduate should have if they can.

I Should Have Quit

I made my first trip here at 19, traveling with my parents. I remember wanting to stay longer, so I phoned my boss at the radio station begging for one more week, but he refused. It was such a wonderful experience here, I was tempted to quit my job and backpack around Europe. Looking back, I wish I had.

An Annual Trek

Eleven years ago, after a near-death experience, I told myself I would travel to Eurooe at least once a year, and I have accomplished that goal. Once the kids are in college, I hope we can spend more time traveling the world to experience its unique cultures. I consider it my continuing education.

What are you doing to disrupt your comfort zone?

Seeking Discomfort

It doesn’t require a trip to Europe, and not even a trip to another place at all (though if you’ve not done it, it’s worth saving for). Getting out of your comfort zone is just a matter of forcing yourself to do something you would ordinarily never do or have never considered doing. It might be as simple as going to an ethnic festival or trying foods you’ve never tried, reading things you would never otherwise pick up, maybe taking a class in something completely foreign. Instead of watching TV at night, I’ll watch online courses in things I know nothing about. I recently watched one on fashion design and another on psychology.

Supercharged Mind

The key is being intentional. Though accidental discomfort can be exhilarating, we tend to live routines that keep accidents from happening. Yet if you’re intentional, you are supercharging your brain, which impacts everything you do, keeps life interesting, and makes you feel better about yourself because you’re learning.

Comfort is the enemy of growth. Discomfort is a jewel worth embracing.

I encourage you to take your own Grand Tour of discomfort. You’ll be amazed at how your brain and attitude will change.

Eric Rhoads

PS: Starting out last Monday, Laurie and I flew to Nice, France, arriving Tuesday in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, an old medieval hilltop village in the South of France. Our hotel there, the Colombe d’Or, has a rich history of art and has housed movie stars, film directors, and artists like Miro, Braque, Chagall, Calder, Picasso, and others, including a group of 12 artists who joined me to paint the distant mountains and cobblestone streets.

When one of my readers knew we would be there, she offered to show us the great painting spots and painted with us. She also had all 12 of those on my painting trip to her lovely home for dinner. Special thanks to Elisa and Paul Mussin for their hospitality.

This week following the painting trip, we met up with my annual Fine Art Trip, celebrating Van Gogh and Cezanne and their old stomping grounds as well as seeing the great museums of the region.

Soon after returning home, I’ll be seeing many of you at my Figurative Art Convention & Expo, one of the great opportunities to learn to paint under the greatest of the great masters. I hope to see you there November 10-13 in Williamsburg, Virginia: FigurativeArtConvention.com.