Need a new search?

Quiet and stillness fill the cool Texas air. Not a single leaf is fluttering, and the deep orange morning light entertains my eyes with streaks of color as it blasts the front porch of my art studio. Morning or afternoon light glow is something I never noticed before picking up a paintbrush. 

Silence is a good thing on any morning. I love awakening early, before anyone else is awake, and sitting quietly with my thoughts. There is a special place, right between getting up and waking up. It’s as if it’s a time when my thoughts are more abstract, more free.

Hello Silence, My Old Friend

Today silence is especially welcome. We are all numb from a year or more of election drivel, of intense dialogue coming at our brains from every direction. I’m wishing all the political signs would come down, and I’m thankful the advertisements have stopped. I’m ready for silence, for quiet, for peace. Though I’m not sure that wish will come true anytime soon, which is why each of us must look for the means to find solace in our own way.

Trophies for Every Child

Sadly, there are sore losers, and frighteningly, I’m seeing more name-calling and anger than any time in the last year. In a world where every child receives a trophy, where we must not hurt any feelings, it’s a time when we all have to swallow a dose of reality.

How We Deal with Losses

No one cherishes the idea of losing, but in any contest we enter, we understand that not everyone will be a winner. We are each dealt our cards, and we have to handle the outcome. It seems to me that how we deal with our losses is what defines who we really are. Are we dignified and high-road? Or are we low-road and sore losers? 

Each time any of us is challenged by a loss or by adversity, we’re made stronger. Pain always equals gain. And though we don’t want to face our pain, we always grow from it.

Why? Why?

Though it may seem odd, my prayers are not a wish to Santa Claus in hopes of gifts for Christmas. Though I’m tempted to ask for more, or for perfect outcomes, or for winning, I try to ask for what I need, but in all cases, I simply ask for God’s will. I figure He knows a lot better than me. And, as I browse my life, I’m thankful that my prayers of the past were not all answered. Though our losses may be painful and seem unreasonable, there is always a plan, and trusting in that plan and learning lessons is helpful. Learning to trust may be the hardest lesson of all when things in our lives don’t seem to make sense. Why would this happen to me? Why not? Maybe pain is forging a lesson we all need.

When Pain Is OK

The absolute best things that have happened in my life have always emerged from the most difficult and painful moments. It’s when maturity sets in. Those moments make you raw, which makes you sit up and take notice of things you were not seeing. That’s why I want my kids to lose from time to time. Though I pray for their safety, I also pray that they face adversity and difficult challenges, because I know that will serve them better than perfect lives. I want them to experience pain, I want them to be frustrated and challenged, I don’t want them to win every contest or do everything they are trying to accomplish in their lives. Their lives will be better, more appreciated, if things are not always as they wish.

A Tough Moment

Flashing back to fourth grade, my life was crushed. My Ds and Fs resulted in my being held back because I’d come in before I was ready to go to school. I was suddenly an outcast. My friends from kindergarten moved on while I stayed back. I was a marked man. And it was no secret from the third-graders, who were now my equals. All of this resulted in a very difficult time making friends. It was a painful time, and I was very angry at my parents. I did not understand it, and I was not mature enough to realize that it was no one’s fault but my own. I blamed my parents, teachers, principal, and others, but I never accepted the blame for my own actions. In hindsight, it made me stronger, made me work harder, made me come out of my shell, and helped me develop skills and coping mechanisms that helped form who I am today. It was not fun at the time, and I’m sure my parents had a tough discussion about whether it was the right thing, but it was.

Pushing a Little Harder

Now that my kids are in college, I look back and realize they needed more pain growing up. They needed to work harder, they needed to be challenged more. We kind of let them decide what they wanted to be involved with, and we felt sorry for the kids whose parents forced them to play sports or take piano lessons. But we may have been wrong, because pushing kids beyond their own wishes develops important skills, and the pain of all those kids pushed to do things resulted in their developing talents and self-esteem, and perhaps a work ethic that gives them an advantage. Though I have few regrets, I can see some lacking life skills because we protected them from pain. 

Tough Love

We have a small monthly cash budget we give our kids in college. They don’t really need much money because meals are covered, but a little for gas or extras is helpful. But we’ve made it clear: They get it on the first of each month, not a day sooner, just like a paycheck, and they have to make their money last. This week one of our kids is already asking for his December money in early November. Though it’s tempting to help, we said no. He needs some pain, he needs to learn to manage his money, he needs the reality of life, and if he needs extra, he needs motivation to go make it. The pain won’t be fun, but it will be better than not having learned how to manage his money once he has a family.

None of us wants to face the hard decisions in life or the tough love moments with our families, yet it’s losses, failures, and pain that make us stronger. We can’t all get our way all the time. Therefore hold your head high, be a high-road person, and move on. And ask, what am I supposed to be learning from this moment in time?

What about you? What lessons should you be seeking?

Eric Rhoads

PS: There has to be more to life than working all the time. Due to quarantines, people are discovering they need something more. As a result of the forwarding of this blog to others, and tens of thousands subscribing, and my “pitch” that art is good for each of us and enriches our souls, I’m hearing of people all over the world who are trying art for the first time. Many are signing up for lessons locally, others are using our videos online, others are watching me at noon ET daily on YouTube and Facebook, where I have artists teaching, and still others are watching the free 3 p.m. ET video of the over 600 art instruction videos we’ve produced. I find this very encouraging, and I want to help you grow and discover yourself through your art.

A foundation in art is critical, and it starts with learning what we call values (lights and darks). I have a few free lessons to get you started. Hope you’ll check them out. 

Our online virtual conferences are really bringing the world together and teaching thousands of artists worldwide. Our next is in January; it’s called Watercolor Live. Watercolor is a terrific place to start, and we’ve got the world’s finest artists on this 4-day event (Beginner’s Day is one of the days). It’s a great way to dip your toe in the water without the expense or commitment of an in-person event.

The distant mountain of gray-blue contrasts against the white sky, which silhouettes the gnarled, twisted scrub oaks, looking like a movie set — as though an army of armored trolls is about to come in the scene. As I sit here, bright pinkish clouds begin to light up the horizon and illuminate the sky to the sound of angels singing.

Fields of little yellow flowers sprinkle the naturally weed-filled fields, and the beginnings of crunchy brown leaves are sprinkled in between. Signs of fall in Texas, a place where rich color is rarer than finding a diamond in a cave. 

On the old porch, red Adirondack chairs remind us of the place we spend our summers and mark our return here to Texas. Though we’re always sad to leave the Adirondack Mountains, the stunning fall color had ended and the ice was beginning to form on the lake, which is not a good thing when you have to get your food and supplies in by boat. For everything, there is a season, and we’re here to enjoy Texas again until late spring.

Living in Lockdown

Though life is grand, and it’s good to be home, I know many people who are struggling with the continued lockdown and its impact on their “normal” lives or incomes.

If you know me, you know I’ve been preaching about rewarding yourself with things that stimulate your creativity by doing things you love, avoiding the news and social media, and trying to “keep your head in the game.”

Misinformation

All the bad news, fear, misinformation, confusion, and vitriol are not good for our immune systems. We become what we mentally eat. And though the elections are entertaining, like a great football season, we can all get caught up in believing the world will end if our side does not win. Every election we hear “this is the most important election in history,” and the fear and worry become fever pitch, getting us all worked up. 

We have become emotional targets, manipulated by fear. If you can step back, step out of your fear or anger, and look at it from a distance, you can see exactly how we’re all being played. 

I don’t share my politics because I love my followers and don’t want to disrespect you by not respecting your opinions. I would never step out to share my thoughts — because I respect you, and I also don’t think it’s smart business. 

I’m NOT Running

About six years ago a major, well-known political operative approached me and inquired if I would run for the U.S. Senate. I thought about it for about 10 seconds before declining the offer out of respect for the quality of life I’m living and the need to be here for my family. And, frankly, I don’t want to make enemies. I want to love and be loved and would not be capable of launching a negative campaign against another. It’s not a game I want to play. I wouldn’t run for dogcatcher.

Great Entertainment

Over the next nine days, we’re all likely to be glued to our screens like we’re seeing a great cliffhanger in a movie. We’ll probably see more mudslinging than we’ve ever seen before. We might see unexpected things that rock our world and make us lose faith in humanity. We’re even likely to hear things about people we love and respect that will severely disappoint us. No, I have no inside information, I just know that there is a war on for your vote, and lots of missiles will be fired over the coming days. I’m guessing the unexpected will surprise us all.

A few thoughts to get you through the next nine days, and probably the months to follow, where sore losers will try every possible thing to change the outcome.

1. Stay in prayer. If you’re one who prays, remember to turn everything over to God. Pray for His will to be done in your life and in this country. This, more than anything else, gives me peace about all the craziness.
2. Be there for others. Everyone is worked up. Everyone needs a distraction. Everyone needs to know you care for them. You can be there without talking politics. But, with all that is going on in the world, suicide hotlines have seen huge increases in calls. People have fears about their future, and you can help them through it.
3. Boost your mental and physical immunity. Fear and worry destroy your immunity. You need to do things to increase your happiness. Do things daily that give you joy, that are fun, and that distract you from doom and gloom. Eat well, take your supplements, and get exercise. 
4. Keep your head down. If you’re in the middle of a political discussion, there are bullets flying over your head. Do you really want to be in the middle of that negativity? You cannot change anyone else’s mind, and they cannot change yours. Is this where you want to spend your energy?
5. The only things you can always control are your actions and your reactions. Voting is one thing you can control, and avoiding the negativity and the negative people is another. Change what you can control. 
6. Be the kind of person who lifts others up. We all know them and look forward to being around them. Don’t be the kind of person who is constantly firing bullets at others over politics. I’m so disappointed in the social media vitriol, which is why I’m trying to avoid it.
7. Think for yourself. I’ve come to know that I cannot trust ANYONE to have accurate information. I can’t trust any news source. I cannot trust social media. So you have to dig for your own facts, try to find multiple perspectives. Don’t just look for things that reinforce what you already want to believe. Seek balance.
8. Let go of “shoulds” — things we’ve told ourselves we should do. We all have preconceived ideas based on our past, our families, our parents, our friends. It’s always a good idea to ask yourself why. Why am I voting? Is it emotional, because I don’t like someone? Is it practical, because I want something accomplished? Or is it based on something I have always done, and changing makes me uncomfortable? Don’t listen to your friends, your family, the people you have always followed, but examine your own heart. Just because you’ve always voted a certain way does not mean it’s right for you today. Peer pressure is intense. But follow your heart, not what you or your family have always done in the past.

I want nothing but the best for you. I want you to have pure joy in your life and peace. I want your life to be what you want it to be. I want you to live your dreams. Everything we have in life comes from what we manifest, where we focus, and how we react and respond to the world. If you respond with love, peace, and with a smile on your face, your life will be filled with grace, which beats high blood pressure, anger, fear, and hate.

If nothing else, this is going to be a wild ride. Enjoy it.

Eric Rhoads

PS: This summer, after several days of back pain, I discovered a chiropractor, “Dr. Joe,” who was able to make my problems disappear. We hit it off on the first visit because he had just created his first paintings ever. I was able to give him some ideas and tips, and every time we met all summer, he would ask me for more ideas and tips on painting. The day before we left, I went in for a final tuneup, looked forward to next season, and said a fond farewell. He asked if he could contact me for painting advice through the year. Of course I said yes, and looked forward to coaching a beginner (I love teaching).

Little did I know it would be the last time I saw him. Three days later, Joe was dead. He had pulled the trigger on his own life for reasons I’ll never know. 

Though I had only known this young man (about 30) over six visits, I was really bothered by this news. Such a nice guy, such a talented chiropractor, such a promising painter. But the demons inside his head got the better of him, and though I don’t know what those demons were, someone has to be hurting deeply to want to take their own life. He had never shared hurt, but I’m wondering if I could have made a difference, helped him through his pain, shown him an alternative path, or offered him a new perspective. If only I had gotten to know him on a deeper level.

Then last week, an acquaintance, painter Greg LaRock, also a fairly young man, fell while rollerblading with his wife, and experienced head trauma that resulted in his death. Another brilliant candle snuffed out too early.

We all tend to be optimists when it comes to life. I think most of us plan to live long lives. We don’t expect an early passing from an accident, a disease, or even being so distraught that we end it ourselves. Yet life is fragile. The reality is that none of us know when our time will come. 

In each of these cases, my first reaction was that I wished I had known them better, on a deeper level. I wish I had taken the time and made more of an effort. It’s a reminder for us all to get to know people on a deeper level, seek to understand their needs, and step in to offer help if needed.

Live each day as if it were our last.

Last week I completed Fall Color Week, a week of painting fall color with friends. Then we completed Realism Live for a huge number of artists in 27 countries. And I just announced our January watercolor conference, Watercolor Live.

Halloween is just around the corner. Find a way to have some fun, even though it will be less than normal. We all can use a little more fun these days.

It could be a horror movie. Fog so dense I can barely see my hands in front of me. The cold air hitting the warm water has made the lake completely disappear. Gradually, as the sun peeks out, I can see a soft silhouette of trees, and then, as the fog burns off, the water becomes visible. Then some hint of color appears in the trees, until the fog has completely lifted. 

Years ago, on a morning like this, before I ever had kids, my dad would come and wake me to get out early in the boat to shoot photos of boats and camps in the mist. We would cover ourselves in layers of jackets, venture into the freezing air, and capture some of the best photographs ever.

One August morning I remember him waking us early to tell me we had six inches of snow overnight and we needed to get out and photograph it before it melted off. It was gone two hours later, but I got some of the best photos I ever took on that day.

Wake Up!!

Life as Rhoads kids had a lot to do with waking up early for an unplanned adventure. In summer of 1964, Dad came in and said, “We’re leaving on vacation in 30 minutes. Get packed.” He didn’t say where we were going, but we ate a quick breakfast, threw our bags into our old blue Oldsmobile, and a day or so later, we were at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. I can still remember the moment we pulled up at the hotel. I had never seen a doorman before. And every moment and exhibit at the World’s Fair is as clear to me as it was on the days we spent there. My favorite things were the “Kodak Moment” signs showing you the best places to take shots of the exhibits, like the mid-century modern buildings (where I fell in love with architecture and design), the giant globe, the Space Park, the GM exhibit of future cars, the Bell Systems futuristic video phone, and the Westinghouse Time Capsule. 

It was also my first memory of falling in love with art, as we visited the Frick Museum and I saw a giant painting of sword-fighting pirates. That’s pretty cool to a 10-year-old.

Cooler Than Anything Ever

The World’s Fair was the coolest thing I had done in my little life at the time, and I still am amazed at the number of concepts seen there that have come true today. It expanded my mind about what was possible, and since that time I’ve wanted to be one of those people who invented cool stuff. I also wanted to be an architect because the designs at the fair and in New York were unlike anything I had ever seen. 

My fascination with cool things and innovation has lasted a lifetime, and the most important discovery I’ve made is that it’s rare that others can see your vision. In fact, they will mock you, laugh at you, and call you crazy. Then they will shoot you down and tell you all the reasons it’s a bad idea, all the reasons it will fail, and all the reasons no one will want it. The other discovery I’ve made is that you have to force your vision to happen in spite of all that. If it’s left up to others, even co-workers, big things may not happen.

What have you done to go against the tide lately?

Money Is Irrelevant

Greatness isn’t about becoming a billionaire. Becoming wealthy or a billionaire may be a byproduct of greatness, but it’s rarely done with the money in mind. Success follows ideas that change lives and make life better. Money sometimes follows. Sometimes not. But money is irrelevant.

What’s relevant is that you embrace and chase your wild dreams and that you never let anyone rain on your parade. 

The Stupidity of Fear

I can give you three examples of ideas I had 20 years before anyone that I did not pursue because people I respected told me what I was thinking defied physics and was not possible. If I had been willing to pursue them, and fight for a decade or two, I too would be a billionaire now. I have since learned to listen to my gut. 

I can also give you examples of great ideas I didn’t pursue but that others later came up with — that were complete failures. Yet in each case, I felt as though they were doing it wrong. Maybe my way would have succeeded?

Not Arrogance, Confidence

People often accuse people like Elon Musk or Thomas Edison of being arrogant, when in fact they are so driven by their vision that they become very sure of themselves. When you’re sure of yourself, you can take the football across the goal line no matter what obstacles are in the way. 

Defying Physics

We humans on this earth need to know that each of us possesses the skill to take anything impossible and make it possible, no matter our age, our circumstances, or our disadvantages. Meeting with a scientist one day, I was told that what I wanted to do defied physics — yet it was later done and proven possible. I’m not a scientist, I don’t “do” physics, but sometimes those of us on the outside can see ways to do things because we don’t know they can’t be done.

Yes, It’s Impossible. So What?

When I started my Internet radio company in San Francisco in 1999, a search firm lined up a couple of dozen interviews with top engineers. Each told me what I wanted to do was impossible. One told me it was impossible — but he would figure out a way. We did it, made history, and our tech is in use in every streaming broadcast in the world today. 

The limits you face are hiding out inside your head. I can remember discussions with an uncle who was brighter than all the engineers on earth. He had hundreds of brilliant ideas, yet when I asked him why he never pursued them, he told me there were other, more qualified people, and he was living what he was meant to be doing. His head was getting in the way of his changing the world. I’m not critical, he was doing what he wanted to do, yet I felt he could have changed the world in big ways with his ideas.

What We Need in School

There are no college, high school, or trade school courses teaching our students the most important principles of success. We should be teaching our kids that the impossible is almost always possible, that mindset impacts everything, and that the cards you were dealt do not have to be the cards you play. Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, it’s hard to face resistance, criticism, and ridicule. So what? I can think of harder things than that — like showing up every day for a job you hate.

Greatness has no limits. When these ideas come into your head, they should not be ignored. You’ve been selected to receive the idea, and it’s up to you, not anyone else, to follow up if you believe in its value to the world.

You’re Too Old

The other issue that gets in the way is this lame perception of age. I blossomed late, I’m better than I ever was, and I can do things today I could not pull off three or four decades ago. Do you think I’m going to let someone dictate to me that something isn’t possible because I’m well seasoned? No. The accumulation of experience over decades is just the thing to make you the right person. And the things most proven to contribute to longevity are an active brain, an active body, and an active social life. Why sit around wasting all those years of experience?

You’re Too Young

Youth is also a frequent excuse. “I’ll do it after college” is what I sometimes hear. Yet a young man I met had an idea in his high school science class for a technology to detect pancreatic cancer early, and has changed the world of medicine. He was 15, and is now on his way to being a billionaire before he’s 30. 

World-changing may not be about putting man on Mars. It might just be your role in the local art association, and applying your skills to help them reinvent. My friend Mary Longe, a former powerhouse PR and marketing executive, has made Plein Air Chicago a formidable organization. She’s working full time while retired, and loving it.

Ideas are a blessing. They are not for your entertainment; they are a combination of all your experiences, unique to you. Embrace them. You too can change the world.

Eric Rhoads

PS: One of the ways I want to change the world is by teaching a million people to paint. Since I set that goal, I’ve aggressively been driven to hit it so I can then make it bigger. The goal is meaningful to me because learning to paint was life-changing for me. It opened my eyes and my heart in new ways, and I want others to experience that level of joy. 

Because of COVID, I started going “on the air” daily at noon ET on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube Live, to help you and others keep their heads out of the disaster of the pandemic and, now, the other things shaking our way of life. I also started doing free video samples of the hundreds of videos we’ve produced (daily at 3 p.m. ET). We had already seen over a million views by day 22, and today is day number 186 without a day off. I don’t know if we’ve reached a million different people or if we’ve taught a million to paint, or if it’s lots of views by fewer people. Yet the goal remains important to me. 

When I was young I painted with my mom at the dining table at 5211 Indiana Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana. When I was 10, I was exposed to real painting. When I was 40, I decided I wanted to paint, but I had no self-confidence and I believed talent was required. Now I paint for fun, my work is in a gallery, and I continue to learn and grow. I’m living proof that you can learn to paint even if you think you can’t draw a stick figure, and I’m going to prove it to you. 

If you invest four days of your time, or even one day of your time, in my Realism Live online virtual art conference, where we have brought together the biggest artists in realism, you will be taking the leap and learning the important principles you may not learn at some rinky-dink art class. This is the real deal, and I guarantee it. If you attend one full day, and do not think you learned enough to get you moving in the right direction, I’ll refund 100% of your money.

This event will help you, it will help the artists we’re bringing in (artists are having trouble getting by right now), and it will help us. This event will help my business survive when all of our in-person events have been cancelled. And if it’s not right for you, let us know by the end of day one, and you get your money back. It’s a great offer because we have great confidence it can teach you the principles you need to get started. You can be new to art (Beginner’s Day suggested), or you could be wanting to take it up again, get to the next level, or get to the highest level. You’ll see top painters painting and drawing, giving instruction and tips, and you can watch replays again and again (especially if you can’t make the dates).

I would not say this just to make a sale … but this four days is life-changing. Take a few days off and pursue the dream of art. You’ll never regret it.

I was shy, I lacked confidence, and I didn’t believe in my ability to learn to paint. I was graced with a man by the name of Jack Jackson who convinced me to give him just one day, and if I liked that one day, come back for another. One day at a time. In one day, he changed my life. Today I operate an art-related publishing business that trains artists, informs and educates collectors, and teaches artists to sell their work. And best of all, I’m passionate about painting. It’s all because I took a small step and committed to one day. If you commit to my one-day beginners’ class, that’s the step you can take. If you want to add more later, you can. But one step, with a no-risk money-back guarantee — you have nothing to lose but one day. And you may gain a lifetime of painting. It’s life-changing. Sign up at RealismLive.com.

There are 95 days left in 2020, and you can take a disaster year and make it the best year of your life by signing up today. Don’t let anything get in the way of your happiness and joy. Nothing. 

Happy Yom Kippur to my Jewish friends. 

A quiet roar of leaves rattling through thousands of wilderness acres fills the distant air as the lapping water nudges the rocks on the shore by the barely moving lake. A nearby spring-born loon proudly calls out, knowing she is near ready to fly toward the Southern border within weeks as the brisk air turns to ice. A close gathering of loon relatives loudly encourages her as she flops and flutters a Sunday-morning experimental flight.

Glistening deep yellow sun reflects like dancing elves, sparkling and shimmering atop the surface of the water. Black lace; pine tree needles in silhouette frame the scene I love so dearly as I leave my warm little cabin to venture into the chilled air to visit the 140-year-old octagon-shaped porch on the lake. Filled with the sounds of beeping birds, fluttering squirrels, and the tapping little feet of field mice.

Yellow lupines and goldenrod spring up to signal fall as the dappled light makes the apples in the tree behind the kitchen glow orange. Deeply I breathe in the crisp fall air, knowing we’ll soon have to leave this unheated paradise once colder weather hits. I’m rolling the dice that I’ll see enough fall color saturate the mountain in leaves of red before we turn the key on our drive back to Texas.

Newfound Autumn

Fall, my favorite season, is something we’ve never experienced on this little Adirondack island, and barely experienced here in the past. Maybe once, before the kids started school. The call of the school year has always required our return to Austin, but now we’re staying on to experience the fall, along with our newfound roles as empty nesters who are not quite sure how to handle this newly discovered thing called silence.

Memories of my first visit to this million-acre protected park remind me that I was uneasy about coming to this place as our family sold our Lake Wawasee place in Indiana after three generations. I thought that was my favorite place, our summer escape. But rather than resting on tradition alone, my father, troubled by loud Jet Skis and racing boats and fumes of fuel, responded to the movie On Golden Pond, realizing there were still places that remained quiet, without the noise and pollution — much like Wawasee was when our family first settled there. I resisted the breaking of tradition. I didn’t want to leave there to come here, and I was determined not to like it. But by the end of a week here, I discovered something about this place, and about my own heart, that resulted in my never wanting to leave. Summers on this lake have blessed me since 1989.

Cozy, and Stuck

The lesson for me was that I was comfortable and resting on something that was good, but not as good as it once was, and for me never as good as when my great-grandfather fished that motorless lake. I was obstinate, unwilling to leave, determined not to accept the change made by my father — who was selling it hard because he knew we would fall in love as he had. In short, I was cozy and stuck in my ways.

Human nature prevails when comfort sets in. I’m reminded of a cartoon my late friend Courtney Thompson sent me decades ago: a picture of a general whose men are in battle with antiquated weapons. A man is there selling Gatling guns (early machine guns), and the general says, “I don’t have time to see a salesman. Can’t you see I’m in a battle?” The idea is that he was too preoccupied to look at something that would have given him an advantage and allowed him to end the battle much more quickly. 

We are a resistant bunch, we human beings. We get stuck. We do things because that’s the way they have always been done. That’s what we think, or believe, because it’s what our fathers and mothers believed, it’s what our grandparents, great-grandparents, and their forefathers believed. All too often we fail to think for ourselves. And if someone were to bring documented proof that what we believe is wrong, we’d still resist it. I’ve often wondered whether, if someone brought indisputable, documented proof that my biblical beliefs were untrue, I’d be able to shift the thinking I’ve spent my life believing.

Fragile Freedoms

This COVID-crazed time, this time of unrest and turmoil, this time of information and misinformation, censorship of social media, confusing and conflicting data that can bring distrust of any new information, has helped me realize how easily we comply with suggestions if they’re in the name of safety. This has helped me realize just how fragile our freedom can be. I’m finding my brain scrambling to understand what and who to believe anymore.

What about you?

The good news is that I’m forced to challenge my beliefs, I’m forced to explore other outlooks and opinions, and I no longer trust any of the voices I once relied upon. I can’t believe a single tweet or video that is stated as fact, and I can’t even trust the fact-checkers. It seems everyone has an agenda to sway me one way or another. 

I have to think for myself. 
I have to challenge everything I’ve believed in the past.
I have to accept that I might have been wrong, or that others I used to believe can no longer hold my trust.

There is a tectonic shift taking place in this world, right before our eyes.

Follow the Incentives

We can no longer sit in comfort and accept what is happening to us. We have to use the brains we’ve been given, and we have to ask “Why?” with every word we read. We have to follow the incentives, follow the money, follow the purpose of every word and statement thrown our way.

It’s uncomfortable, and I’d rather be comfortable, yet we cannot allow our comfort to blind us or we’ll never be comfortable again. 

I’m just guessing, but I feel as though things will be seen that we won’t want to believe. We’ll need to decipher, decode, and think for ourselves rather than rely on the comfortable past of our former selves, our family ways of doing things, and maybe even history itself.

Disruption Means Challenge

Like it or not, 2020 has disrupted us. Much like my father dragging us to a place we didn’t think we wanted to go, this disruption will make us challenge every thought and belief we’ve ever had. It’s frightening, but then again, change always is. Yet it’s change that improves life. It is discomfort that creates new levels of comfort, and hard times that make us stronger and better.

And … it’s a time when my faith is amplified as the only thing I can trust.

Embracing Rebirth

Every generation in the past has had something… the Great Depression, great wars and conflicts, plagues, civil unrest, and disease. We’re getting our chance to experience a special time in our lives, a time we will share with our grandkids, a time that will enter the history books. It may not be what we would choose, but we should embrace it for the ways we will be reborn.

Fear not. 

This may seem like a time to fear. It may seem that the things happening will never end, that life will never be good again, that things might get worse. I can’t trust in man, I can only trust in God, and trust that we’ve been given the ability to think and make decisions for ourselves for a reason.

Like Your Life Depends on It

This will pass, and life will be good again. But it will be different, which is why your willingness to think and ask yourself who and what you believe, is more important than ever. Think like your life depended on it. Use your own brain, be willing to consider differing opinions, be willing to ask yourself why something is true, why you should believe it, what needs to be seen that’s not clearly visible. Ask yourself if you’re stuck or blindly following the way things have always been.

Change what you can change. Speak up about what you see to help others — like me — see a new perspective. You may end up being the one voice they can trust. And know that a freight train of change, of obtuse ideas, of hard-to-believe truths may be put before you that could change something you’ve believed for your entire life. 

A Time for Questioning

This isn’t a time for comfort, it’s a time for critical thinking, for questioning everything we believe, for questioning everything others tell us and questioning who we trust to load our brains. It’s also not a time to seek reinforcement of what we already believe, but a time to deeply question ourselves and what we are clinging to from our past..

Answers always lie in our questions. 

Eric Rhoads

PS: For 179 days, no days off, I’ve been on social media at noon Eastern, with one single intention … to keep your head in the game. What that means is that I am trying to offer a distraction from the virus and the things causing us to fear. As they say on the airlines, put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others. You and I cannot be there for our families and friends if our anxiety is at its peak, if our fear is consuming us, if our immune system is compromised by stress. My daily presence is designed to remind you to breathe, to do things for yourself, to do things that are fun, even though you may feel guilty about having fun. I want you to feed your soul, feed your mind, and feed your body with the good things that will keep you strong and balanced. 

I have to avoid the news, I have to avoid doom scrolling, and I have to avoid negative people on social media or in person. I don’t put my head in the sand, but I refuse to fill my brain with hours and hours of negativity. Stress is the number one cause of cancer, of heart disease, and of all disease. You have to protect yourself by getting exercise, eating great food, and avoiding things that depress you, meaning negative information and negative substances. That’s why I’ve opened the vaults and am giving you what I normally charge for each day at noon and three — to help others have a positive distraction, something that some find fun. And if we’re learning, growing, and having fun, we’re strengthening our ability to get through anything placed before us. And we will think more clearly because we’re exercising our brains to discover new things. I’m only offering art. That may not be for you, but find something your heart needs to fill your soul with joy.

In an effort not only to try to save my business, but to help others have a few days of complete escape and a flood of training, I’ve created some live virtual events to teach art to anyone who wants to learn. I’ve leveraged my lifetime of contacts to get the best of the best to teach drawing, painting, and various forms of art, including landscape, plein air, portrait, figure, still life, flowers, and more. It’s the first conference of its kind online, and we have already had about 1,200 people sign up from over 30 countries. It’s going to be monumental. Learn more about it at RealismLive.com.

If you like art and are curious, it’s not a lot of money. The last one I did, a woman attending said she got a four-year art education in five days. She said it was better than art school. Now I can’t make that claim, but you can find out for yourself (or forward this to friends you think might like to learn art). I do have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you attend, but don’t like it by the end of day one, let us know. We will refund 100% of your money, and you will have received day one for free.

My mind flashed to a scene in The Hobbit as I looked across the glassy lake, not a ripple in sight. The reflections of the tall, dark pines are perfectly in focus in the still water, and a layer of thick fog at the shoreline is making the lake and the trees blend together as though airbrushed. 

The bright golden morning sun is blinding me as it reflects off the lake, and, like clockwork, the fog is burning off before my eyes. 

There is a chill in the air leftover from the passing hurricane, which brought rain and a cold front. I can feel the goosebumps on my exposed legs as my warm red-checked flannel shirt cuddles my core and the hot coffee dribbles warmly into my system like water in a radiator.

Summer’s End

Every year for the last 18 years, August signals our last week or two here, knowing we are beholden to the schedules of schools back in Texas. With the idea of leaving come the thoughts of all the things I intended to do this summer but never got around to, the sadness of departing our favorite place on earth, and the end of something we look forward to each year. Though this year, we’ll return, once three colleges are visited and our kids planted for their next chapter. 

New Feelings

Laurie and I are experiencing anxiety we’ve never felt before, the idea that the little birds we nested are about to fly south to their own lives. I left at 17, never to live with my parents again. I tried to be independent and self-supporting, and I wish that for my kids as the way things should be. It’s still a medicine I hate taking, though I know it’s the right prescription. 

Training

My wife and I have spent almost two decades getting these kids ready for this moment, and the hardest thing to communicate is the need to think for themselves, to use their brains, to not believe everything they hear or everything their friends are saying, and to not succumb to peer pressure.

It made me pause and wonder … am I following my own advice?

Am I able to be objective? 

The last four months have taught us that what we expect in life is no longer a guarantee. That freedom isn’t guaranteed, though we’ve been told our entire lives that we are free. Even toilet paper isn’t guaranteed.

It has helped us not to take things for granted, and yet our minds have changed about things we never imagined we would be willing to do.

Cowards

Behavior has changed. People are seeing things come out in themselves they never would have guessed were there. Just doom scroll through social media and you’ll find people attacking people because they are mask-free. Social media has become a breeding ground for cowards who destroy people with vitriol, saying things they would never say to someone’s face. 

COVID times are challenging our previous standards. 

I’ve always been told it’s easy to treat people civilly as long as things are going well, but the real you comes out when you’re fighting for your survival.

What about you? How have you changed?

I’ve had to bite my tongue a couple of times when I’ve felt the need to speak up about someone not following “the rules.” But then I remember that I’ve not walked in their shoes, I don’t know their circumstances, maybe they are doing their best.

But can we find a way to remember that? 

Can we stop being critical because of our fear? Can we still allow a little grace?

Trusted Neighbors

My ex-mother-in-law, who lived in Germany during World War II, once told me that you really learn about your neighbors in the midst of tragedy. Some will step up and help, others will be selfish, others will turn on you or turn you in for a piece of bread. She once said, “You want to live in a place where you know the character of the community, because if things ever get bad again, you want to know you can rely on your neighbors.”

But how many of us even know our neighbors anymore? 

How many know we can trust our neighbors with our lives if we need their help? How many would share what little they have to help everyone survive? How would we respond if they need us?

I’d like to think I would respond well, but I won’t know until I face those moments. Hopefully we never will.

What we’re going through at this moment in time is hard. People are struggling, people are out of work, suicide rates are climbing, and yet, as I’ve said before, at least there aren’t bombs dropping on us or explosions destroying our cities. (My prayers go out to the people of Lebanon.) 

Yes, circumstances awaken us. Sometimes our minds change when we’re shocked into changing them.

You and I will look back on this date a year from now and realize how much has changed.

Our society will change, our belief systems will be tested, our civility will be challenged, the ways we work, learn, travel, communicate, and celebrate will change, and we will change our minds about things we never believed we would.

Adapting to change is the most important survival skill. 

Are you ready?

Ready or not, change is upon us. Try to keep an open mind. 

Eric Rhoads

PS: Airplane seats and hotel rooms are no longer my weekly routine, and I’m thrilled about it. Never again do I want to spend that level of intensity “on the road,” and I may even end up doing fewer events because of it.

Change was brought on my business without even asking my permission. We don’t always get a say in things. Yet adapting to change is our only chance of survival.

I’m hopeful our virtual art convention that teaches realism — in painting and drawing the portrait, the figure, the landscape, flowers, still life, and more — will help us recover. More importantly, it will help you learn art (we have a Beginner’s Day), help you get to the next level, and expose you to some of the best artists teaching in the world. It will open your eyes and change your mind about a lot of things … especially your confidence in your own ability to paint or draw.

I hope you’ll join us October 20 for Realism Live Beginner’s Day, and October 21-24 for the Realism Live virtual convention. The reviews for our last convention confirmed that people made friends, felt the sense of community, and learned volumes. And if you can’t make the date, replays are available to all who sign up (but not to those who don’t). The price is increasing on August 30.

Sign up at RealismLive.com. 

If I close my eyes at this moment, I can hear a gentle breeze quietly tickling the pine branches above and the slight slosh of water hitting the dock. It’s heavenly. So peaceful. So quiet. 

Opening my eyes after a deep breath of the freshest air I’ve ever breathed, I feast my eyes on a large, pink billowing cloud, about 30 stories tall, floating just to the east of us and carrying a rainstorm with it in the distance. I can hear an occasional distant rumble and can see a gray sheet of rain falling below it. The pink morning sun is coloring the deep green trees, yet if I were to run and get my easel to capture the mood, it would be gone within moments. I’ll just try to imprint it in my memory.

On the dock across the lake I can see two red spots — Adirondack chairs that glow when the sun hits them, and then are barely visible when it tucks behind a cloud. The red against the green is the perfect color harmony.

Lucky

When I was back in Austin for PleinAir Live, I mentioned how eager I was to return here when someone said, “You’re lucky. I’ll never see an opportunity like that.”

I quickly, and gently, responded that he would in fact see it if he wanted to, and that my luck had more to do with 40 years of 18-hour workdays. His response … “I will never see it because I’ve been dealt a bad hand.”

Born Into It?

Clearly I was not going to change his mind easily, nor was he going to be open to having his mind changed, but it made me stop and think. Was my success because of the draw of the cards? Because I was born into it somehow?

If I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t know if I would have achieved the success I have experienced if it had not been for the mentorship of my dad. I was not born into money … they had none, but I did have the benefit of overhearing conversations and being invited into business meetings and watching him build his business from nothing to something. So maybe I did get a lucky card. I certainly consider myself lucky to be born into a family with an artist mother and a creative entrepreneur father.

But is it all the luck of the draw?

Looking back on friendships and acquaintances, I know people who have truly had luck in their favor, but did nothing with it. People who were born with a silver spoon, but are unhappy, unsuccessful, and who grumble about the cards they were dealt. One once told me “being born rich was a curse.” Another told me that because he grew up with money, he wants to be poor because he hates rich people.

What Are You Wearing?

Whoever we are, no matter how we grew up, we don’t have to wear our circumstances. I can pretty much meet someone for the first time and know the stories they are telling themselves about their bad luck.

When talking about ideology, my friend and mentor Jay Abraham says, “Whatever you think, you’re right.”

Why is it that someone born rich can fail at everything in life and someone born poor can become a billionaire?

It all boils down to what we’re telling ourselves.

Getting Rich

One of my kids says, “Dad, I’m going to be rich once I get out of college,” and my response is, “What’s stopping you from starting now?” The story he is telling himself is that college is the first step. My fear is that once college is done, there will be another step he has to take to make things perfect before he can start. Then another.

Starting Now

My best advice to him was to start now. Nothing happens easily, nothing falls in your lap, so why not use this time to work toward your success? My overnight success in radio, for instance, started at age 14. Today I’ve been associated with the radio industry for 51 years. Time is on my side.

I’ll see some kids I meet working three jobs, selling things on the side, and doing all they can to get started now. The only roadblock is the one between our ears.

No Easy Path

I’ve come to understand that no path is ever paved, no conditions are ever perfect, and that the only thing that determines your success is your thinking. There is not some sudden lightning bolt that makes things better – unless you win the lottery. I don’t play the lottery because I don’t believe in luck. I believe luck is a byproduct of thinking and action.

Zip My Lips

I love my friends dearly, but when they complain about their conditions and not having anything, I’m tempted to suggest that a change in their attitude would make a huge difference. But usually I zip my lip and try to enjoy their company. 

The most powerful thing impacting the outcome of our lives is our thinking.

• If you think you can’t succeed because you had bad parents, you’re right.
• If you think success isn’t possible because no one in your family ever succeeded, you’re right.
• If you resent your parents’ success so much that you think you can never succeed, you’re right.
• If you think “I’m too old to do anything more with my life now,” you’re right.

I can list 50 excuses right now for why success isn’t possible for me. I’d be right about all of them … if I allowed myself to fall into that deadly trap.

What If?

But what if you told yourself your disadvantaged upbringing was an advantage?

What if your screwed-up wife-beating alcoholic father made you stronger and improved your chances of success?

What if being from the wrong side of the tracks taught you street smarts that would make you more successful?

As Tony Robbins says, “You can’t change your past. All you can do is change your future.”

For every failure excuse, there is a success response.

If you look for it, you’ll find it.

Is it time to ask yourself if you have blind spots?

Those blind spots are killing your potential because you’re allowing them to.

Every successful person I know has been kicked in the teeth, gets up, gets kicked down again, gets up, gets kicked down again, and keeps getting up. EVERY one.

Do You Really Want to Live This Way?

For all the wonderful things you may think about someone like me, I can share some horrible things I’ve gone through that might make it OK for me to cower in the corner out of fear and do nothing with my life. Admittedly, there were times I gave up and gave in, but I eventually told myself to get back into the fight.

It may be your health. It may be depression. It may be the loss of a limb. It may be a horrible past.

I don’t want to make light of any of those things, but I know that you can overcome them, or work with them to turn them into strengths.

For every person I know who is stuck because of the ideas they are telling themselves, there are others who ignore those ideas and move forward, no matter how frightening or painful.

Being a member of a lucky birth club isn’t even a guarantee of success. I know people living on trust funds who have more money than I’ve made in my life, and who are miserable.

Your Ship Won’t Come In

If you’re saying, “I’ll be happy when my ship comes in,” or, “I’ll be happy once I make my first million,” or, “I’ll be happy once XYZ changes,” you won’t be happy. I’ve had my ship come in only to have it sail away. I’ve made money, until I lost it all by making stupid decisions.

We are born with brains. Yet too often we settle in, not realizing our brains are pliable. Your brain can grow, can change, and you can change ANY circumstance if you set your mind to it. 

No, it’s not easy. The only thing that’s easy is accepting who we are and not changing it. Is that what you want from your life? Or do you want better?

Listen to Your Heart

Your spirit is quietly screaming for you to stop accepting your lot in life, ignore the cards you’ve been dealt, and create a new you. It’s never too late. Is it scary? Yes. But which is scarier? Being stuck knowing you could have tried — or trying?

Today is the day to move away from the past and move toward the future. You have it in you.

Eric Rhoads

PS: My mindset was pretty negative. Six income-producing events were canceled. My business has been struggling. Facing three kids going into college at once (triplets) and knowing that if I did not make a change, I’d disrupt the families of those who worked with me. 

Mentally, I was not sure how I’d survive. I was scared. I was finding a lot of reasons it was too hard to do, but I gathered my strength, took a deep breath and jumped in to create the world’s first virtual art summit. I was not sure I could succeed, but I had no choice but to try.

The good news is that the event was a huge, worldwide success, and it is allowing me to continue my business, and if I can make one more event a success, we can make it.

Last week after PleinAir Live, I announced Realism Live, the first virtual realism art conference. If it can be created in realism, we’ll be teaching it, including drawing, painting, portraits, figures, florals, still life, landscape, and more. And we’ll have a beginner’s day.

When we announced it, we immediately had 600 sign up. We need 1,000 more to make it work, and I believe we will. 

If art has been in your mind and you’ve wanted to try it, or you want a chance to learn from the best of the best, please explore www.realismlive.com. It’s in October. Your participation will make a big difference.