Together

I wanted to paint this unique moment in time, I wanted to capture what’s happening to the world. But it’s so big—touching every thing and every person— that every time I tried to paint all of it, my mind went blank. So instead, I took the opposite approach. This is what it looks like for ME. It looks like a lot of time with my children and my husband— my favorite people in the world. It looks like us playing board games together on our living room floor. It looks like pajamas all day and little voices filled with laughter and enthusiasm. It looks like us looking anxiously at the world (whether a map on a board game or the news or the masked people walking by our house) wondering about the people we love, how long this will last, what life will look like on the other side. It looks like us feeling so united with people all across the globe—all sharing one same concern at the same time and the power of that synergy and connectedness puts a lump in my throat. It’s the vantage point of a parent, looking down at their children, watching them. I feel like I’ve seen their strengths and weaknesses so much clearer in this time. Sitting next to them every day while they do their schoolwork has educated me better about how I can help them (and sometimes it’s frustrated all of us to meltdowns). The vantage point of a parent looking at their children has also reminded me how connected I feel to God right now, as I imagine him looking down at me. As the world quieted down, I feel like I could hear Him better and that has been such a gift for my spirit. It looks like a lot of gray, but also a lot of happy colors. There is still so much joy and beauty and light in the world, and, as I look for it, I am overwhelmed by how much I see. There is service and kindness and sacrifice and love. No matter where people live or how old they are, I see over and over that humans are good. For my family, it’s been wonderful to have so much time together. For those we love outside our home, it’s made us creative and reminded us how much we value being together. For humanity, we will get through this together. ❤️🌎❤️[“Together” 12x12, available on my website for the first taker: https://www.stephaniehock.com/originals]