I woke up today contemplating how I always have this insatiable need to feel validated in order to feel accomplished, loved, successful, on the right path...or even just to be able to paint! And the validation always seems to need to come from an outside source: a companion, friend, family member, colleague, career success, church, education, teaching, sales, publication...or one of those everyone-loves-you darn chain emails we all love/hate to get. I'm sure everyone has their own version of this list.
Artists in particular, seem to feel this need to be validated most keenly. We work alone and then hope the world will love our work. Often we feel misunderstood...even from another planet. But even when we do feel successful, the problem is, there will always come a time when even that is not enough. Or, suddenly, others don't believe in you, your art or your dreams anymore (enter doubt and fear). Or, heaven forbid, you find yourself alone and without any kind of emotional support and reason for being, and your heart is crying, "Validate me!" Your mind is littered with self-doubt and self-disgust and there's just no way you'll paint today feeling like this! So then what do you do? (Are you smiling at me?)
Well, I decided to look to one source I'd been neglecting for a while. You know, that eternal, divine voice within that some of us refer to as God, the Universe or Infinite Possibility. Not the little nagging voice we all want to shut up...but that quiet, peaceful one that we all wish we knew how to hear more of.
So like the former librarian I am, I did a word search on "validate"...and it was quite remarkable! I noticed that "countenance" came under "validate" which made the following Bible verse very exciting:
"Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance." (Ps. 89: 15)
So, we walk in the light of God's validation, character, condition, presence, blessing, acknowledgment, approval, support, applause, encouragement, confirmation. As a result, we'll have calmness, self-control, composure, presence of mind, a lovely appearance...and a good kisser!? No kidding! (I LOVE dictionary.com!!!)
I then reasoned that God champions you and me. He/She champions us, advises us, argues for us, accepts and affirms our very being. God bolsters us, builds us up, campaigns and promotes us; defends and justifies us. He speaks for us, upholds us, argues for us...even rides shotgun for us! He has your back and mine...we are the very colors of Her character and condition! She gives us Her seal of approval. He legitimizes and legalizes us, esteems and praises us, respects and authenticates us, authorizes and mandates us, confirms and endorses us. God gives us the divine stamp of approval of His/Her nature; gives us the green light; bears witness to us; substantiates us; endorses and corroborates us; vouches for us; verifies us; justifies us; professes us; sustains us; swears by us! Declares and announces us; argues and asserts for us; publishes us; insists and maintains us; brings us forward; sustains us; confirms and proclaims us; conveys us; informs all of us; reaffirms us; demonstrates and manifests you and me.
So, I'm feeling pretty darn substantiated, aren't you? If you need more evidence, just check in with your divine inner voice-- and dictionary.com in the thesaurus section.
You could say that one result of today's word study is that I have removed all the "artist formerly known as..." paintings from my website!!! (A momentous moment!!!)
S'zanne is feeling mighty validated! However, if you should like to confirm and proclaim me further, please leave your compliments below. Otherwise, I'll assume you are glowing with approval! ;-)
Have a happy, validated day!
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