Courage and Conviction,...

My mother passed away recently, after a long and fulfilling life.  She always lived her life with courage and conviction. This has been a great gift for me.
She supported my artistic endeavors and my art career completely. I know so many who are told by the people that care for them that they should consider smarter options and have a 'back up plan' in case it doesn't work out. This is reasonable I suppose, there are not a lot of successful artists out there.  Instead, my mom took my shopping for art supplies instead when I was only about 12 years old.  I had sold a couple of paintings so I had some money and needed more art supplies, I wanted to start painting in oils.  We found some oil paints that were on sale, I hesitated, it was a big decision for me.  She asked me "Is this what you want?".  I said 'Yes, I think so."  "It's a good price, buy them" she told me.  I actually still have some of those oil paints, it was a great investment, in more ways than one.  
My parents had a hard life with many challenges, and we were poor. Still, my dad always liked his work and was happy with his career. I remember one day him telling my mom that he was unhappy with his new boss and it was making his job difficult and unbearable. They had no savings or any way to keep going without even a week's pay, and there was no UI at the time. My mom told him to quit and not worry about it, things would work out she insisted. As it turns out, one of the customers at the business where my dad was employed found out he was thinking of leaving and offered to hire him right away. It was a good position that he never would have imagined possible. I like that kind of magic, and it has always worked for me too.
 
Thanks to the support and inspiration she gave me I have never let fear, or reasonable considerations of safety and security, get in my way of doing what I wanted to do. It has made all the difference.