Boxed in, but later in life, showing bright colours!
This is a regular blog that presents an interview with a person that is dedicated to stressfree living. People do amazing things, fight and win amazing battles, and are successful in creating happiness and satisfaction for themselves and others, without being perfect.
Recently, I listened to a talk of Penny Power (Ecademy – www.ecademy.com), and she mentioned how ‘we all have a song to sing’ and how sad it is that there are people, who doesn’t sing their song. This resonated with me, as for a long time, I felt the song inside, but couldn’t sing. And now I can and I do and I want to sing alone and with others who are singing and with the ones that want to learn to sing!
In this edition, I will interview…….. Wil Lasonder, painter and writer.
In this edition, I will interview Wil Lasonder, 73, a remarkable artist, who paints with oil paint, writes and recently got hooked on CorelDraw, the computer painting programme. A life that was filled looking after her 3 children, and a husband, who worked all hours and more. At the age of 45, she decided to follow her passion for creating and went to art school. Since then she spent her energy on family and creation. She published a book, and painted hundreds of canvasses. What is her song? 
Q: Wil, what a fabulous story. A woman who follows her heart, later in life. That can’t have been easy. How does that work?
There was a growing feeling of longing inside me, a niggle, a hunger for…… I didn’t know what it was. But when I saw a brochure about the Art Study at the university it all fell into place. I knew this was for me. Yes, it was 4 years, 4 evenings a week, but with all members of my family having their own busy lives with study, sports, work, it was time for me to get my life up and running. It wasn’t easy to get the rest of the family on board; after all, it made their life more difficult because I was less available. But after some initial rumblings, it was all sorted and everybody found their space, including me!
Q: What does the painting give you, in what way does it enrich your life?
There are these moments that I feel the heaviness of dark clouds hovering in my sky, the world seems dark, and life is daunting, I flight into my personal space, the shed at the back of the garden. Here are my friends waiting: white, empty, virginal canvasses, and an enormous range of colourfull paints. Brushes, small and big, are inviting me to use them to present the world in an abundance of vibrant colours. I forget, myself, everything around me, my worries and the horrors of the world. I am lost in my creation. Whatever comes out of that is irrelevant. What is relevant, is the joy and happiness that bubbles inside me when I am in that space. It is not only that ultimate happiness, and the fact that no one can take that away from me, it is also that wave of positive energy I get from it.
Child of the sun / Zonnekind
Q: How is your work related to stress?
Engaging in the process of painting and writing is for me a way of getting away from stress, and processing stressful situations. I was extremely annoyed with my PC; at the start of our relationship I wasn’t very kind to him. Due to lack of knowledge and skills we had some fights, but nowadays my PC and CorelDraw (a drawing programme) are good friends, offering me the oportunity to endlessly play with my fantasies, and write my stories, which all helps me to process life and keep stress at bay.
Q: If you could give one message about stressfree living, what would it be?
In my book, Distel, I write about anxieties and sadness, that is part of everybody’s life: take time to process, allow the harsness and depth of the sadness to drag you down, experience it to the full, so you can then leave that behind as something soft and slow, like an old story and keep the good memories. This way you create space for the new opportunities that life will offer.
Thanks Wil, for sharing this on the stressfreecoaching blog. Very poetic and very deep.
Girl in the cloud
It is fascinating to know that people change their lives around at the age of 45. It is also very encouraging and showing that, no matter where you are and what you are, if you know what you want to change, it might not be easy, but very rewarding for sure.
I wonder what others think about this reflection and also, are there other questions?
Please send your comment or questions on this wonderful topic.
Do you want to sing your song on this blog?
Please send an email to mariette.jansen.coaching@gmail.com or use the comment block at the bottom of the page.
