Does my life make a difference?
Thank you to painter Phil Roberts for the inspiration to write
my following article.
“Does my life make a difference?” “Does anyone ever notice me?”
“What purpose does my writing have?” These are questions that we
have asked ourselves, at one point in our lives. Are you
uncertain about your impact on others? Do you feel that your
time of usefulness is over? You never know who may be
appreciating you as a person or your work as an artist.
Ironically, I had not given any of this much thought until June
when I learned of Phil Roberts.
In June I came across a painting on the internet named “Fathers
Day’. The painting was painted by Phil Roberts. I was inspired
by that painting so much that it sparked my muse. I wrote a poem
regarding the painting. Then with no hesitation or thought, I
quickly sent it off to Mr. Roberts. A day later Mr. Roberts sent
me an email, it changed the way I thought about my writing and
life. Here is that following email.
Dear Rose, I’m floored! I am so flattered by your poem. It’s
beautiful. To hear that the work you do inspires someone else to
be creative, makes everything so worth it. And to hear about it
is such a gift. Thank you so much for your e-mail, I have the
biggest smile on my face… you made my week. The father in the
painting is a close family friend and famous Florida surfer Dick
Catri and his daughter Kim. I did the painting as a present to
Kim when she had her first son, Dick’s first grandchild. Dick’s
health is failing as of late, we all are worried about him. I
forwarded your poem to Kim; I know it’ll make her cry. The
painting is even more special now that I have my first daughter
and looking forward to the day I take her surfing. The original
art was featured in a museum show in Corpus Cristi, Texas and
will probably end up in the surf museum in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
I would love to send you a print of the painting to say Thanks,
if you’d like…e-mail me an address. As my friend / writer Drew
Kampion says “Life is a wave, Surf it gracefully”, as you have
captured so eloquently. Keep on writing.
That was the first email I received from Mr. Roberts I was
touched that he liked my poem so much. Prior to this I was
feeling disappointed. I was wondering if my life had any value
or if people cared. I mean I was always one not to hesitate
doing something nice for someone. I corresponded to Mr.
Roberts’s first mail and he sent me a second one back. In the
second letter I sent him a photo asking if this was Dick Catri.
After all I had now known the history behind the painting and I
wanted to take a closer look.
Yes, that’s Dick Catri! How’d you find that photo? The internet
is scary amazing. He’s an East Coast Champion and Hall of
Fame’r. He was a big wave surfer with the legends, like Greg
Noll, in Hawaii during the ’60s. I got my first job airbrush
painting on his surfboards when I was 15. I’ve been very close
with his family ever since. The tribe of surfers is a tight knit
family. I shared you poem with his daughter Kim, she thought it
was “extremely cool” and can’t wait to share it with Dick on
Fathers Day. My heart goes out to you for the loss of your
father, but “from where I sit” I see that his spirit is
definitely lives in your words. The love you put out there in
your writing is already effected myself and others and has come
back to you. Again thank you for your poem.
Now I was even more confident and pleased, that Kim was sharing
a poem that I had written with her father. It made writing even
more of a joy. To think my poem moved someone enough to share it
with their loved one. It has been said, “No man is an island.”
We should never underestimate the impact we can have on others.
If this was not the first of lessons God was showing me, that I
had an impact on others. I received a private message just that
day in my inbox that read
I don’t know if you remember me, but I was a member of your
online group among friends….I really miss talking to ya and I
am so Happy I found this site… Hope to talk soon…~KRISTI~
This came from a young woman who was a member of an online
community I ran two years ago a web ring for women who I had not
talk to sense I closed the site. I was flattered and touched
that on her website she still had all the gifts and awards from
when I ran my web ring. She then said to me “Rose of course I
still have all my awards…they mean so much to me
Another online friend said to me that week, Do you know why the
Dead Sea is dead? I said no why? Well, because the water flows
only one way. It does nothing but take, like many people we
know. You are more like the Atlantic. You both take and give.
Therefore you thrive and give life to others. Think of this
analogy when ever you feel down and if anyone gives a damn.
I never thought that I had much of an impact on those around me,
but I guess I really do. So next time you are asking
yourself,”Does my life make a difference?” “Does anyone ever
notice?” You bet they do. You see you may be just writing these
feelings down as a way to express your emotions, you might be
doing something for someone because it’s in your nature to do
kind deeds. However it is the over impact that you have on a
person that is the most rewarding thing out of life.
When I’m on my death bed, I want to leave this world knowing
three things. Did I live my life to the fullest? Did I live my
life as I wanted to, not as others wanted and did I touch the
life of just one person? Now I can honestly say I have.
