The Magic of the First Mark

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Last week, we talked about Inner Excellence and the idea of heart first, performance second. This week, I’d like to add The Dot (affiliate), by Peter H. Reynolds (affiliate link) to the mix.

From a book about professional athletes to a picture book about a dot? I know, but I love how a children’s book can take a big idea and help us take a deep dive into it.

In The Dot (affiliate), Vashti sits in her chair at the end of art class with a blank sheet of paper. She’s scowling. She’s not enjoying the class because she’s decided she can’t draw. Her teacher asks her to just make a mark.

Rebelliously, Vashti jabs the paper and makes a dot. It’s not exactly a creative awakening, but still, it is a mark. It’s a beginning. The teacher studies the paper and asks Vashti to sign it. While Vashti doesn’t believe she can draw, she knows she can sign her name and she does.

The next week, she walks into art class and sees her dot framed above the teacher’s desk. Seeing her own effort, she decides she can make a better dot and she begins painting dots in all colors. She combines colors to make new colors. As she works, her face changes. She loses her scowl and begins to smile. That first dot, was a doorway, made in the middle of Vashti’s own scarcity story. She couldn’t draw. She didn’t have enough talent. She wasn’t an artist. Most of us know that scarcity story. “There’s not enough.” “I’m not enough.”

Vashti begins to change her own story by making that first dot. It gives her something to work with. It gives her a reference for improving. She practices, and as she practices, she creates evidence that helps her see herself differently.

At the school art show, one frustrated dot leads to a wall full of art. Her inner excellence grows with practice and changes how she sees herself, and then, it overflows.

A little boy looks at Vashti’s work and tells her she’s a great artist. He also wishes he could draw. He’s standing where Vashti sat at the beginning of the story. He believes he can’t. The thing is, Vashti now recognizes this place. I love that she encourages one little boy. I love that her inner excellence leads to generosity. She found a doorway with her dot and now she holds that same doorway open for him. She hands him a blank page. He makes a line, which means his doorway looks a little different, but it’s still a doorway. By asking him to sign his picture, she ensures he walks through the door. She gives him what she was given.

It’s interesting that inner excellence can also lead to generosity. Vashti begins to believe she has enough talent and she is able to help someone else discover they do, too. That’s abundance.

The first mark helped Vashti begin. Practicing helped her get better. The art show gave her evidence. Encouraging the little boy meant she was living from her new identity. She could make her own art and help someone else make theirs.

A dot is never just a dot. It’s a magical moment that creates a doorway to identity, abundance, and a new story.

What new story would you like to embrace? Where might a dot of effort make a difference for you?

I’ll be cheering you on,

 

If this resonated and you’d like to try life coaching, send me a message and let’s set something up.