Watching paint dry might not sound like an activity anyone would actually take up: simply sitting and concentrating on the process going on in front of your eyes, while the paint dries. Finding similarities between paint drying and life. To be honest, a mere month ago, I would have been shocked to think like that. For a girl who spent over 14 years running around in art schools whilst always being covered in paint, I was still a newbie when it came to realising the true value of paint drying. Last month I visited a friend of mine from high school who was renovating his apartment. We were joking around about watching the paint dry until I decided to take on the challenge. I sat and watched the paint dry in absolute silence. After the first five minutes I thought I was going mental, it seemed like my mind was bursting with thoughts. I could not come up with anything to think about, yet everyday problems were racing through my mind. Minutes passed and so I sat there – alone, lost in my own thoughts and an unchanging environment. After about half an hour, I started to see a change of colour on the wall. While my thoughts where getting deeper and more philosophical, the wall was turning just a little bit lighter with every passing minute. I was truly surprised when I discovered the connection between my thoughts and the changes I was observing on the wall. As it was drying my thoughts became clearer and more structured. I started to question every aspect of my life. If the wall can change its appearance and purpose so easily then why can’t I? Why is it so hard for me to change – to let everything go? Then it hit me. While the wall changes slowly and the change is not visible until the process is done, the same applies to us. People are born into this world as a white wall, which is then splashed with paint by their environment around. The paint dries as time passes, but there is always new paint splashed on top, so some spots will never dry fully. When painting a wall, you need to be careful to cover it neatly and make sure it is smooth all over. All mistakes will be visible and it will be harder to fix them once the paint has dried. The same theory works for life as well – you can’t erase your past and mistakes. Everything that happens in life will stay as a coat of paint. You can always change your environment and get a new coat, but that does not scrap off the old layer. Sometimes a new layer will not be thick enough and therefore the past will remain visible underneath. Painting over a red wall with white paint will not be successful unless you add layer after layer until the red does not show anymore. I believe that taking just one hour to watch paint dry could be an eye-opening experience for all of us. Afterwards we might be more open to reevaluating our situation in life and the choices we make. If someone truly wants to understand human nature they should learn how to focus their thoughts, for instance by watching paint dry. Annemari Sepp
When watching is not enough