Watercolours are horrible. I’m sorry but I despise using them. Why are they so runny yet not at the same time, difficult to use; flowy and messy like my life right now. Sure they can be used to create sometimes decent art with meaning, but not often. Literature, as a written form of art, is far superior to watercolours in the ease of manipulation to create a hive of meaningful statements. The following blog draws from various quotes which paint a better image of my life than watercolours will ever do.
“They who dream by day are cognisant of many things which escape those who dream only by night”
A short story by Edgar Allan Poe, Eleonora follows an unnamed narrator who lives with his aunt and cousin in the Valley of the Many-Coloured Grass. After many years of living together, the narrator and Eleonora begin to fall in love with one another, however, this love was not meant to be and eventually leads to the narrator leaving the valley after her death. The quote discusses how dreams, specifically daydreaming, can provide individuals with insight over those who do not.
Multiple notations from this passage can be taken and applied to one’s life; similar to how I have done. Though daydreaming can be viewed as unproductive by some, for me it directs the creation of ideas and visions for projects in my life. Unlike dreaming in one’s sleep or using watercolours, daydreaming allows the user to remember said dream in addition to influencing the direction of the images. All this daydreaming helps release my creativity and assist in consolidating a vision for projects, which is helpful as I am an artist.
Furthermore, dreaming in general is one form which an individual may use to escape from the reality around them. In Eleonora, the narrator does this to some extent in his imagination or viewing of the valley and world he lives in. The descriptions of the valley greatly coincide with his mood in the story; with happiness in a flowering valley and sadness within a withering one. Personally, I do daydream often to leave reality and everything happening around me. Though chaotic and cluttered, my mind is often a safe haven from the tribulations confronting the fortress in my mind. Daydreaming to distract myself happens when I am bored in, say physics class, or when I am just trying to avoid all the problems in my life, say using watercolours or being in physics class. Maybe this is why I struggled in that class.
“So, even though you have broken my heart yet again, I wanted to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.”
A movie directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere, All at Once, follows Evelyn Wong as she struggles to balance managing her struggling laundromat, a declining marriage with her husband Waymond, on top of decaying relationships with both her father and daughter. While having a meeting with an IRS agent, Evelyn suddenly experiences an eye-opening delve into the multiverse and takes control of alternate realities of her own life. Through these different realities, Evelyn races to defeat a threat to the multiverse all while reconnecting with herself. The passage is used by Evelyn’s husband, Waymond, in response to Evelyn referring to their normal life as ‘unfulfilling’ and ‘sad’. Waymond helps open up his wife’s eyes to the joy that can be found in their everyday lives.
The core message of the quote resonates with me; how the simple mundane tasks we do every day cumulates into something more meaningful. I feel like many of us can relate to this with our relationships with our parents, or at least I can. Despite all the challenges which appear in a relationship, the only reason the connection still exists is from some sort of affection hiding underneath all the conflict. The little moments of life you spend with those you love are what truly build one’s happiness. Though they may not have been seen as much in the moment, once these simple things are gone, you start to miss them. Friends who you took for granted as you saw them every day will one day disappear and you are only left to reminisce about the memories you had together.
Furthermore, many of the themes explored throughout the film connect me on a personal level; such as relationships with one’s family. As a teenager, I am sure all of us at some point have had difficulty connecting with our parents; meeting the expectations they have of us or simple disagreements which rapidly flow out of control as combatant colours. Our parents usually parent us in a similar manner to the way they were raised; they see that they turned out fine so why not do the exact same to raise their children? However, as a result, negative attributes are passed down and generational trauma is formed. This is seen in the movie through Evelyn’s relations with her father who raised her and then her daughter who she raised in a similar parenting style; both of which led to unhealthy, dysfunctional relationships. Furthermore, just as a person descended from an Asian immigrant family, numerous cultural elements within the movie connect with me on a personal level. This includes the usage of some Cantonese, my native language, being used in the movie in addition to the Lunar New Year celebration depicted.
The above quotations and countless others not listed here resonate with me more than the watercolour piece I did last month. These passages flow to illustrate a finer image of my life and the mush of emotions locked up in this bag of flesh. This blog may have unveiled more about myself or maybe it did not, but at the very least you know that watercolours are one of my least favourite mediums to use.
Citations:
- https://stock.adobe.com/ca/search?k=watercolor%20painting
- https://www.google.com/searchq=dreaming&rlz=1CAGZLV_enCA947CA947&sxsrf=AJOqlzXW2F5T7I7OgxMjXdxggHzZQVj2Qg:1678325147012&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj34dGx2M39AhXMFzQIHbJnAE0Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1536&bih=714&dpr=1.25#imgrc=8gSKoGYsmS-GpM
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6710474/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/intergenerational-trauma-representation-around-globe-effects-das