I’ll be the first one to say that I’m a work in progress. Not long ago I did not see progress - only stagnation. There was no fluidity or movement, only a sense of being locked in place. And the place where I was, was not the place I wanted to be. But how do we move when we feel locked in? We pick the lock. We cut the lock. We break the lock. It takes strength, determination and focus to move. Most of all it takes direction. Where are you now and where do you want to be?

Knowing these two things is the start to movement. But in order to know where you are and where you want to be, you have to see the movement. None of that is possible when we are fixated. Case in point, this painting. Perhaps you saw my post on how I took this painting into the bathroom the other day to black light it in hopes of deciphering the signature. I had bought it a couple years ago and was fixated on the name.



Unable to read it, I gave up. The ‘it’ was my failure at reading the name which I saw as the only entry point to unlocking the story of the painting. So when I black lit it, I had not moved from my previous position - still completely locked in place. That is, until yesterday. I was watching my daughters’ Muay Thai class and listening to the coaches speak about movement. They wanted all the students to move while practicing the combination.



I happened to have my laptop with me, so I did a little moving too. Instead of pinpointing my view of the painting from only one angle, I moved. I keyed in a few terms and started to scroll through images. One after another, each with a different view from a different place. Until I saw where I wanted to be. Along the docks of the Louvre, looking past the Pont des Arts and on to Notre Dame. I was in Paris in the turn of the last Century. Hearing the noises of the cranes on the barges on the Seine. Watching as the river flowed. No, I still don’t know the artist. But I’m moving on the path to understanding the painting. And the Pont des Arts? That’s the bridge that had all the padlocks on it. Locks declaring love. Love locked in place. Well they’ve all been removed. Seems the City of Love prefers not to have its love locked in place. ;-) hkv