The Date. November 24 2019. The time. 9:41 pm.
I am sitting in my bed in Tianjin writing this. I am just a simple girl who loves art and wants to do art for the rest of my life. I can’t believe my dream is starting to come true and I am slowly getting there. It seems unreal and overwhelming to me at times the amount of appreciation, love, support, encouragement, and blessings I get from you all. I feel on top of the world that you are approaching me, becoming aware of me and what I do and I am getting known and you are interested in my art. So happy and excited for the future and new possibilities and doors to open. I really can’t thank all of you lovely beautiful people enough….
Ok… let me take you a few hours back to something that changed my life and helped me discover and gain confidence in myself and a new possibility of something I can do (which I admit I was straight up refusing and didn’t want to think about at all before this (even though people have been asking me for some years now, encouraging me to try once and see how I feel)) … but that all changed today… when I realized how fun and enjoyable it is, when I was so real and natural and didn’t even have to try, where I can truly be myself just like I am when I am creating my art.
Stop the suspense and get to the point- this is not a thriller, it’s a blog post… you are probably screaming at your screen. Ok ok….point taken… time machine- to the past please….
The Date. November 24 2019. The time. 1:06 pm.
“You are a natural with kids”. “Why are you so nervous? You don’t need to be. Just talk freely and openly like you always do”. “You inspire us”. “It is nothing, no need to be scared, you can do it”. “They called you because of your art, your talent and your personality, just chill and be yourself”. “You should and can totally do it”. As I walked towards the Taj Pavilion Lido Restaraunt in Beijing, all these words that people said to me when I told them I was nervous, unsure, uncertain of what would happen or how it would all turn out came back to me. But I am not a professional at this.. I have no experience of this… will it go ok? Today’s the day. The day when I test the waters and see how I feel. The day of my first art workshop. The day of my first live art teaching session. The day I can finally, with confidence and surety answer the question so many people ask me, “Do you teach art?” (but that’s getting ahead of myself, that’s for later).
I reach the main door of the restaurant. I can see the kids already on the tables, the teachers and parents surrounding them. I take a deep breath and as a one last self-motivation say to myself: “You will do great! You are Gurm, you love both art and kids, just be yourself, just go with the flow”. I put on my best smile and confidence (umm do you put on confidence?, anyway moving on) and walk in.
Inside, I am greeted to hugs, waves, smiles, appreciation and applause. That already made me feel less nervous and like myself again. Ok, let’s do this!!! It’s pretty chill!! The kids are already drawing and have their materials ready so I just join in the fun. So I just talk art, chat about my life, joke and play and do art and have a good time with the kids, parents and teachers. And we all enjoyed and had a blast together.
Sometimes in life, you just need that push, that awakening, that motivation to try something new ,to take that road to new beginnings, new adventures to discover what is in you, to know what you are capable of… I have always loved both art and kids and I knew I should go for it no matter how nervous, how uncertain I was of how it would turn out…
Thank you so much Gurukul Beijing for inviting me to conduct and lead this art workshop, for allowing me to experience the extraordinary talent that these amazing kids (and parents too) have, and for giving me the memory of a lifetime that I will cherish forever!!!
It was one of the best experiences of my life. One of those moments where I laughed to myself at how silly I was to feel nervous and hesitate about doing art classes and workshops. It came so naturally to me. I didn’t even have to try. So yes, the answer to “Do you teach art?” is “I will start to very soon”. So be ready!