There’s a saying, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great (Zig Ziglar).

I take comfort in this because it’s so true.

One of the hardest parts about being a beginner is when my goals, what I want to create, far exceed my skill and resources to create them.

I like watercolors for many reasons, I particularly like how flexible they are and how easy it is to create a variety of effects by simply adding a little more pigment or by adding more water. I also like the organic, unexpected results because I never quite know what water wants to do.

At the same time, I’m at ground zero when it comes to mixing colors as my first effort makes clear.

Beginnings are uncomfortable but they are also a precious time. I was talking with a friend about first jobs out of college. We both started out in low-paid, entry level positions which often required tedious, menial work like making copies, answering the phone, and getting coffee for bosses. But those entry-level jobs were a priceless way to understand our employers from the ground up. Having that exposure made me wiser and gave me a better perspective than my MBA colleagues who started with a more abstract understanding of how things actually worked.

So I’m getting my paints and brushes and I’m going to have another opportunity to be a beginner.