Taking It On The Chin

A couple of months ago, I was closing the door to my little store room when I heard a crash.

I immediately reopened the door and discovered that a decorative easel had fallen over and impaled one of my sock monkey paintings.

Impaled!

The poor little guy took it right on the chin.

I was really sad, and also mad at myself for not placing the easel in a more stable position.

It couldn't have happened to a nicer painting.

Out of all the sock monkey paintings I have ever created, I've identified most with this one. And of all the senses, the auditory is my most developed. I've always been very sensitive to sound. My mother even noted it in my baby book. And I also have to admit that in life, sometimes there are things I just don't want to hear.

To make matters worse, the little monkey was struck on the left chin, right under his lower lip. That's the same place that I have permanent nerve damage. ( At age 18, when my wisdom teeth were extracted, they hit nerve, and I never got the feeling back on that part of my face.)

The nerve damage affected my ability to retain a proper clarinet embouchure and I quit playing. Out of all the things I've ever done in my life, I was the most gifted with this instrument. It just felt like an extension of myself.


And I just gave up.

Oh I've picked up the clarinet from time to time, but it's painful not to be able to play as I did and I soon put it down. (An ironic aside, embouchure is also defined as the mouth of a river, and I am named after a river. )

Now back to the painting. Though I was tempted, I couldn't throw the little guy away. It's part of a "No Bad Stuff" series I created back in 2007.

Speak No Bad Stuff


See No Bad Stuff



Hear No Bad Stuff













I considered painting a new one, but I knew I'd never match the feel of the first two.

So I've decided to repair the piece. And I'm not going to have it done. I feel I need to do this myself. I feel that in the repair of the painting, I will help heal my own wounds.

As for my clarinets, ( I have an E flat and a B flat) it's time to play again. And this time I have to keep going.

We both took it on the chin. This time, I'm repairing the damage and moving on.