12: Let’s Reframe This

Chris Suarez (00:00):

Welcome back to experience growth with Chris Suarez. I am your host. And, today I wanted to, share a story actually. I am, embarking on an activity that the average American does every nine or 10 years. It just so happens to be right now for myself and my family. We are preparing our home for sale.

yes, we will be moving in my next. This podcast will tell you a little bit more about that. But, but this week I've been packing and unpacking and in hiding and closets and, and throwing in drawers as I prepared for the photographer to come in. But, But I enrolled some original star Wars prints that my dad found in an estate sale last year and convinced himself that I just had to have a, I love my dad.

My dad is a forever searcher. He, he, goes to state sales and did garage sales and you name it. he finds, 'em actually some pretty incredible things, but, but he found some original star Wars prints now. Those of you who know me know, I watch about one movie a year. I'm not even sure I've seen star Wars, but of course my dad found them and I had to have them.

So I appreciate the gift. and they were actually hand original sketched star Wars posters that were used to advertise the movies originally in the theater. they're probably worth something and that's why they were rolled up in a drawer. so I unrolled, These posters and, and, and thought to myself, gosh, I should put these up.

In fact, I looked around my walls and thought to myself, that's something I don't have any art on my walls. I never, officially even moved into this home that, that we bought, gosh, I guess 12, 11 or 12 years ago. my second daughter was born. but of course when my dad gifted them to me, I was appreciative.

I was thankful I was excited and then stuck them in a drawer. So earlier this week, as I committed, as any seller would have their home, I began to knock out all those projects that I should have done while living in my home. and, I prepared it for someone else to live in and it does. I rolled out these prints and began to put them in some frames.

by the way, those frames are purchased by my dad in a state sale and gifted to me as well. I couldn't help, but recall. All the times in the past two weeks that I've heard the expression, let's reframe this. since Kobe 19 showed up, I've heard public speakers and politicians and authors and like late night house and economists and business owners and wall street analysts all use this term reframe.

And it's forced people to think different. It's forced people to act different. It's forced people to behave different in effect, reframing their world, amidst a changing environment. and until this week as actually went through the process of reframing some actual prints, it hadn't struck me just how powerful that statement was when used.

Accurately as it was intended originally and what it actually means. See, as we look at where we were, as we look at where we are, as we look at where we are going short things look a bit different, the edges and the borders of our days and our lives. And our weeks may look fuzzy. They may look unclear.

Gosh, they may be even a little bit torn up. But we paint from the center. Guys, we sketch from the center. We design from the center, the center, or what is most important. And every piece of art remains unchanged. Even if those edges of the paper. Get torn. In fact, as we add that border or that frame around that painting or that sketch or that drawing or that photo, the center may actually be clear than it ever was.

see, that's the purpose of a frame, the purpose of the frame isn't to draw the eye to the frame, the purpose of the frame is to draw the eye to the center. That piece of work. The art, every one of us needs to reframe where we are right now. We need to reframe our work lives. We need to reframe our personal lives.

We need to reframe our family. he lives and some of us have, That doesn't mean to change them, just refocus and recenter on what's the most important thing right now. If there's any good that has come out of the last few weeks has been the bet that the human race has recentered on what is most important.

Ironically, in a time of social distancing, I believe we as humans have [00:05:00] actually recentered socially and become more humanly connected. We're spending more time talking to loved ones. We're spending more time. With our children, we're spending more time with our spouses and our partners. We're spending more time with those that really matter.

So the artists going back to Prince artists will tell you that choosing a frame is quite important as it compliments the piece of art  in a quite unexpected way, more importantly, the best frame. Draws attention to the art itself. It enhances the artwork. It doesn't distract from it.

See, it's easy to allow the outside to distract us right now to allow the edges to distract us right now, to pull us away from the center of our personal art. Right now, there is so much noise about what's happening. There is so much noise about what did happen might happen, could happen. Won't happen. It is time for us to reframe.

As I slid those star Wars sketches into the frames, press them against the grass glass, Secured the back of that frame and turn them around. The picture was the same as it always had been. The millennium Falcon. It was still there. Skywalker Leah solo, C3 R2D2. Did I get this all right.

They were all there as they were before they were. Before I put them in the frame, but now the Prince looked complete. They looked clean, they looked polished. They looked care for, they were ready to hang on the wall and look good when my future buyer for this house walked in. See, we all need to gather.

Our goals. We need to gather our visions. We need to gather the missions that we had painted and crafted and realize that all those things are unchanged. We just need to recenter and reframe. Sure. The world is surrounded. The world around us has changed the props dramatically. So guys. But desktop that vision and mission, you sketched out for yourself in the permanent marker that you put it in and reframe it, right?

It may be in the drawer. Maybe you push it aside. Maybe you took it off the wall for a day, a week, a couple of weeks, even the last month. one artist said that the frame there's a boundary that separates the art from the outside natural world. Man. I could not agree more. The frame acts as a boundary that separates the art from the outside natural, or maybe at the moment, unnatural world this weekend.

Spend some time connecting with your plans, your goals, your vision, your mission. Heck don't wait for the weekend. Do it tomorrow. Do it today. Do it this evening. Do it this morning. Sure, the outside world has changed, but the art that you have created and continue to create has not reframe the art, hang it on the wall in front of you.

Take control today of your hours. Take control of your days, your weeks, your months, the rest of your year, go down to your storage room, unroll your personal print and put it in a new frame. 

It's time to reframe where we were reframe, where we are and reframe where we're going.