This painting is about letting go of unnecessary burdens and removing conflict from our lives. The idea for this painting, however, actually started from a place of despair. The past couple of years I had felt that my day-to-day existence had been colored largely by the decisions of those in power more than it ever had been before. I was tired of pointless mandates ruining my quality of life and the frequent situations that required herculean patience. I disliked how pride and power were winning over common sense and decency. I despaired over the prevalence of evil and the persecution of goodness. I felt trapped. I felt powerless. I felt used and taken advantage of. And confusion! There was no end to confusion. In response I sketched out an idea of a forest scene with birds all locked up in cages with a woman in the center sadly unable to free them. Here were all these obligations and burdens and expectations placed upon me and I unable to do anything about them. The more I thought about this idea, however, the more I realized that this was a hopeless view of things and not entirely true. Yes, I could not undo others’ choices or change my circumstances in all the ways that I wished, but there was something I could do: I could let go. I could let go of the burden of maintaining my fury. My anger could do nothing to make my situation better; on the contrary, maintaining my indignation was only adding to my woes. I decided, therefore, to change my outlook. I needed to focus on what I could change and let go of that which I couldn’t. I needed to not let outside pressures hold my mind captive. I empowered my character by having her release the birds in the cages. She could not control the actions of the birds, but she could remove her obligation to continue to harbor them and thereby find inner peace.
