trying new things – Five Feet High Thoughts

If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I ever envisioned myself being someone who enjoys playing golf, so much so that I would actually miss playing it during the winter months, it would have been a solid “no” followed by a chuckle or two. It’s crazy to think back, even that short time ago, and recognize how disinterested I was in playing golf; I had no real desire to get out there and felt it was far too boring. To be fair, apart from mini golfing, my experience and exposure to playing golf was very limited; no one in my household played golf, and neither did anyone in my extended family or even my friends. In school, while I was exposed to many different kinds of sports, golf was not one of them. Thus, many of my years were spent not even considering it as a hobby or pastime, there were plenty of other sports and things to occupy my time, so I didn’t give it much thought… until recently.

A few years ago, our good friends were living up in Port Carling for work (they were chefs working at one of the main resorts) and whenever we could, we tried to go up and visit them for a weekend. On one of these weekends, we decided to go to one of the small 9-hole golf courses up there; something to do for an afternoon and we figured we could entertain ourselves with how potentially bad our game would be. At the time, I knew very little about golf. The basics of the game and scoring I understood, but as far as what clubs to use or how to properly swing were totally unknown to me. In my mind, we were going golfing just for fun; this course was very inexpensive, so it’s not like this round of fun was costing us $50+ dollars or anything. As the day progressed, I was pretty much as bad as I expected to be, with the odds not in my favour, though I did manage to score a par, but overall I wasn’t going to be picking up the clubs again anytime soon. I don’t remember what my score was, but that was probably for the best. Nevertheless it was a fun afternoon hanging out with friends and getting to be outside for the day. After this, returning to the golf course didn’t cross my mind and it would be a number of years before I ever set foot on a course again…

In 2018, one of my very good friends was getting married, and if you’ve been following my previous posts you already know that I was the Best Woman in his wedding. To celebrate, myself and the other Best Woman took our friend to Myrtle Beach for a week; call it a bachelor week celebration but really and truly it was a perfect excuse for us to celebrate over a decade of friendship and go on a road trip. The groom being a golfer, we knew that hitting up a golf course in Myrtle Beach was a definite must-do for the trip. So that’s just what we did. Through researching the kinds of courses Myrtle Beach had to offer, we knew this wasn’t an experience we could simply wing, we needed to arrive to the course looking the part as if we had all been avid golfers for years (or at least trying). I took this task very seriously. I didn’t want to show up to such a fancy golf course and goof around. Of course, having fun was still the main goal, but if I was going to be golfing at a place like Myrtlewood Golf Club, I had to prepare. Not to mention, the groom really enjoyed golfing, so we owed it to him to be in the zone and willing to make the most of those 18 holes.

Months before the trip, I did my homework. I started to learn more about the game and I picked the brain of the groom to ask about his own experiences with golf. I kept an eye on a few shops to see if a good bargain for a set of golf clubs would ever come up, and had my friend looking out as well. I went to a driving range or two, trying whole-heartedly to give myself a better shot at performing well this time around. If I could score a par by fluke the last time, who knows what I was capable of doing on a 18-hole course with some legitimate practice. I knew that we were going to have fun regardless of the score, but I changed my mindset on the whole golf experience; I really wanted to focus on the skills and not just wack a ball around for several hours. Not to mention, I didn’t want my friend to be golfing with two people who were out there taking 8 to 10 strokes per hole; ain’t nobody got time for that!

A few days before we left for Myrtle Beach I was able to find a great starter set of clubs, and loaded up on balls and tees and some other golfing accessories. Before long, days into our trip had passed and it was finally golfing day. All of us were excited! The sun was shining, and we had such a stellar week so far, the golf was going to be another great highlight to add to the reel. With the guidance of my friend, coupled with my own intentions of tuning out any negative thoughts, being mindful of my swings, and focusing my attention on the ball, most of the holes were met with success. Don’t get me wrong, a few of the holes absolutely destroyed any confidence I thought I had about my game improving, I mean 13 strokes on hole 4 is pretty devastating. How does one come back from that? A par on hole 6 should do it! Despite what some may think, getting that par on hole 6 was such an electrifying feeling. Golfing on such a legitimate course, and coming back strong with a par after that horrendous 13-stroke hole 4, was incredible! The day was still early, but it was just the boost of confidence I needed for the remaining holes. Looking back on that game, there were definite lows and highs. Knowing what I know now (which still isn’t a great deal) I recognize where my shots got sloppy (probably due to fatigue) or where I didn’t think ahead of where exactly I wanted the ball to end up. The scorecard was pretty up and down; I did manage to get a few bogeys, but I also managed to get a few more 10 or 11 stroke holes *facepalm*. Overall, that 6 hour day of golf was exhausting. More notably, it left me thinking more about the game more than I ever had before. Now I was interested in getting out there again, and maybe getting another par or two!

Celebrating a Par on Hole 6
Myrtlewood Golf Club – May 2018

During the trip to Myrtle, the three of us did a lot of vlogging, and when we got home and watched some of the footage from the trip, I was thankful that we captured some of the golfing trip so that I could really relive the fun and excitement. Each time I thought about that day on the course, I kept thinking over what I would do differently next time, and assessing where and how I could improve. Before long, I recognized that golf was going to be something that I really enjoyed and wanted to keep playing. Something about being outdoors, challenging yourself and your own skill, as well as the peacefulness of having nothing to worry about but getting that ball on the green was very satisfying. These days, it is so easy to get caught up in all the distractions around us, but when I was golfing, that was all I was thinking about. Going on the golf course allowed me to shut-out everything else going on and just sharpen my skill by defining my thoughts on my own game. Golfing allowed me to be really present in the moment, and to take my time; something that is really taken for granted. Not to mention, being on the golf course was a really great opportunity to have quality time with someone; being outside in a quiet setting has that sort of effect.

Nottawasaga Golf Course, Alliston Ontario

Coming around to golf and thoroughly enjoying it wasn’t years in the making. It’s safe to say that one experience completely changed my perspective. Despite having really crummy holes in some of the rounds, I continued to focus on getting better; hitting further, making better contact, having the ball travel straighter to where I needed it to go, and yeah, getting another par or two each round. Perhaps one day, even a birdie! As I said, it wasn’t long before I was back on the course. There were still crummy holes played, but there were many more improvements! I have my friend to thank for a lot of my progress, merely because he was very patient with me but also helped to pinpoint what little adjustments I needed to make to get better. When I would go to him for feedback, he helped me to recognize where I was right, and how I could move forward with my own critiques to ensure that I would get into the swing of things in no time.

Playing at Nottawasaga Resort Golf Course
Continuing the Par Streak at Innisbrook Golf Club

So there you have it, a quick history on how I came around to enjoying golf. When I sit down to write these kinds of blogs, it always reminds me of how important it is to not only give things a chance, but how crucial it is to have the right kind of mindset, attitude, and presence while you’re doing these things. Don’t get me wrong, there was absolutely nothing discouraging about my friends the first time I went golf back in 2014, as those people are some of the best people to be around. I believe it is just about timing. There is a time and place for everything, and sometimes it takes some aged wisdom coupled with the growing need for one to unplug for an afternoon and just enjoy the great outdoors with some great company, playing a game that can be so great, and so greatly frustrating.

When I was in school, Art was always my least favourite subject. As a student, I was always up for a challenge, but there was something about the art class that always made me cringe. I guess I should clarify, I am referring specifically to the visual arts (drawing, painting, pottery etc.) as I have been and always will be a drama kid; as for music, I cannot play an instrument to save my life…

What always stressed me out about art class was the expectations. The balance of mastering the techniques while also adding your own creative flair to whatever art piece you were working on, always made art class very stressful for me. Getting good grades was always important to me, yes, I was a nerd that way, so while most people felt relaxed and excited about art class, I was dreading it.

Anyone who knows me knows that confidence is not something that I lack. Yet, I was never confident in my artistic abilities, most specifically with drawing and painting. I was relieved that I never had to take another art class in my life after Grade 9, but then I reached the final year in my Concurrent Education program at Nipissing, and I was required to take Art as one of my teachable subjects (yay for choosing the elementary stream!) – such sarcasm…

Once again, I found myself faced with the stress and nervousness I felt in school during art class. I didn’t feel my skills were up to par, and if I couldn’t produce a good sample of art, how would I ever teach the skills and techniques? That art class in Nipissing was truly dreadful for me, especially because our final assignment was to design a portfolio showcasing a variety of different mediums and skills learned throughout the semester. The only project I took any pride in was an Art Integration Assignment, where we had to create a piece of art that blended two sections of the curriculum together. My friend and I chose Art & Grade 7 Geography and created this Model of the Nile River. Truth be told, the only reason I was happy with it was that I myself had done the exact same project when I was in Grade 7, so I already had an idea of how it was going to turn out; I had already done all the trial and error stuff when I was a kid…is that considered cheating?

Nipissing University J/I Visual Arts Class 2010

Long story short, I didn’t fail the class, and actually ended up with a very decent mark, but I was still so glad it was over and I would hopefully never have to do art ever again…until December 2012.

Remember when there was that whole thing about the world ending in 2012? Well, my friends and I had an “It’s the End of 2012, Not the End of the World” party, and my friend thought it would be cool to paint and make t-shirts. Sounds fun right? Well, once again, all these horrible memories of trying to perfect techniques and get your brush strokes just right came flooding over me. I realize as I write this that I am sounding very much like a perfectionist, and a tad dramatic, but this is honestly how much I detested art. Anyway, I went along with it, but you better believe I complained the whole time.

The night was fun, but not because of the art. After this, my one friend, in particular, continued to tease me about how whiny I was about “art class” and that one day I would learn to enjoy making art. He might read this, and he already knows, but he was right. In years to come, I would grow to really like art, and here’s how that happened.

In Summer 2014 I worked a Summer Camp and we had the opportunity to take the kids on many field trips throughout the summer. One of the trips was to Creative Cafe in Barrie. If you don’t know what Creative Cafe is, look it up, it’s amazing. Here, the students got to experiment with painting their own pottery pieces. Seeing how excited and creative the kids were getting really got me thinking. Most of the kids were really excited about designing the colours and patterns and were quite polite and encouraging to each other about how cool their designs looked. It was touching to see how much fun they were having and it really hit me: that was how art was supposed to be.

It would still be a few years before I really gave art a chance. In early 2017, I partook in one of those Paint Nite events in town. I truly had mixed emotions about the whole thing. What I did not know about Paint Nite before agreeing to sign up was that the painting was predetermined depending on the night you chose; I felt that I could do a pretty good job if it was a landscape or something without a face or too much detail. You better believe the painting that night was an owl, so I really was being tested here. I sat down in front of my easel and tried my best to remember that this was all for fun and everyone’s painting would look a little different, and that was okay. It was more than okay. That was the whole point. As the teacher went through the steps and did her best to explain how to achieve certain brush strokes or how to properly mix the colours together to get the right shades, I found myself getting less and less excited and more and more nervous. It was happening again, I was being far too hard on myself trying to achieve such a perfect piece of art. It was a shitty feeling. I was supposed to be having fun with my friends!

When I got home that night, my husband asked me how it went and if I was happy with my painting. Right away I was very hard on myself. I started to laugh and I said, “Well, it’s not horrible, but it’s not really that great.” I reluctantly turned the canvas over to show him. As he glanced at it, it felt like minutes went by before he said anything (it was really about 3-5 seconds). Confused, he looked at me and said, “What’s wrong with it? I like it. He’s got a lot of fur to keep him warm. He’s a snow owl isn’t he?” I couldn’t help but laugh. My husband is always very supportive, wonderful, and truthful. If something didn’t look right, he would say it. I wanted to believe him that it was actually a nice painting, but I still had my doubts. I set it down on the table to finish drying and told him that I would think of a place to put it in the next few days.

The next day I went to work. When I came home that night, I opened the front door and when I stepped inside my foyer, I noticed something new hanging on the wall. My husband greeted me and had the cutest little smirk on his face. I looked at the wall and looked at him. “You hung up my painting?” I asked him with much joy (and some confusion) in my voice. He replied, “Of course. Art is supposed to be hung on the wall. Besides, I really like this.” It was one of the best compliments I had ever been given in my whole life. I was hit with many feelings at that moment. It occurred to me that I was so critical on my skills when I absolutely had no reason to be. The grading process of art was over, it was time to just roll with it and have fun. There was much fun to be had.

Eventually, I returned to Creative Cafe and tested out my skills with pottery. Pottery led to mosaics, and mosaics led to more paintings. Over time (and with each new art project) art was enjoyable. Art was fun. Art was relaxing and peaceful; it allowed me to be calm and just enjoy the steps and process at my own pace. It was a long journey, but I am very glad that it ended up here. Most importantly, I was reminded not to take myself too seriously and enjoy the little things. These were things I already thought that knew, and I did, just not when it came to art!