Impersonating Bob Ross

 

 

I want you to think about something as I begin this post. The universe? It's infinite. It is limitless. It had no beginning and it has no end. It is vast and expansive. It's freaking gigantic beyond your wildest belief. Your human brain isn't capable of really fully understanding this. But...it's large. Now consider this...there is ONLY ONE YOU. That's right. There has never been another you before and there will never be another. Your soul is completely unique. There is only ONE OF YOU in this whole insanely huge universe we all play in. Can you imagine? IDK about you...but this just blows my mind. Give that a second to sink in....

Now then, let's begin. Emulating vs Impersonating. There is a big difference, and I wanted to talk about that a little today.

For those of you who may not be familiar, Bob Ross was a painter from back in the day that had a show on TV. It was simple, it was just Bob doing his thing. You would watch him create something from nothing right before your eyes. In 30 minutes you would see beauty materialize on canvas. The guy was very talented. But I'll tell ya, there are MANY painters in the world that can create beauty in such a fashion. That is not necessarily unique only to Bob. No, what made Bob unique, and more so enjoyable to watch was his PERSONality. It was his demeanor. The way he spoke. Even the very words he used. His diction. He would say things like : "Let's put a little happy tree right here. Let's give him a little friend. Let's add a happy little cloud up here. Isn't that nice?" He just had this cool, calm, ultra chill way about him. It made watching his show all the more appreciable. It was relaxing AND entertaining. It's what made the show successful in my opinion. It was just the person he was. This is the essence here. Bob was lovable and respectable BECAUSE he was unique. 

Now let's flash forward to a few weeks ago. Bob Ross has been dead for several years, but his legacy lives on. Many people have followed in his footsteps and are able to emulate his unique style of painting and create art of a nearly identical look. One such gentleman created a tribute show and creates episodes in the exact same manner in which Bob did. I was excited to stumble upon this. As I started watching, I was very impressed at the talent of this painter. Wow what a cool show, I thought. These paintings are beautiful. Just like Bob made. It was gorgeous to see. However, about 15 minutes in, something really caught my attention. The painter started to use the very SAME verbiage that Bob would use. "A happy cloud here, a happy tree there, etc." Even just the way he was verbalizing the words was very "Bob". Ugh. Man...that really just kinda killed it for me. Come on, you can never be Bob. Nobody can ever BE Bob. There was only one Bob Ross. Just be you guy! You don't have to talk like that. It turned me off for some reason...the show instantly lost a bit of its appeal.

To take a cue from another human in such a way is part of our life experience on the Earth. We inspire each other and pass things along. But the place where the line gets drawn in my mind is when you start trying to imPERSONate. You are going against the very nature of your creation and muting out the radiance of who YOUR PERSON really is. Your inner being. Your soul. You are not being unique anymore. You are trying to BE someone else. This is something you will never be able to do. People around you will take notice. You are doing a disservice to yourself and not honoring the unique you that is YOU. You are going against the grain of the universe. When you try to impersonate another person, you are acting in a manner that is disingenuous. I.e., you are not being the real you anymore. Don't try to take their traits, mannerisms, characteristics of their personality, etc. This will fetter your experience here. You will go much farther if you take the alternative path...

I remind you. I ENCOURAGE you. Let YOUR radiance shine. Be the beautiful unique you that is you. Whatever that is. Whatever that looks like. Whoever that is. YOU BE YOU. That's all you've got to do. Don't let your wonderful God given light be filtered by blanketing yourself trying to wear the fabric of another person. Honor the gifts you have been given. Embody them proudly. 

Emulation...OK.

Impersonation...NOT OK.

Remember, there is only 1 of you in the whole universe. Stand in the glory of that reality. 

Have fun with it...let YOUR light glow...you're gorgeous.