Prep Before Painting

The painters have been hard at work for three days now and there’s not a square foot of new paint on the walls. And yet, they said they’d finish the job tomorrow. 

 

It has been a while since I’ve painted and probably never did it as thoroughly as them, but it struck me that most of the job— in this case, 3/4ths of the job— is preparing the surfaces for painting. Washing the walls, sanding parts, spackling, covering the furniture and more. What lesson is here that we all might take to heart?

 

Let’s imagine that that color is the needed change in our lives, our culture, our government, that allows us to start afresh and be uplifted by the beauty of a newly chosen hue that speaks to us. Not possible to just slap it on on top of the old color without all that other work. Washing out the accumulated dirt of grimy greed and malicious malfeasance, sanding down the gritty texture of hurtful and harmful toxic narratives, spackling in the holes in our soul that we try to fill with drugs and shopping and electronic addiction. Covering things to protect them in this time of transition while our house in chaos. Whether it be the furniture and the food or the vulnerable— children, immigrants, trans people. Also covering the vulnerable parts of ourselves that ingest news like toxic lead paint. In short, before the first brush of new paint can be applied, we simply have to do all the prep work for it to truly be effective, for it to last long enough until the next needed change. 

 

For me, that preparation is education. Ongoing, in-depth, purposeful and provocative education for all ages at all times. Without it, news is just random information that seems senseless because we’re not prepared to see the patterns and connect the dots and understand the logic that continues to fuel the actions that beat us down. 

 

Let’s also remember to open the windows so we don’t inhale too many of the fumes and let the paint dry before we hang all the old pictures up again on the walls. It’s a complex process and I thank the painters for reminding me. Knowing all that it took, I believe I will appreciate it all yet more when the house I live in feels new and vibrant.