Workin'

This summer at my on campus job, we have done a LOT of painting. Painting for renovations, touching-up halls, painting outside, etc. One recurring problem that we have dealt with is using the wrong paint. In other words, there have been times when we go in to do touch-ups, and we end up using a color that is different than the color of the wall we are touching up. "How in the world is that possible??", you may ask. "Like if the wall is blue, don't touch it up with green", you may think. Well, our painting dilemmas stem from the fact that most everything we paint is white. When I say "white", I am referring to a slew of different shades of white. There is Whitecliff. There is New Bone White. There is Manual New Bone White. The is AS New Bone White. Though they are all a shade of white, they are all very slightly different from each other. That being said, there have been numerous times this summer where we have used the wrong white, and it's obvious that we screwed the pooch on that one. 

Today, we went to touch-up a hallway....
Yep. You guessed right.

As I was looking at the paint, I thought about life. When we do touch-ups the wrong color, we get pissed, and more than likely end up having to paint the rest of the hall that new color. In life, we all paint the wrong color on occasion. Some of us do it more often than others. Still, there are times in our life when we mess up, and paint the wall a color that we never intended. Sometimes we paint our walls red with undeserved hate. Sometimes we paint our walls green with unjust envy. Instead of freaking out and moaning at the fact that the color is wrong, why don't we grab hold of a completely different outlook? What if we can end up painting the rest of our wall with that same red, but call it love. Forget about what you hate in something or someone, and figure out what you love about it/them. If you can't do that, then simply think about what it is that you do love, and let that override said hate. What if we can end up painting the rest of another wall with the same green, and call it curiosity. Forget about what you envy in someone, and think, man, how can I replicate that? Or, how can I better myself in that same way?


Here are some photos from my on-campus job this summer, and the progress we have made thus far:

Before

After

Photo Credit: David Webb