A Portrait of the Artist...

In the 1916 classic autobiographical novel A Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Man, author James Joyce
tells of an artist who has his portrait painted in his youth.
Over the course of his life as the young man's character
changes, so does the portrait, until it becomes a hideous
depiction of his soul as reflected in his face. Though the
story is surreal, the phenomenon can be quite true in
every person's life.

You do become the artist who paints your own portrait
from the inside out--your character. You paint it habit by
habit, day by day, line by line, shadow upon shadow.
Each conversation you have adds its own color to the can-
vas. Each dilemma carves a new dimension. Every decision
creates new depth. Failures and successes give perspec-
tive. Over time, each trait blends into the final character
profile.

The canvas is yours. Your character is ready for your crea-
tion. It will be your most priceless possession. You have
final say about what goes into it. After you've completed it,
no one can destroy it or alter it. Once you sign your name
to it and leave your earthly studio, you will always be re-
membered by this final, distinctive work of art.

--Dianna Booher
   Your Signature Life
  

The Falling of the Leaves

Autumn is over the long leaves that love us,
And over the mice in the barley sheaves;
Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,
And yellow the wet wild-strawberry leaves.

The hour of the waning of love has beset us,
And weary and worn are our sad souls now;
Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,
With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow.

--William Butler Yeats