Hanging inherited paintings
from the book “Useful Not True”:
My mom inherited an ugly painting from her mom. It hung in the living room, and visitors would comment on how it felt wrong. But she kept it there for sentimental reasons.
One day, when she took it out to be reframed, they found the artist’s signature and date written underneath the old frame. Turns out the painting had been hanging upside-down this whole time. Turned right-side-up, it looked much better.
Kind of like beliefs. We inherit pictures of how to think and act, and tend to keep them as-is, even if they’re problematic.
Your mother always said, “be careful”, teaching you to live in fear. Your father had a terrible temper, teaching you to not share your thoughts. Your first major breakup taught you that you don’t deserve love.
This is the interior design of your mind — your internal environment. Take these paintings out under a bright light to be reframed. When you remove the frame and flip them upside-down, you can make sure they’re hanging the right way. Or decide to throw them away.
Most houses have at least one of these. Something that doesn't belong, that everyone notices is wrong, that stays anyway because removing it would require admitting it was never right. Usually isn't a painting.