The best thing about being sick as a kid was staying home from school and watching Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting. I’m as impressed by Ross’s skill and as entranced by his rap today as I was when I was 8 years old.
Karen Corday of Hyperallergic combed through all 403 episodes of The Joy of Painting on YouTube and found five episodes with inspiring Bob Ross pep talks.
A couple of examples:
“Let your imagination run wild, let your heart be your guide … In the time you sit around worrying about it, you could have completed a painting already. Let it happen.”
“People continually say, ‘I don’t have the talent to do what you’re doing.’ That’s baloney. Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything you’re willing to practice, you can do. And this is no exception.”
“If you have light on light, you have nothing. If you have dark on dark, you have nothing. It’s like in life. You gotta have a little sadness once in a while, so you know when the good times are coming. I’m waiting on the good times now.” Ross’s wife died shortly before this episode was shot. In his darkest hour, he still made time to spread the word of hope.
Image: YouTube