~ Today’s the last day to submit to our October Pain-Blog Carnival ~

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is one of my favorite painters.  So when a friend recently invited me to see an exhibit of Renoir’s landscape paintings at our city’s art museum, I jumped at the chance.  I had also done a report on this French Impressionist in 3rd grade, so he has a special place in my heart.

Did you know that Renoir suffered from rheumatoid arthritis?  This type of arthritis, caused by inflammation of the joints, can cause significant pain and deformity.  Towards the end of his life, he was using a wheelchair most of the time, and was unable to use his hands!  His son Jean Renoir (the film maker, Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game) writes in Renoir, My Father, “His hands were terribly deformed.  His rheumatism had made the joints stiff and caused the thumbs to turn inward towards the palms, and his finger to bend towards the wrists.”

Can you imagine how such a great painter might feel as his hands became more and more painful, and less and less useful?  How did he manage?

To be able to continue to paint, he tied his paintbrush to his hand.  I imagine that his art work was so important to him that he did whatever he needed to do to continue what he loved.

Notice the deformity in his left hand.

I think we can all learn something from Renoir.  Decide what your priorities are, and then figure out how to accomplish them.

• Save your energy for what’s most important to you.
• Swallow your pride and do anything you have to, to be able to do what you love.  I don’t imagine it was easy - physically or emotionally - to paint in such a clumsy way, and to move around in a wheelchair.
• Be thankful for what you can do.  It might not be as easy as before you had pain, or as graceful, but cheer about what you can manage.

Think about the loss to us if Renoir had given up.  What’s your talent that you need to share with the world?

More next Friday about how this great artist coped with pain.  You might also like this article:

You Don’t Have To Be Pain-free To Be Thankful

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