Erasers

I was with the company of Liz when she had to man my aunt’s booth in Hua Ho Mall in Manggis, and I was drawing unintelligible things on her notebook. That’s just it about me: I love to doodle. Sometimes the outcome is great, other times it just sucks. But that aside, I made a mistake that I had wanted to rub off. I asked Liz, “Ada ko pemadam?” Which is Bruneian Malay for, “Do you have an eraser?”

Liz then rattled off with something her Art teacher had said in the past. The said Art teacher stated, “Erasers are the worst invention ever.”

I knew in the back of my mind that Art teacher had meant it art-wise, but the gears in my head had began turning, and I felt like writing again.

Are erasers the worst invention? I don’t think so. Not even for an exaggeration that was made to have an effect on a dull statement, like, “I hate erasers.”

Erasers give me some sort of control over what I’m drawing/doodling. We humans aren’t privileged enough to erase anything else but pencil. (Or some files on the computer, but you know what I mean.) Our past is there, we can’t erase those. Nor can we erase what has been said to other people that has made them turn their backs to you.

I didn’t ask Liz why her Art teacher had stated erasers were the worst invention, because she had told me before I had the chance to. Liz explained, “When drawing, mistakes make it a part of the art. That’s why my teacher said that.”

Now, that’s more like it. It had more of my gears turning — if that was even remotely possible since I don’t have that many to begin with.

I realized.. Mistakes make you who you are. You stop laughing at people because when people laugh at you, it hurts. Mistakes in art, you lift your pencil/brush from the paper/canvas because you realize it doesn’t compliment the rest of the art.
Bravo, Art teacher, a new realization dawned on me, thanks to you.

This post had no strong point. No use in telling me that. They’re just my thoughts typed out. See how messy they are? ;P