I was amazed to find a group of people having a Bob Ross birthday party. Actually, amazed isn’t the right word. I was jealous. I’m guessing a lot of people were. The real question is “why?”
An Unlikely Hero
If you’re looking for heroes, most people would not point to Bob Ross. He was soft spoken, talked about happy trees, and spent 30 minutes at a time on a public broadcasting channel doing nothing more than painting and talking. Yet more than 20 years after his death people love him.
If you don’t know who Bob Ross was, he’s unmistakable. He had an iconic ball of curly hair and a smile that let you know there was good in the world, and he had found it. He would just talk about whatever was on his mind while he flicked his wrist and made a tree or a cloud or a mountain as if his brush were magic. He spoke with the confidence and belief that you could have a magic brush too.
Happy Trees
If there’s one phrase that Bob Ross is famous for, it’s his happy trees. He would often paint and talk about making happy trees. That’s how the world was to Bob: happy. And that’s how you felt when he spoke. It wasn’t the way he carried his voice; his voice was soft and soothing, as if he was in a library. It was simply his joy for life and his ability to see happiness and beauty everywhere.
And he would often teach us that when we made a mistake on the canvas, that it was a happy accident and show us how to turn that blemish into a hill or a rock or another happy tree.
Bob Ross: Secret Ninja
The fact is that Bob Ross was probably one of the sneakiest people to ever live. He dressed himself up as a painter, but every week when he showed up in our homes he was our personal life coach. His goal was to teach us, to encourage us, and to cheer us on.
We often look at a lot of different people as heroes – celebrities, soldiers, politicians – but some of the best heroes are just those who show up every day and make us feel good about who we are. We may forget the name of that actor or this governor, but we remember Bob Ross because he made us feel great.
After all, who doesn’t like Bob Ross?
