Echoes of the Garage

Daily writing prompt

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

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When I went back to school at Cerritos College, I had a teacher who eventually gave me a lot of freedom in her class.

I had her for three classes. By the second one — life drawing — she stopped trying to control what I did and just let me experiment.

I would tape three brushes together so I could paint from farther away.

I wasn’t trying to be clever. I was just curious.

One day she told me to stop by her office.

When I got there, she opened a book and pointed to a drawing.

It was a foot.

Tiny.

About the size of a thumbnail.

But it was perfect.

Every line was precise.

I stared at it for a while and said, “Yeah… I think I could draw that.”

She nodded and said something that surprised me.

“You could.”

Then she told me something else.

It wasn’t drawn with a pencil or a pen.

It was drawn with ink and a needle.

I looked at it again.

“Who drew it?” I asked.

She said:

“Salvador Dalí.”

Then she looked at me and said:

“You could do that. That’s your skill.”

That was the biggest compliment I had ever received.

Not because she said I was great.

But because she saw something in me I had never seen in myself.

To this day, I still think of myself as just an average guy who’s messed up a lot and is still trying to become an artist.

But sometimes I remember that moment.

And I wonder if maybe she saw something real.

Reader question

What’s the most meaningful compliment someone has ever given you?

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I write reflections, daily prompts, and Street Cinema every Saturday.