People Person
After I filled up my car with gas for the week, I realized I had a bit of time before I had to get home, so I parked my car and went for a quick walk.
Heading up the street, I saw a man sitting outside of the post office, and he seemed like a perfect opportunity for a conversation.
Destine was his name; he had just gotten off of his shift at work, and it was too nice out not to enjoy the weather for a minute.
He was born and raised in DC, and when I mentioned my mother being French, he told me that his mother’s family is from Nigeria.
Destine also went to high school at Duke Ellington, where he got to dive deeper into his passion for painting and illustration!
Even in the first grade, Destine was tracing pictures to practice his skills, and he still paints today (Instagram: destineclaireart).
What I found really interesting was that Destine explained how painting is not about perfection.
Most people think that beautiful paintings are completed on the first try, but most paintings are layers of imperfect attempts to reach the best version of a piece.
In that way, painting is a lot like life, a collection of layers that tie together into one story.
What brings him joy?
As for Destine’s source of joy, he said that he simply loves to spend time with people whenever the opportunity presents itself.
He likes to “enjoy life through interactions”, even if it’s with strangers.
For instance, at the basketball court near where we were talking, Destine showed up and saw a group of people playing pickleball.
He’d never played before, but just giving it a try and spending time with these people brought him tons of joy.
The humanity of simple interactions with people is such an important source of joy, and my conversation with Destine was a perfect example of that!