No Mistakes, Only Happy Accidents: The Philosophy of Bob Ross (First Draft)

Stoicism is a philosophy that is designed to maximize the amount of positivity in our lives while also decreasing the amount of negativity as well. At its basics, the philosophy says that we should not worry about the things that we cannot control but instead, we should worry about the things that we can control such as our happiness and perceptions on life. Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and studier of Stoic ideology, once said “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” I’m sure that we know many people like this that have the sort of “go with the flow” mentality. To me, Stoic ideology is best described through the life, paintings and quotes of Bob Ross. Though he may not be a philosopher, many of Bob Ross’s actions throughout the decades have mimicked that of Stoic ideology. Through his paintings, quotes and even life before painting, Ross demonstrates stoicism in its purest form and encourages others to do the same.

The Early Life of Ross

Bob Ross was born in Dayton Beach, Florida on October 29^th, 1942. At the age of 18, Ross joined the Air Force and was stationed at the Eielson Air Force Base around the area of Fairbanks, Alaska. During the time there, he was hired as a medical records technician and eventually grew to the rank of Master Sargent. However, Ross hated the position, saying, "I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work. The job requires you to be a mean, tough person. And I was fed up with it. I promised myself that if I ever got away from it, it wasn't going to be that way anymore."  Ross decided that once he got out of the military, he would take up a career in painting, inspired by the first snow and mountains he saw in Alaska. Through this moment, we see that Bob Ross had control on what he wanted his life to be like or, in other words, what he would do to live a better life. He chose to get out of the military and pursue a career in something that made him happy; he didn’t want to have a career in something that paid well but made him miserable. Ross has even gone on record saying that painting helped him get through the military because it allowed him to do something that he had control over.

“Everybody needs a Friend”: Methods of Painting

The Joys of Painting, his painting television show, allowed Bob Ross to not only carry out his dream career, but also allowed him to share his painting techniques and philosophy with the world. When he finishes the background, he will often put things in front of it such as trees, bushes or cabins. Although, he occasionally will not describe his paintings as paintings; he will often call them “worlds”. I believe this is because he is creating something that he has complete control over, from where trees and bushes go to how many of them there are. He controls his feelings too and puts them into his paintings. For example, when adding another tree next to a tree, he will often say that “Even trees need friends sometimes” which shows that he is using his emotions to control how he views adding things to the canvas. He could have just said, “If you need another tree, just make another one.” Instead, he encourages people to create their own worlds through painting. Almost all of his quotes point toward a Stoic ideology such as:

However, one of the most Stoic ideological quotes that he had was one of his most famous:

This phrase not only applies to Ross’s paintings, but also to the viewer’s life. We have to remember that, at its core, the Joys of Painting is a learning program, but people don’t have to just take away painting techniques. In this quote, Ross is saying that he chooses to view things that are done wrongly as things that can still add to the overall picture and can be improved upon later. In life, we all make mistakes and we can choose whether or not we let it get to us as a mistake or if we choose to view it as something that allows us to see that we are fallible as humans and we can improve our conditions later on. Ross also enjoyed taking care of small animals like squirrels and racoons. He chose to be a driving force in that animal’s life so that it can learn to survive and it’s something that will help that animal in the long run.

In conclusion, while Bob Ross didn’t claim to be a big philosopher, he had a lot of incite on life and how to live it to its fullest potential.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIbR5TAz2xQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fad9GWE2_DY

Questions:

Where was Bob Ross born?

What is one thing that Bob Ross would put into his paintings as he added things?

Discussion Question

Do you agree with this philosophy and how do you think it would influence your life?