Archives for posts with tag: be the change

Contribute to Global Success

January 23, 2019 //

I’m sipping my coffee and thinking about the world, today. Wondering how I can help. What I can do to contribute to a sustainable success for humanity. You know, a long-term win, in which human life is sustained and sustainable, and not at the expense of everything else that lives, breathes, and uses space and resources on this wee mudball hurtling through space. A proper win for all of us, is what I’d like, ideally, see be our mutual outcome. What part can I play in making that happen?

It’s a worthy question; large or small, every action we take contributes to our global shared success… or it does not. Similarly, everything we do pushes us toward humanity’s destruction of itself and the planet… or it does not. These are big, fairly obvious buckets, and there is much that can be divided in this similar way. So…

…How do I help? One human. This one human, right here. What do I do, to ensure our survival as a species, and also prevent us destroying our world? If you could know there is an answer, and that the answer was entirely doable, realistic, feasibly within your control and abilities… would you immediately set to work doing it? Would you persist at it… indefinitely? Would you make it a part of your “life’s work”? Or would you… not?

What are you doing to help make the world a better place (for all of us, and every creature)?

Maybe just, at least, really think about this question… and do something.

We’re all in this together. Each of us, for now, is trapped on this rock in space, competing for resources with everyone (and everything) else. There’s enough to go around, but we’re not very good at sharing; humanity seems to enjoy zero sum games best of all. Winners and losers. It’s pretty weird. We could do better.

I’ll start. 🙂 Today, I’ll make each choice with the additional consideration of whether my decision-making improves life on earth, itself (or at a minimum, legitimately does no perceivable harm). I’ll go forward learning more about the damage I may be doing, unaware of it, and attempt to correct that, too. Maybe I won’t save the world, but I bet I could be a better citizen of the earth, in general. Is it enough to do better?

What about you? Do you want to save the world? How will you begin? 🙂

Tags be the change, begin again, choose wisely, do better, do what you can, mindfulness matters, perspective, practicing the practices, sufficiency, take care of the earth, The Art of Being, the map is not the world, there are verbs involved, walking my own path, we're all in this together, what can one person do?, what matters most?

Categories Free Will, Healthy Living, inspiration, Mindfulness, Moments, Perspective, Practices, The Art of Being, winter

Working At It

January 22, 2019 //

Just a reminder; regardless whether it “looks easy”, it probably took work. Just saying, it’s rare that things are truly “easy” or without effort, however effortless some other human primate is making it look. 😉 Don’t let the appearance of someone else’s mastery dissuade you from making your own choices, following your own path, or embracing the very real likelihood that learning something new and becoming great at it will require considerable work. 🙂

We’re all working at something.

I have no idea why we’ve ended up with the notion that things need to look easy. That’s a bit weird, isn’t it?

That thing you want to do or learn? It’s worth the work involved. 🙂 Go ahead, go for it – begin! 🙂

…Be prepared to begin, again, a fair few times along the way. 😉

Tags be the change, begin again, being and becoming, choose wisely, do the thing, emotional self sufficiency, experience, good self-care, I am my own cartographer, it ain't easy, just do it, perspective, practicing the practices, ptsd, repetition is learning, taking care of me, TBI, The Art of Being, the map is not the world, there are verbs involved, try again, what are you practicing?, what matters most?

Categories Brain Injury, Free Will, Healthy Living, inspiration, Mindfulness, Moments, Perspective, Post Traumatic Stress, Practices, The Art of Being, winter

Savor That Sweetness

January 21, 2019 //

I pause from my studio time to have another coffee, consider the day, and the work so far, and just to take a needed break. Tables everywhere, a desk, a large easel – and I still often find myself working on the floor. lol It’s not as easy as it once was. Breaks are a good practice. 🙂 I shifted, at some point, from stretching my legs to pacing. I didn’t really notice the change, my thoughts were still in the studio.

I contentedly note that although I’ve spent considerable time in the studio, this weekend, and very satisfyingly so; I don’t have much “to show for it”. It hasn’t been a frenzy of hastily conceived and completed work (one of the ways I commonly work is bursts of inspiration resulting in a dozen or so new pieces over a weekend, then… nothing for months. lol). In fact, this weekend has been a slower, deeper creative spell. I spent time tidying and organizing the studio, lost in creative thought. I spent time sorting through previously prepared backgrounds of various sorts, looking at them with new eyes, and new inspiration. I spent time contemplating a couple major works, still in progress, half-surprised that the slow pace has not frustrated me at all, making notes about next steps, and assembling materials. I spent time working out technical challenges involved in some new work I want to do – some ideas come to life more easily than others. What have I not done? I haven’t actually painted much. Nonetheless, a deeply satisfying creative weekend, savored moment-by-moment, rich with inspiration, and an awaking-from-within, as vague notions become detailed plans, sketches, and notes.

I needed this time spent with and on self. I sit contentedly with an afternoon coffee, reluctant to pass up the luxury of it, even knowing tomorrow is a work day. (I made a good choice, and made decaf. 🙂 )

There is much to be learned from moments, and the day is not yet over. There’s more that I want to do – practical things, like laundry, cleaning paint brushes, and showering. It’s been a busy weekend, and I find myself reluctantly recognizing that I’m nearing the end of my physical resources, for the time being. Maybe for the day, and certainly for now. I allow the acknowledgement of fatigue to become encouragement to take time to savor the experiences of the weekend, at leisure. Breathe. Relax. Consider some detail or another. Feeling the contentment. The satisfaction, and feeling of wholeness. I continue, breath by breath, recollection by recollection. I feel my smile. I feel the comfortable relaxed posture I am in. I take note that I am not in any noteworthy pain at present, only a bit tired. I look around the studio at what I’ve gotten done this weekend. Tube after enticing tube of paint, and dozens of jars of glitter, sparkling bits and pieces, threads, chains, and shards of glass, draw my eye around the room hungrily. It does feel like a sort of hunger – to touch, to arrange, to feel the textures of paint and canvas, to see a thought become a vision – but I am sated already, and too tired, now.

…There will be other weekends…

In the meantime, there are practices to practice, and self-care to manage. For now, that’s enough. 🙂

Tags artist at work, be here now, be the change, breathe, choose wisely, emotional self sufficiency, experience, good self-care, I am my own cartographer, in the studio, meditation, practicing the practices, ptsd, sufficiency, taking care of me, TBI, The Art of Being, the map is not the world, walking my own path, work in progress

Categories art and the artist, Brain Injury, Free Will, inspiration, Mindfulness, Moments, Perspective, Post Traumatic Stress, Practices, The Art of Being, winter

Some Fall, Some Are Cut Down

January 20, 2019 //

I was sipping my coffee between moments in the studio when I really noticed; there’s a tree missing from the view beyond my deck.

What I expected to see…

It’s not a great picture, and I warn you now, it isn’t from an identical perspective – and perhaps that’s why it nagged at me so much. Something is different, I spotted that right away, but figured, in the gloom of twilight, last night, that perhaps it was just more winter, fewer leaves, more lights in the distance… something.

…what I see today.

There’s a missing tangle of mostly-dead tree. Obvious as anything could be, once I allowed myself to really see it, absent my expectations. There’s something to be learned from that.

The healthy heart-wood of the stump left-behind, quite evenly cut, about 18 inches from the ground, tells me it was not lost to misadventure or high winds. Willful. Probably well-intended. I feel sad about it anyway, thinking about the owl that had been making her home there. The squirrels using it as a freeway ramp to the tree nearer the deck. The loss of privacy from neighbors beyond. Just… the loss of a tree. It’s painful. Oh, I’m sure a dead tree just hanging out there on the steep edge of the yard, where it suddenly drops off just past the fence, was a hazard of some sort, to something, but… fucking hell. I’m getting a little sick of people just taking my fucking trees away every-fucking-where that I move. Irksome.

There’s much to learn from contemplating this change. Trees fall. Trees are cut. Impermanence is. Non-attachment helps with the pain of circumstantial misfortunes. We have choices. Trees can be planted. Trees sprout. Trees grow.

I sip a delicious afternoon coffee – a perk of having a 3-day weekend, afternoon coffee always feels like luxury to me. 🙂 I contemplate impermanence, and change – and choices. I think about seeing. I mean, really seeing – eyes and mind both open to what may be new and changed. I contemplate acceptance; change can be hard. Recognizing what has changed is not without it’s own challenges. I breathe. Relax, and consider what I am practicing, and what I want to achieve. I think over conversations with my Traveling Partner; this last visit was rich with thought-provoking, inspiring, observations, and discussion. Connected. Insightful. Loving.

We become what we practice. (Remember, “trees take a long time” 😉 )

Tags anxiety, be here now, be the change, begin again, being and becoming, breathe, choose wisely, connections, emotional self sufficiency, experience, good self-care, I am my own cartographer, intimacy, listening deeply, love and lovers, man down, MBSR, meditation, mindful living, more trees please!, one tree, perspective, point of view, practicing the practices, ptsd, relationships, seeing with new eyes, sharing the journey, some are cut, Some fall, TBI, the forest and the trees, the map is not the world, there are verbs involved, trees, walking my own path, we become what we practice, what are you practicing?, what matters most?

Categories Allegories, Anxiety, Brain Injury, Despair, forgiveness, Free Will, Frustration, gardening, grief, Healthy Living, inspiration, Love, Metaphors, Mindfulness, Moments, Perspective, Post Traumatic Stress, Practices, Relationships, The Art of Being, The Big 5, winter

It’s Not Enough to Find Your Joy

January 19, 2019 //

Once you “find your joy”, don’t forget to enjoy it. To explore it. To lavish yourself with the experience of it. Work toward it with purpose – fearless, guiltless, and without shame.

For me, it’s time to blur the line between art and self-reflection, and spend some time creatively, and in my own head (and heart).

This weekend I’ll be in the studio. Maybe I write, maybe I don’t. I’m feeling inspired by love, and deeply appreciative of a mature partnership that allows me to choose me, to choose us, to choose him; no wrong answers. We consider each other. We reciprocate. I feel more loved, and valued, than I’ve experienced in other intimate relationships, with the exception of a few rare very deep connected friendships of long-standing, and I want to celebrate this experience of being deeply loved. Love hasn’t always been my inspiration – I found love later in life.

Inspiration deserves action, and I certainly deserve to treat the woman in the mirror well, and nurture her creative side. 🙂 Choices.

I’ll see you right here, in a few days. There’s a canvas on my easel, and I earnestly need to begin again. 🙂

Tags be here now, be love, be the change, begin again, choose wisely, emotional self sufficiency, experience, good self-care, I am my own cartographer, listening deeply, love, love and lovers, meditation, mindfulness, mindfulness matters, p.s. I love you, perspective, practicing the practices, ptsd, relationships, sufficiency, taking care of me, TBI, The Art of Being, The Big 5, the map is not the world, walking my own path, what matters most?

Categories Allegories, Art, art and the artist, Brain Injury, Free Will, Healthy Living, inspiration, Love, Metaphors, Mindfulness, Moments, Perspective, Post Traumatic Stress, Practices, Relationships, The Art of Being, The Big 5, winter, Words

Contribute to Global Success

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Working At It

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Savor That Sweetness

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Some Fall, Some Are Cut Down

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It’s Not Enough to Find Your Joy

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