Sauna heat rises
I begin meditation
Some guy smacks on gum!
Art Prescription: Sometimes it’s hard to tune others out. As I sat there though, eventually the popping and clicking faded away as I tried to focus on my breath. Working on several different mock-ups for a new collection…have not named it yet…what would you call it? Here is the pillow!
Meditate or nap
Stretch, Hatha or Flow Yoga
All up to the mind.
Art Prescription: I haven’t slept well in about three nights and it occurs to me that it’s either hormonal or a busy mind. So, off to yoga I go today to set a big intention of calming my nervous system so I can slumber…hope it works! Course it did not help that my husband’s phone alerting him to a new text message went off at 2:00 a.m.!! 2:00 a.m.!! Curse!! Back to my mantra, “All is well…All is well…and all that is, is well.”
I sit in child’s pose
Aromatic coffee brews
Cup of warm wake-up!
Art Prescription: I’m a ritualistic person. Maybe I’m boring, but I like my life to have a pattern, a familiar routine, creature and other comforts…it’s the small things that make daily life full of grace. Like, my husband always makes me coffee. When he hears my feet hit the floor, he hits brew, and I come downstairs in a half awake state to the gurgling sound of the drip machine and a waft of java aroma. I bend to the floor in child’s pose to wake up my muscles. At least one cat comes and claims me as theirs, licking my head. My grandfather did the same for my grandmother. Her coffee would be waiting for her on their kitchen counter. Wonder how many years this ritual took place? Which leads me to the full moon. A good time for setting wishes.
What is wealth? Fortune?
One’s worldly substance, purpose
What does your life mean?
Art Prescription: Long busy day at my nursing job caring for people from all walks of life with minor and major health problems. One thing about my health care career is the constant awareness of how for each and every one of us, our lives could be changed in a moment. So was does wealth mean to you? Do you spend your days with substance, purpose? Does your life have meaning and direction? For some of my friends wealth is a first class ticket to anywhere in the world, for others it’s running marathons and staying fit, some find wealth raising healthy happy kids, some in going to church or temple and spending quality time meditating, some find it in being able to go a day with-out their addiction, volunteer work for the needy feeds wealth…Basically what I’m getting at is that we each have to carve our own and very personal definition of wealth and then do the very best we can at attaining it. If you know what IT
is…what are you waiting for?
Fragile ego sits
Paints for two hours, color!
Smiles, pride takes over.
Art Prescription: I taught an Art Prescription workshop today at UNC Wellness Center. I took in a big beautiful flower arrangement for them to work from. A tall order for most people who say “I can’t even draw a stick figure.” The medicine of the Art Prescription is to help participants be in the moment, respond to the paper and paint, let go of the inner critic, and just express! I started by giving a demonstration of blocking in colors, and the second part was to do some pen and ink to give the suggestion of movement and shape. I could see the looks of fear on their faces as I read a couple of opening poems. By the end of our two hours together everyone was on to their second painting. Amazing what adults will do if just given the permission to play!!
Quiet studio
Walk to seek social contact
Neighborhood friends, dogs!
Art Prescription: Art can be a lonely endeavor at times. Creativity needs quiet, and as humans we also need social contact to thrive. I mix it up by going to the Wellness Center most mornings to swim or do yoga, and then round out my day with an evening walk in my neighborhood. Since we have cats, I get to say hello and pet all my dog friends, I like their owners too! Balance is the key…how do you maintain balance?
Metamorphosis
The caterpillar grows wings
Drinks life’s new nectar.
Art Prescription: One constant in life is change. And it is probably one of the most difficult parts about being human. Each day we have to accept changes in our bodies, our environment, our jobs, our families. The challenge may not be the change itself, but how we cope. Change is hard, especially for folks like me who are creatures of habit. My husband sometimes compares me to “Rain Man,” because out of my routine I get a little anxious. Guilty as charged. On the other hand change is sometimes good. Something may happen to jar us out of our contented routine, get our attention, and cause us to have to shift our thinking a bit. Like a slug being pulled off a rock, we hold on, until the moment we are plopped down elsewhere to find new balance.
Generate happy
A place for the mind to go.
Do work then step back.
Art Prescription: My mission with The Art Prescription is to motivate everyone to live a creative life, with the underpinning that it is good for your health. When we create we are in the moment, like meditation or yoga, focused, sending our brain good messages to increase our well-being chemicals like serotonin. Realizing that most people work and feel the time constraints of daily life, I’m brainstorming on a list of creative projects that are attainable in the busy life we all lead. What ideas do you have? What would work in your life? Send me your ideas!!!
“How to be creative in 10 minutes or less”
a la “how to have great abs in 10 minutes or less”
Creative prompts for the busy working woman who wants to have a creative spark into her daily round!
1. have a little space set up for daily journaling
2. save scraps and/or quotes you love – fortune cookies
3. write, scribble, draw with crayons, colored pencils, pen and ink – just put something on the page
Chances are if you give yourself 10 undivided minutes, you might want to continue…
4. just do something everyday to keep the well from drying up
5. even if it’s just commentary on your work day – write it, and paint the page red
6. list what you accomplished that day, instead of a to do list
7. list 3 things you are grateful for
8. See, hear, or taste something new – write it down
9. Notice at least one thing about nature.
10. Allow your imagination to have a life of it’s own, always write down your spontaneous thoughts – they might lead to something!!
A few random thoughts after a glass of wine….
Crystal clear wine glass
Ah, what gets poured, happiness
Fill up on your choice.
Art Prescription: Today, my birthday, I meditate on choice. I believe how you choose to live, how you choose to think, what you fill your life with… a glass half-empty or half full…is very well what you end up with. You can spend your days waiting for the “perfect” thing to come along and “make” you happy, or you can choose to fill your life with contentment and gratitude. For me, working towards my goal to touch people’s lives with art feeds my spirit everyday. I can claim to be swept along by any old current in life, or choose!! Choose the direction I want to swim to save my very own life!! This one very precious life….go ahead now, jump in!!
Calm quiet stillness
Run like crazy up to then
Now move forward, choose.
Art Prescription: Months of planning for Surtex…and now time for follow-up. The calm and quiet of my garden calls.
art prescription 