Self Contemplation
From Carefree to a Mindful Path (Cont.)
Creating collage-drawings gave me some closure. A new chapter of my life began. Experiencing birth and death simultaneously had morphed my sensibility. I started to meditate when I was teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and began writing daily in a journal after my 50th birthday. I’ve described what, why and how of these two disciplines in my latest work, Unblock Your Creative Flow: 12 Months of Mindfulness for Writers and Artists. (Published April 2023).
In time, I was able to link what was going on outside me with what was going inside. The daily practice helped me integrate my body, heart and mind with the spirit which I called my Authentic Self. I was on my path to become whole.
Curiosity about human condition of death led me to study symbols and rituals of death in world religious arts. Nursing and nurturing my daughters awakened me to vulnerability of life and truth of impermanence. As I became more contemplative I realized that I didn’t have to struggle through the ploys of the witch of the East to reach “home.” I could bypass self-created pitfalls by becoming aware and attentive.
Art Symbols and rituals pointed me toward the meaning of things that at first had felt meaningless. Along with deep reading, journaling, and meditation taught me and trained me to see within with the same love and attention as I looked without.
To be continued.
#mindfulness #meditation #fragmentedmind #selfawareness #attention #writingcommunity#creativitymatters #writingcommunity #painting #art #music #artistsofinstagram
Photo: Looking at my Reflection