One of my favorite things to do in life and throughout my creative explorations is to mix media and disciplines: a broader field for improvisation! As you can see from the list in the left-hand menu, there are many other things that I love doing besides painting. These activities are - or will be - so much a part of my daily life already that I see them as yet another opportunity to connect with others around unbounded and playful creativity.
OVERVIEW
Some of these activities are interests of mine that I would like to develop, and I would love to connect with others who have the same interests.
And some, I want to integrate into the rest of my teaching "curriculum" in combination with other disciplines during classes, workshops, retreats, and private sessions.
I have many ideas about how that can be done, and I am also open to your ideas and suggestions, so please, let me know about the combinations that would interest you.
This type of integration is my "art of living". And it makes sense to me because, as someone said to me once: "If you do what you love for a living, you will never have to work another day of your life."
WHAT DOES "ART OF LIVING" MEAN TO ME?
In the last few years, there were times when I completely lost the motivation to do anything; not even painting which is one of my greatest passions. I felt totally empty. Even of desires. And each time, once the phase had passed, I noticed that I had reached yet another level of awareness in this realization: it was not only what I chose to do - or not to do - that mattered, but 'how' I chose to do what I had decided to do; The significant things as much as the seemingly insignificant ones. Little by little, I started to learn how to be more accurate in appraising my feelings and energy around what I was choosing to do: Was my heart truly in it? And if not, why not?
There is more depth and wisdom to the Zen Proverb than first meets the eye:"Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water."
Abundance & Sensuality of Living
Do you sometimes meet people in your life of whom you think: "This person really knows how to live. How beautiful, how juicy, how inspiring!"
What exactly are these qualities? What is it about them that makes us feel this way? Is it their ability to create a beautiful environment around themselves? Their ability to attract beautiful things and people? Or is it the love and care that transpires through each of the things they choose to do?
Perhaps it is all of the above: a certain way of being, doing, and having life, with a kind of totality that makes us connect with the bountiful sensuality of life. I do not mean sensuality as in "sexualization", but as in higher and higher levels of perception, feelings, and expression, through the development of our physical and non-physical senses.
Healing & Well-BeingFor me, the Art of Living is... well, many things. Many mysterious, magical, and unexplainable things. But there is at least one that I can see, and that is: being able to dive into the sensuality of physical existence and experience the fullness of human emotions.
But this can only happen once I have honestly acknowledged my true heart's desires, in each moment, and when I feel that my heartfull self-expression is also in harmony with the well-being of the whole.In this state of being, I get to feel joy and meaning in almost all the things that I choose to do, even the activities that may seem a bit mundane and low-key: be it making food to ravish my taste-buds; appreciating the beauty of nature as the seasons go by; letting the dogs take me for a walk; even going grocery shopping and taking care of a hairy-house; mindlessly playing didgeridoo to a newly finished painting as a way to celebrate my accomplishment; or doing nothing at all but feeling deeply connected to what is around me through as many senses as possible...
As life went on, I started realizing that for me the "Art of Living" came down to the art of accessing love and gratitude in my heart every moment. And that this way of living suggests a level of self-care and nurturing that touches all aspects of my physical and non-physical life.
Intuitively, I know that it is when healing starts taking place at all levels: for me, for others and for my environment. I do feel this, even if at times my actions reflect a kind of denial about this deep but simple truth: "My body is my temple", and what affects one part of my being affects the others: Mind, body, emotions and spirit are all linked. I read this all the time, and I say I agree with it, but do I honestly live it?
Integration & Expansion
I also see the "art of living" as a continual "Yes" to the blossoming of ourselves into "more of what we are". This realization keeps me on the toes of my awareness a little, as it requires that I let go of my concepts of "who I think I am" again, and again, and again... When I embrace and surrender to this very intimate process - which unfolds in its own time and according to a non-predictable choreography - I also know that it cannot be pushed; neither by external forces nor even by my own private agenda. Yet again, how often do I forget this...
I see more and more that it is once I truly start inhabiting my physical life that I easily recognize the cycles of my body and those of the earth. This is when the magic happens, as I also start to recognize, respect, and work in harmony with the seasons of my heart. Since all things and all beings are connected, this is also when I come into contact with a bigger perspective and purpose. It is when I see that control is not the answer to a more fulfilling life.
Instead, the Art of Living is a state where I know both participation and surrender. Passion and peace. Action and non-action. It is when I let go of the rules and enter the flow of "what wants to happen now".I have noticed that, as I am more careful about acknowledging and providing for my needs on all level, and as I start integrating them more and more into my daily-life, the mundane and the "spiritual" become one and the same - I feel more expanded and fulfilled.
Integration, like spiritual evolution, does not happen overnight nor does it happen in a linear way. It is a circle, or a spiral of learning and evolution. I also see the "Art of Living" as a circle that addresses mind, body, heart, and spirit together (to simplify things a little...).
Harmony & Self-Agreement
I believe that when we allow ourselves to follow our most meaningful passions, we naturally start to take on new roles, and our life becomes richer. The deep joy we experience helps us gain clarity and insight, so we are more able to live according to our true values. As this happens, we may naturally start moving towards simpler and more sustainable ways of living because we feel that they provide well-being to our entire system - mind, body, and soul - as well as to the rest of the environment around us. Once we find more harmony within, we begin to create more harmony without.
At first, when we consciously make the choice to grow into "more of who - or what - we truly are", the outer-life may not "seem" so different from what it was before. But little by little, it starts reflecting our inner-life in ways that are more and more meaningful to us. This creative process requires presence, self-awareness and honesty about what works for us and what doesn't.
But in order to change, we need to make this agreement with ourselves and commit to it. This is not always an easy thing, but it also does not have to be painful.
It does take some strength of character. A kind of maturity to have the courage to stand in our own truth, no matter what the circumstances and opinions of others are. The courage to accept our own confusion when we don't know, but also sometimes the courage to recognize when we are fooling ourselves. This may, at times, take a good deal of patience, self-love, and self-forgiveness: the true ground of compassion.
Time to Live our Own Life!
Much has been written about "Living in the Now", "Being Present", "Coming from the Heart", "Speaking and Living our Truth", 'Letting go of the mind", and so on... Most of us humans have read a ton of books on the subject. Some of us even have attended another ton of lectures, workshops and retreats.
And now what?
Now, I feel it's time for me to live "it" and share "it" with others. Whatever "it" is, it's time for us to get together in a variety of flexible communities to live our own version of "it". It's time for us to experience it. Feel it. And share it with the world. We have just completed a cycle: from the 80's slogan "Just Do It!" to "Just Be It!".
Or rather: "Just Be You!"But how does one "be oneself"? Haven't we always been that? How is that a new concept? And how is it helpful, if at all? Isn't being oneself supposed to be the most elementary "thing" we already are?
Yes, it "should" be. Yet in this information age, and with all the products, services, and "spiritualities" the world has to offer, it has all become a bit overwhelming to just "be me" at times, hasn't it?
Of course, I don't have the answers for you anymore than I have them for myself because, truly, life is the endless process of "becoming oneself". Just like art, life is a creative process of experience and discovery which changes all the time: Thank God!
This is why I see the process we encounter during creative self-expression as a beautiful metaphor for how we may choose to encounter life. As we become more conscious of our ways to approach art and creativity, we become more aware of the creative choices that are available to us in the rest of our life also. In fact, they become one and the same as we come to understand more intimately how we create our own life. We start realizing how each aspect of our life is connected to the other and how they all create the unique evolving masterpiece that we are. We come to discover and experience that we are indeed the microcosm of the macrocosm: a whole universe of constantly evolving "unified diversity*".Anne.D
* "unified diverstity": see Story Waters's work on Limitlessness.com
