Stop. Breathe. Listen. Three simple words, powerful words to bring me back to the present from wherever my mind is travelling. They are a mantra, sometimes a little prayer or a wish. I’m sharing these words with you today just in case you need them as much as I do. The weekends can be tough on us without the stress of the work days. More time to think and reflect on the past and guess about the future.
“As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are.
A little bit of cuteness on my way to my office yesterday. I spent a few minutes observing them before keeping moving. They are Canadian geese, lots of babies in the spring, and they love the campus. A great view, indeed a refreshing one for the eyes.
Wandering in my garden this morning I spotted this dragonfly. I smiled! I know dragonflies and butterflies mean transformation, but only to confirm I did a quick google search and I found:
“A dragonfly symbol represents change and transformation. It is a reminder for you to shed more light and joy in your life. It tells you not to remain in the dark or the shadows.”https://worldbirds.com/dragonfly-symbolism/
Isn’t it wonderful? It goes well with my thoughts yesterday about being more in the shadow than in the light.
Tanka Tuesday this week is Share your day, I wrote the Haiku below about a tiny part of my day.
messages and signs from beyond the facts and truth a garden of joy
Missing this space, I had two weeks off from my blog, my last post here was on May 14th: light and shadow. I needed this time off, my creativity is more in the shadow than in the light. I have many things going on in my workplace and with my family at the moment. Stuff that makes me unbalanced, both in my body and mind. I can’t do much about it and I need to find a way to focus on myself, create barriers and learn to filter what I should take in and what I should let go of.
I need to focus on Mindfulness and Balance: To control my thoughts and my weight. My thoughts are all over the place, most of the time in the past and in the future. I need to bring them back to the present moment. My weight is over the sky. I’ve realized that most of the calories are from snacks, the stressful eating while doing something, like when I’m working at the computer, cooking, reading…
I’m planning to post every day during the month of June, which is starting today. This way I’ll force myself to stop and notice the present moment and be grateful for it.
This morning hubby gifted me with a hibiscus flower that fell off our tree. He brought it inside while I was making coffee. A tiny gesture, but so lovely!
The marigolds I planted during the weekend are doing great. We had a few hot days and I was worried they wouldn’t make it.
A duck couple was visiting my garden this morning, it was a wonderful surprise to find them there.
And two other good surprises: my pink rose has the first bloom of the season and I found a feather in my yard.
Hello and Happy 2022 to you! If you are following for a while you know every year I choose a word to focus on during the year. It’s a tiny thing but always brings me back to the moment. This year I’ve chosen R E S P E C T.
Basically, RESPECT in relation to setting limits and boundaries for me. Setting barriers for protecting my values, mind and body.
In another hand, I need to give more space to my kids, young adults, to explore and to speak up their wishes and thoughts. I need to let go of my helicopter mother instinct. So, in this case, it is respecting their boundaries.
I’ve just come back from a long overseas trip. If you have noticed I haven’t posted for a while. I had many triggers during this trip, both physically and emotionally. I’m still processing them, but it’s clear that the lack of self-respect and boundaries is something I need to work on.
Journaling is my form of therapy. Using words or/and images I express myself and make sense of my thoughts. I’m pleased the page number for my first page of this year is the 100th. It has a feeling of resetting, starting anew. I used to have a new journal for the new year, but I’ve given up this habit. Now I just keep going with my pages, freedom of choice.
It’s wonderful to travel, to go away a little, but the best is to come back home, to come back to myself.
“I tried and failed. I tried again and again and succeeded.” Gail Borden
my art and me, me and my art. i’ve tried many media and styles over the years. sketch, canvas, collage, water color, acrylics … but what i really like is messy art. to give permission to the colors and pieces of paper to talk by themselves.
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” Margaret Thatcher
my messy pages are like therapy, i let my feelings pour on them. most of them i keep to myself, but a few i post on IG, i share with my friends in there hoping to inspire them. once a posted a collage and tagged art page. someone left a comment saying my page wasn’t an art! sadness took over me and i didn’t post for a while.
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Confucius
many thoughts later, i understood the problem wasn’t on my page or with myself, but with the person that commented. up and down, resiliency, and time to take the stand and enjoy my art, messy art!
diving into minds excitation of senses feelings pouring out the ink bleeding on each page laying down and flying out
Expedition and Exciting. Always exciting to be part of an expedition. Here, I’m writing about the excitement of going on a solo expedition into the mind. The journey into our own mind or into the mind of others. It’s exciting to let the mind guide our hands and to write our deep thoughts, an expedition to discover the mysteries in the biggest universe inside us. Another form of the expedition is the one into the books. Poetry books in special, where the writer has poured out his/her feelings into a blank page. Some writers have the power to transport us to inside their minds. We can feel their happiness, sadness, insecurity, anger … as if they are our own feelings. Without a doubt, opening a new book and diving into it is a powerful and exciting expedition.
Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.
Vera Nazarian
An exciting and inspiring future awaits you beyond the noise in your mind, beyond the guilt, doubt, fear, shame, insecurity and heaviness of the past you carry around.
On my way to 5K! I’ve been training to run a marathon in October. I wake up early everyday and go out for a run. I love the fresh air and all the beauty I find on my path. Having a goal is important to keep my mind and body synchronized. I’d tried to keep fit many times, but I always let it go. My son run a 20K last year, and I saw many people of all ages running, each one at his/her own speed. Then I talked with my family about it, and they like my idea of joining the marathon.
Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.
Tony Robbins
I have a treadmill at home for the snowy months, but nothing compares to the outdoors for exercise. My neighbourhood has many beautiful places to walk/run. I enjoy the view and I always find some excuse to stop and take a photo.
You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.
C.S. Lewis
Noticing the little things on my way decreases the stress in my legs and inspires me to keep going. It’s incredible how the mind and the body are connected. As the years go by, I can feel how this connection plays a role in my health.
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”
Ashley Smith
This week’s WQWWC is free theme. Terri from Secondwindleisure is hosting the challenge while Marsha is busy getting her new AirB&B ready. I’ve chosen on my way as a theme. Hope you enjoyed it!
Abstract art is my favorite kind of expression. It can be photography, paint, drawing…, I like to make them and to admire the work of others.
I’ve been making art pages, cards for many years and for almost a decade I’ve been posting them on Instagram. I’ve a beautiful community in there, we inspire and cheer each other up. I’ve joined many art challenges, it is a great way to connect with like-minded people, learn new techniques and share my work. The 100 day project is going on now, I’ve joined it for many years, and it’s fun to work for 100 days on an artsy project. I’ve chosen abstract art cards for this year.
I was posting every day or at the weekend my cards. Around the 50th card, I received a nasty comment “You shouldn’t call it art, gluing images or dumping painting on a piece of paper isn’t art!” I got really upset and stopped posting them, I still keep up making them, here you see the 51st to 75th cards. My cards are one way to express my feelings, a card can take a few minutes to make, others hours or weeks. It’s not easy to transfer our feelings to a piece of paper.
I looked up the definition of art and Merriam-Webster.com says:
“something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.“
I think that my tiny little cards can be included as ‘art’. What do you think?
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Tea & Paper 