Hi,
Currently we need to avoid against losing our grounding and slipping into a vat of spiked prickliness garnished with a grumble. I sometimes find myself sucked into the dark hole until I remember I don't really have to do that if I wake-up to my free will.
NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY.
We need to make sure we don't let the madness steal our joy.
If you soften your focus with a lens of gratitude and decide for yourself how you want to feel, ghosts of Christmas past fade into window panes, ghosts of Christmas future wave eagerly from the horizon's edge in readiness to bring good news, and the present comes alive with peace and possibility. It's a good time to choose trust over fear - trust in your resilience, strength, and resourcefulness.
 I think I'll lose myself in Toshio Ebine's painting, Ancient Wind,(< that one over there) even if it's just for a minute.
As I look at this masterpiece, I take a breath in and ask:
What would it be like to be a float on an ancient wind filled with the joy of every human throughout the ages?
If it's hard to let my mind go there completely, I just go there a little bit. Then I exhale as if the exhale is me letting go into the invisible support that I know is always there. Just the thought brings me calm. Consider trying it yourself, no pressure.
Art, music, and creativity have power as refuge and inspiration. The cycles of seasons, creativity, and life include a time to rest, go inside, to relinquish the need "to do" and take stock of what beauty there already "is". Those of us who are always producing, need a time where we surrender our own efforts and enjoy the magnificence created by others. It's everywhere. In art, in deeds, in writing, and in the good there still is in so many people around us. Watch for it. Our art empowers our intuition, which in turn gives us the wisdom to know what to do when something needs to be done.
Escape into the movies:
- La La Land
- Miss Sloane
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Escape into a Book:
- My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman
- The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
- Prince Lestat & the Realm of Atlantis by Anne Rice
- Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
- Lee Morgan: His Life, Music and Culture by Tom Perchard
- The Memory of Lemon by Judith Fertig
Escape into Making Art for Someone You Love or Leave it Someplace for Someone to Serendipitously Discover:
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May peace, mirth, and creative wiliness be your gift at the holidays and throughout the year.
