Tag: mixedmediaart

It’s the time when we in the northern hemisphere receive our maximum amount of sunlight, when nature is in full bloom, when Yang, our masculine energy, prevails and the Sun energises us, inspires us, motivates us to shine, to create, to express. From now on, darkness will slowly increase day by day and we will move more and more into our Ying, our feminine energy and begin to slow down.

For me, the Universe has recently provided me with a reason to rest … so that my body can heal and although it is not natural for me to slow down, I am reminded how important it is. I have chosen to see this as a positive thing and to learn to honour my energetic capacity and to balance activity with rest.

One of the ways I am focussing on this is to meditate more on love.

Below is a poem I have recently written from a prompt my wonderful poetry tutor gave me about learning … ‘what are you learning?’ …. she asked.

The image above is a mixed media painting I completed earlier this year …

The Love Machine 

I’m learning so many different ways to love. Take for example, hugging a stranger. Stepping towards them rather than waiting …  in that silent, awkward no-dance. That’s one way, and how about in the whisper of a prayer for the earth? Or saying a cheery hello to the man sitting on the cold concrete with his dog, rolling a rollup? And in stopping and saying, ‘yes I have some change to spare.’ 

I’ve realised books about love don’t help. Love is in the doing, not in simple sentiments slipped from the tongue. Love is more than expression, it is an act. And it’s an allowing, such as permitting the sun to penetrate my being, the blackbird’s sweet song to wash over my skin, the past to remain where it is … unreachable. It’s an unknowable future, and an unshakable awareness, that this moment, as you are reading this writing, is all there is. 

Being brave is a way in … to loving others. It’s also a way in to letting others love you. It’s a practice I’ve discovered along my path … after love found me … when I lost him and when I realised I was free. When love showed me how, loving got easier. Putting my hand on my heart and resting it there. Knowing I am worthy and perfect as I am. Smiling into my own eyes, and into the eyes of every sentient being helps turns the dial up. It’s being present. That’s how the machine works. 

Here in the northern hemisphere we have just welcomed the first day of spring. In astronomical terms, this occurs on the vernal equinox on the 20th March. This ‘naming’ for me feels like a jolt or a jump from one thing to another. It feels unnatural and out of alignment with nature. This labelling and dating doesn’t connect with me in the way that the gentle transitioning of the world around me does.

I have been aware of nature beginning to unfurl, unfold and unravel for weeks. The snowdrops, the crocus, the multiture of tiny buds appearing on all plant life, the birds investigating nest sites, the hedgehogs stirring. It’s happening continuously … life doing its thing … even seeds lying in the ground in winter months are pulsing with energy, getting ready to rouse themselves from slumber.

In my life, for I am at one with nature (as we all are), I have been unfurling, unfolding and unravelling. It’s a force of nature without interruption, this growth, this awakening, this spiritual journey of the soul. It is magical. It is to us in our human form, a mystery. But what is magical and what is mystery? Nothing but human labelling.

The image above is a piece of mixed media art … one of a series I think of as my ‘dreaming mind’ paintings and below a recent prose poem.

Ice and Snow

It’s when the cold comes she steps outside into the blue night. She’s dressed in white tassels. The glass icicles in her hair help her feel part of this landscape. Her hands and feet tingle, energy propelling her forward. She moves faster. Snow crunches beneath her feet, a rhythm she finds soothing. Soft flakes fall to rest on her dark lashes, her red lips. She tastes them on her tongue. Flurries swirl around her, obscuring the distant mountains she knows are there. They beckon her on. She must reach them by morning, for when she does, she will know if he is waiting for her, like he promised. Always and forever as ice and snow.