As I was finishing up these pages this afternoon I decided that I need to move away from this color palette for a few days! They're at the drawing table, in the studio, and in photos on many of the blogs I visit. I need a break! A deep red, a burnt orange... blue, I'd even be happy with blue. Tomorrow I'll take time to work on a weekly (theme: transition) and it probably won't features any of the TIF challenge colors.
Living consciously...
The best part of my daily reading was this quote:All human unhappiness comes from not facing reality squarely, exactly as it is. ~Buddha
Oh, sure, there are days when it seems the best way to deal with life and all the tensions is to just hit the snooze button, pull the covers up over the head, and try to avoid everything. Hendricks writes "Tension continues to build when you avoid making choices, and reaches its peak when you avoid taking action."
I was talking with a friend the other day about what I called the "threshold" chores. Whether it's unloading the dishwasher, taking the laundry basket downstairs or making the shopping list - it is the thing that I procrastinate doing that creates the tension and makes me feel like I'm never going to get whatever-the-thing is DONE. (This also applies art projects, phone calls, and... basically life!) Once I break through the "threshold" chore, everything falls into place and I get things done.
The practice for the day left me (again) unsatisfied but I did value the reading. The emphasis was that stress and tension are not caused by events in life but rather by avoiding responses to the events. There are four required responses: Face and accept the reality of the situation, choose a path of action, take appropriate steps.
I know these things. Being present with them - that's the trick. Maybe by the end of the year I'll have a cheat sheet by my bedside and when I wake up in the morning I'll give it a quick read and move blissfully throughout the day - no stress, no tension, don't worry, be happy, all zen-like... okay, clearly the skeptic in me is alive and well!
Tally ho
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
I need a break!
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4 comments:
You have some great insights on your pages, thank you. I find the trick for me isn't in the accepting the reality of a situation, but in choosing the path of action - will it make things better or worse? That's where I get caught up. But that's in the BIG things. The little things, laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc., I concur that leaving them but still having them nagging at me DOES create a fair amount of stress. Damn things. Who is Hendricks?
Do you have an established routine for chores? and who does them? that seems to help me because I could leave them forever but when I know it's Friday, I have to do the laundry, it forces me to get 'er done.
I hear you on the colors-pathetic. Reminding me of easter.
Yes, it's an unintended consequence of the TIF that this palette is going to show up everywhere.
Your comments on stress and procrastination are interesting too. So true. Watch it that the TIF doesn't produce stress that way :)
Absolutely agree with the little naggy things of life that create stress. I just try to "touch" them a bit, "fold the laundry and then you can" do whatever I really want to do.
I've seen lots of "dislike" for these colors. Maybe that's supposed to be the challenge.
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