Searching for definition

I'm having a hard time warming up to my weekly theme this month AND getting started in the studio. Grumble, grumble. I pulled together some fabrics, sewed some together and was struck by how they remind me of the colors of the clothes in my closet... drab with a little accent or two. I couldn't bring myself to work any more on it today.

authenticity: the quality of being authentic (not false or copied); genuineness

From Wikipedia: In art, authenticity describes the perception of art as faithful to the artist's self, rather than conforming to external values such as historical tradition, or commercial worth.

I enjoy the process of "making" stuff - engaged in the doing. I don't think I have a particular style or voice that makes the pieces I make scream this-was-made-by-Kim. I think I will mull this over a little more while I go make soup for dinner.

Chipotle chicken soup - hopefully, not too spicy.




Living consciously...

Hendricks touches on pain and learning to eliminate it. Just as you would make choices to eliminate physical pain, you can learn to eliminate psychic and emotional pain as well. For practice, he suggest visualizing what color you might associate pain with, understanding where the different pains settle in you body, and being aware of how you've dealt with pain before.

My first impulse was to say: white hot strobe lights; knees, eye and head; drugs and denial. Aging knees and migraines have provided ample opportunity for learning about pain management over the years. The practical approach. But I think the more esoteric - pain is negative energy that vibrates at a different frequency than happy positive energy - is more likely his message. Tolle describes the pain-body as a psychic parasite feeding off negative emotions and drama. Over the years I've learned how to avoid the things that act as triggers for migraines and I can easily see that a similar approach is needed to understand what triggers emotional and psychic pain.