If I could write an Ode, I would (or wode), but I think I'm safer taking snapshots to show my appreciation for the lowly 15 minutes that wait for me every day at this little table. They are what keep the colors running through my life, like the puddles on my dish. I have love, I have sunshine, I have dreams, and I have a Labrador, but all these things live brighter because I take 15 minutes every day, no matter what else I may be up to my neck in, and I sit down and I paint.
In point of fact, it takes me longer most days because I want to learn what it's like to paint with only the idea of worship in mind. This means that first I have to focus my attention, and I usually end up meditating for 14 minutes and painting for 1, or getting lost in meditation for a half hour and THEN painting for a minute. Or getting lost in both and forgetting about work altogether. This last is ideal, of course.
Though the words flow every day like a raging river, the paint--which is water-based, after all--needs gentle handling, careful attention, and a little bit of sneaking up on. It's always been that way, and I finally accept, after 50-plus years of trying to change my own nature, that if 15 minutes is all I can do, then I'll be grateful for that.
I may never end up with walls full of fabulous paintings, but I'm spinning a thread of many colors that winds through my days and connects everything I do directly to my heart.
Full respect to you for your daily practice of painting Durga. it will take you places, and it may not take you where you imagine it will, but this daily journey on the path of painting is sure to add richness and peace to your life, both inner and outer.
Posted by: Blue | May 26, 2006 at 08:37 AM