Evening Meditation

Reminiscing.

It was a honor to be able to visit my friends Alex and Allyson Grey and share some serious studio time this past month at the COSM Summer Visionary Art Intensive . I made many new friends, as well as, reconnected with old ones. It was a magical week with an amazing group of people. So much mind blowing talent packed into one studio at the same time.

My room at the COSM house was adorned with original art by Alex and Allyson. There is nothing quite as thrilling to an artist as getting to fall asleep under the watchful eyes of their Maestro's works. Waking up and staring at such special art was a great way to start the day.

I rarely get to leave the studio these days, or pick up my brushes for any extended period of time, so spending 7 days immersed in the visionary arts is a real treat for me. It's also something I plan on doing much more of in the future. Once again I realized how much I miss painting and being around other like minded artists.

On the way home I stopped off to see my brothers  Johnny Thief and Matthew Lukesh at Seppuku Tattoo in NJ. Johnny and I hit up NYC a few times to wander through the East Village and Little Italy.  I always look forward to those trips into the city. The food, the art, the culture, I grow to love the place more with each visit.

Thank you all for the amazing experience! I'm looking forward to the next time around.

Check out Alex's Blog post about the event and more pics here

Shipping and Stella Update

Hi All,
I'm planning to start shipping tomorrow. I have a job I should finish today and then it's headfirst into getting all the orders out the door. Judy will be helping over the next few days, so things should move smoothly and a bit quicker than when I work alone. I'm going to ship the regular orders first and then follow that up with the donation gifts.

For all those who donated to help Stella...

She is hanging in there. The radiological treatment was scheduled for next week, but due to the prescription food we had her on, we must wait an additional 30 days for it to clear her system. The local vet had no idea that the wait time would be that long. She was a bit aggravated at Hill's Science for not informing the Vet community about this. They did more blood work this past Friday and found she may be having kidney issues, but not sure. We switched up the food, put her new medication and she seems to have stabilized. She is a bit weak, and not eating as much as usual, but still getting enough down to keep her from wasting away. She's basically hanging in there. She has more blood work being done this Friday to see where her numbers are at. Hopefully we will get some good news concerning the kidneys. The numbers were slightly off, but nothing major. It will take a couple of weeks to see if her numbers level off, if they do, she will go for the thyroid treatment the first week of October.

She's a tough old soul. I think if we can keep nutrition in her she has a chance. She's been getting a lot of my attention of late. Lots of petting and holding which she normally will have none of. She seems to enjoy the extra scratches behind the ears. I'll keep everyone updated, and thanks once again for being so kind and generous with your support.

Morning Meditation

We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us, and make us kinder. We always have the choice. ~Dalai Lama

Morning Meditation

Be soft.
Do not let the world make you hard.
Do not let pain make you hate.
Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.
Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree,
you still believe it to be a beautiful place.
~ Kurt Vonnegut

Be soft. 

Be mindful. 

Be present.
Just Be.

Evening Meditation

Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect any praise or reward. If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom. Your struggles with the world will have come to an end. ~ Ajahn Chah

New Earth Art Church on Sept. 7th

Art Church at New Earth Athens this Sunday from 2-6 pm.

Come by and join us as we continue to establish our very own Art Church in Athens. Bring your art supplies, painting gear, sketchbooks, cameras etc!

Tomorrow's Agenda:

2:00 Welcome and Opening Silence/Meditation

2:10-2:30 Opening talk: Doing what really matters in your life vs needful wanting and how that plays into our creative flow

2:30-3:00 Art Techniques: The meditative drawing exercise called Zentangle.

"The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. Almost anyone can use it to create beautiful images. It increases focus and creativity, provides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being. The Zentangle Method is enjoyed all over this world across a wide range of skills, interests and ages."

Visit the Zentangle website

**for this exercise a small sketchbook, mechanical pencil and fine tip black maker would be a handy items to bring.

3:00-6:00 Open Studio

See you there!

Afternoon Meditation

"I should be suspicious of what I want" ~Rumi

This is a follow up to last evening's post where I examined Pema Chodron's question "Death is certain, the time of death is uncertain, then the question becomes, what really matters most in your life?".

There is a quite a difference between "what matters" vs. "what I want". I think Rumi addressed the issue succinctly by saying we should be suspicious of what we want. I also think we can take that one step further and state "I should be suspicious of what I want beyond what really matters".

Let's say I win the scratch lotto and I instantly have $1000 dollars. I know that would make me happy, so the flawed logic being if $1000 dollars makes me happy, $100,000 dollars will make me 100 time happier. Unfortunately, that is an illusion. You're either happy or not. It's a lie the consumer based economy wants you to believe. It's what we are taught from the time we are children to adulthood in today's modern society. We are bombarded with advertising and propaganda to reenforce the idea all through our lives. In reality, we are happiest when we do what really matters to us. What really matters is not the same as what we want. Thus the phrase, "you can't buy happiness"might come into play.

Once "what really matters" is taken care of and the wanting begins, so does the needful pain involved in obtaining those wants. This wanting usually leads to unhappiness, or suffering to use a Buddhist term. Not good. There goes the happiness we had doing what really matters, only to be replaced with the unhappiness of needful wanting.

So, should we sacrifice the happiness of doing what really matters for the illusion that our wants will bring us more happiness?

I think you know the answer. Shaking a lifetime of societal programmed ideology based on an illusion is hard, but not impossible. Doing a task that really matters to us often can be very uncomplicated and simple, yet it makes us very happy. Chasing an illusion of "more happiness" quite often brings suffering.

 The trick is making the commitment to practice recognizing what really matters and being suspicious of what we want. That's an interesting one to sort through in our head. Does it really matter, or is it just something I want.

Artwork: Despair ©Alex Grey

Evening Meditation

"Death is certain, the time of death is uncertain, then the question becomes, what really matters most in your life?"

-Buddhist Nun Pema Chodron

When one can finally come to truly understand Pema's statement, the reality of being present in the things that matter the most to us comes into sharp focus. That understanding can, and most probably will, change your outlook on what is really important.

Working long hours at a job that makes you miserable or leaves you feeling unfulfilled, tolerating toxic people and situations, as well as a myriad of other frustrating and painful elements I doubt figure into the mix of what you believe your life should be. Were we born to live unhappy? I think not.

What really does matter in your life? Happiness? Balance? Love? Your creativity? Maybe it's time to decide and start living the life you were meant to live.

Your life is passing before your eyes. Be present in the things that bring joy into your world, and the world as a whole. Your true happiness in this life depends on it.