Taking a Long Breath
Ritual is about preparing.
I seemed to have agreed to take the path that spirals downward in to the depth of pain and confusion following my mother’s death. To walk this path
I try to prepare to be with my heartbreak; to prepare to grieve.
Where do I start?
Flowers. I’ll start with flowers. They seem to be around during many transitions in life.
I prepare for a ceremony with a crown wreath.
Then I begin to pray, and the journey begins with the long breath that will help me go under the surface and into the murkiness.
I take a long breath. On the exhale, I end up entering the belly of the whale.
In the middle of the belly, I take the next inhale, and willingly but reluctantly step into the messiness of my pain and truth.
Is red the color of love and pain?
Well – yes it would seem that way. Red represents power and pain. It also is the color of life, love, anger, and danger.
The color red, like fire, heats and destroys.
There are many shades of red, from an earth tone to a fire-engine red. Red cuts through a scene like a river flows and expands through an empty landscape. When I use red in my brush work, it reminds me of the pain and power inherent in each stroke.
blurring the lines
Normality is a paved road: it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. Vincent Van Gogh
The human spirit lives on creativity and dies in conformity and routine – unknown
Living in the In-Between
Not knowing and trying to be ok with living in the in-between.
the whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately – Seneca
learning to breathe during chaos
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it and move with it and join the dance
Alan Watts
Working on how to breathe and follow the flow, is learning how to breathe during chaos. Practice pausing.