Creative Meditation: Painting Our Stories Intro & I Of V

Alright,

Let's go for it.

So quick shots,

As I think all of you here know,

Are a week long immersion in kind of bite-sized pieces of inspiration.

Time to just grab a hold of our creativity and let that intuitive response play out in a momentary blip.

And originally designed,

They were to start the day.

So that that creative energy,

That beautiful time spent over a canvas,

No matter how small or how short,

How brief,

Would weave its way through our entire day.

Some of you may still be,

Of course,

Gathering here at the beginning of your day.

For me,

It's one o'clock PM and this is my point at which I pivot.

So I come in from or down from or away from my activities here on the compound that keep me busy and I come inside.

And I mean that,

Of course,

In the house,

Into my studio,

But literally into my being.

And instead of building the fence and mudding the sheetrock,

I come to this quiet space,

To this time to be with my soul expression is how I like to think of it.

I've been seeking,

Searching for a new voice on my canvas.

And this space,

This time,

This commitment to all of you has helped me commit to myself to keep seeking that out rather than waiting for some grand epiphany to hit me while I'm busy sheetrocking a bathroom.

Usually doesn't,

Well,

It can happen that way.

I had great inspirations while doing other things,

But I still have to bring them to the canvas.

So this time is that opening space I like to think of it as that space I commit to show up here so that that intuitive hits can find its way to the actual factual reality.

This week is a little bit different.

It's a little different than what we have run in that listening to that intuitive voice has been quick.

It's been a quick action.

It's been a very,

You know,

It was for me what it's felt like up to this point in these quick shots,

It's felt like trying to out trick my brain,

Out trick that thinking brain and stay ahead of it.

So all my actions have been very quick.

And this week I wanted to try and see if we could let that intuitive voice have space in silence,

In slowness.

Is that a word?

In a really deep contemplative space.

So with intention,

This whole week is about taking one material each day for five days across one different material each day for five days across this same canvas and letting it develop.

And then in addition to just this 20 minutes or whatever we spend here together,

There's homework.

There's an assignment for that 24 hours in between we gather again,

Which is for all of you,

Myself included,

To ponder and study and be with what came from this time together so that tomorrow when we come with that next material or whatever day we come with that next material,

We have that intuitive hit telling us where to go with it.

Now sometimes that happens for me right away.

I'll finish with one material and immediately I'll be like,

Oh,

I need to blah.

And that's a really quick hit that I get.

If that happens for you,

Great.

Write it down,

Write that hit down and note it.

But again,

Spend the next 24 hours with the piece,

The minimal or maximal work you've done at each session and let it speak back to you.

Let it have its time to have a voice.

So that is the intention.

Let's see how I go.

Let's see how we all go.

Like I said,

Today I have charcoal and I'm working across a piece of paper.

Y'all can have whatever you would like in front of you in terms of surface and material.

I'm only asking that today you start with something that will draw.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Now how this will play out,

This slower engagement with intuition is through silence.

Like I said,

I have a little noise.

I've got a fan going,

But that's the low hum that is that white noise that can really help the body and the mind and the nervous system relax and engage with the space.

Y'all set up your own environments the way that work best for you.

We'll go for just five minutes so it won't be too arduous.

And what I ask of you all is that you move very slowly and intentionally.

You're going to hear your mind go.

You're going to hear your nervous system go.

You're going to feel every nuance in your body.

But continue that as we all know because we're here on Insight Timer,

That practice of contemplation and meditation which is bring yourself back to where you are,

To this contemplation.

And for us,

The contemplation is happening between the tip of this and our surface.

So return yourself to that touch point every time another part of your sensory system wants to take over.

I'm going to try to close my eyes through this whole process.

It might end up being a one minute,

Two minute evolution and then I've got my eyes open again,

But give it a try for yourself as well.

Let that sensory experience close down because it can be so domineering in our human lives.

Our eyesight is,

Gosh,

You know,

Our most vital sensory response system.

Let it shut down if you can so that you can,

With your mind's eye,

Feel that third eye,

That intuitive eye and let it flow as you move.

Okay?

Hopefully that all makes sense.

Now this is the intention for all five days,

Just switching out the material and again,

As I said,

Letting that 24 hour in between kind of feed us our next motivational move.

Tomorrow,

Just to prep you,

We're working with this dry drawing material today.

Tomorrow I'm going to ask you to bring in a paint material or a color,

A flute,

More,

Something that can become more fluid,

But still if you're able in a drawing form.

So I have pigment sticks,

They're oil paint.

You might have something like these Caran d'Arches,

Which are crayons that are water soluble.

You might have ink tints that are again,

A water soluble,

Something that won't require a brush work yet.

So there's step one and step two and see if you can hold that in your consciousness,

But let your intuition respond to what you know is coming.

That makes sense.

If you don't have those kinds of materials,

Then tomorrow,

By all means,

Just jump right in with the brush in hand and paint.

My intention is to work with these two materials for Monday,

Tuesday,

Wednesday to start getting into the brush work.

All right?

That's a lot of pre-thinking for me,

An abstract painter.

I come to the canvas and just go for it.

So that's like that little bit that we just pre-planned is huge.

I have no idea if it will work.

I don't know if you guys are aware of that,

But you're my experimental ground.

I push my own self to new edges in my work and in my practice through doing this with you.

So yeah,

I have no net to catch me.

Failure is inevitable and I live it with you.

All right.

If you're new here,

Welcome.

You can enjoy just watching and getting a sense of what this space is about.

We'll be here today,

Tomorrow,

Wednesday,

Thursday,

Friday.

Going through this similar process,

Each week long quick shot holds a theme,

If you will,

And this week's theme is that slowing down and listening to that intuitive voice in a new way with one material each day.

As always though,

I start with a thought bubble.

The concept of these thought bubbles is that quote that you can hold in your brain,

Contemplate a little bit,

And let your thinking,

Judgmental brain kind of chew on while the rest of you takes over.

Today it is from,

Wow,

Thomas Merton.

We have what we seek.

It is there all the time and if we give it time,

It will make itself known to us.

So he said it in two sentences what took me almost 10 minutes to tell you,

But this is what we are after this week.

We have what we seek.

It is in us.

In my case,

It's finding this new voice for a new body of work.

It's already in me.

We have what we seek.

It is there all the time.

We need to give it time and it will make itself known.

Gorgeous sentiment that makes sense in all circumstances,

Not just here over this canvas.

Before we begin though,

Because our intention is to stay in that touch point between tip of material to surface it engages with,

Let's put our self there.

Let's take our energy,

Our energetic body and spirit to this space.

Get to know where you are,

How you are positioned before the surface in space,

The space of your room,

But even the space of your home,

Your property and your neighborhood.

Feel yourself as the being you are in all these spacious realms.

And then bring yourself back,

That beautiful mind's eye,

That imagination point that can take us energetically to the neighbor and down the block as we stand here in this one place in our studio.

We call it back using that imagination mind.

Turn ourselves around,

Maybe with a basket on our arm,

Dropping fairy dust of thanksgiving and gratitude along the sidewalk as we step back to our home,

Into our space and reenter energetically this physical body.

Pulling as they say our cords in,

Our energy,

Our emotions that have gone out in this day already,

Pulling those in for 10 minutes more,

They're all ours,

Just us,

Just here,

Just now.

These hands,

This surface,

This tool,

This is it.

Presence.

Presence.

With a deep breath,

We are here.

Let's see what our seeking already knows is in us.

For five minutes of silence,

Engage your materials.

All on one DVD.

That was remarkably peaceful.

I thought I'd have a lot more anxiety.

Five minutes of silence and trying to be slow.

I did have trouble being slow.

How was it for you?

I find it intriguing that I don't notice my mind has taken off in another direction until I'm well in that other direction.

But so peaceful.

So meditative.

Good.

I'm glad you all got the same sort of vibe.

Distractions and all.

Alright so the assignment for tomorrow,

Well for the next 24 hours until tomorrow,

Let this be.

It has been given life.

It is experiencing new contact,

New vibrations,

New information.

And it's processing that.

It's time for you to process as well.

Prop it on your kitchen counters.

You're making dinner.

I don't know what your space will allow.

Have it be the first thing you see when you open your eyes in the morning.

See what you are drawn to and know that that is it speaking back to you and telling you where to go next.

And like I said,

If you're already hearing something,

Jot it down.

Jot that down.

Make note of it.

But still let it be.

It's not going to go away.

And see what happens tomorrow.

Have a great 24 hours.