Love: A Morning Practice

With all that is going on in the world right now, and with a majority of people staying in place, this seemed like an ideal time to share a piece of my morning practice. For the past several years, I have been starting each day with love, then I carry the experience with me into my day. As you may suspect, it leaves me feeling wonderful.

The practice has evolved over the years as part of a larger morning routine. It began as statements within an I Am exercise… reciting to myself, “I am love, I am filled with love, I am surrounded by love, I am radiating love.” Meanwhile, I would visualize each statement as it crossed my mind. More and more, I began to experience the expansiveness carried with those words and this daily ritual grew over time.

The Love Practice: I start with a smile and bring to mind a memory or visual image that fills me with love and warmth. For example: I have often chosen to visualize the moment just after my daughter, Melissa, was born. Or I might imagine holding Melissa’s hand while I have the hand of a beloved aunt in my other hand. (She died many years ago before Melissa was born.) Then I let the strength of the love I feel for them fill me up, expanding beyond my physical being. I bask in the presence of love for a time, allowing it to strengthen. (It’s as if I’m being held within a protective, caring, and powerful bubble.) Then I send that love energy out to surround the planet and maybe also shared with specific people or locations. I am radiant!

In the past month, I have been visualizing love surrounding the corona virus, which I see as a mist hovering above the earth and when touched by the energy of love, the particles of the virus become pink. That’s just what I happen to have seen. You are likely to see something totally different.

In the past week, I have found myself combining my love practice with my gratitude practice and it has become more powerful, leaving me in tears. (tears of love and appreciation). Each morning, I choose one incident, experience, or person that I love, and then review the reasons I feel grateful for them. The heartfelt gratitude seems to empower the feelings of love, allowing me to fill a greater receptacle of love to send out into the world.

There are other parts of my morning practice, but they will have to wait to be shared in one or more posts in the future.

You may also be interested in, Joy: a Morning Practice

Hearts in the Art

“Love Sound” 6” x 6” mixed media on canvas. (Available through the Hearts for the Arts fundraiser.)

“Love Sound” in process.

As young children, we are introduced to the shape of the heart. It is recognized throughout the world as a symbol for love. I’m not normally one who paints hearts or adds the heart shape in my artwork. But… somehow, in the past couple of months I have produced two paintings with cloth hearts sewn into the design. Now that Valentine’s Day is only days away, I thought I would share them here.

Both paintings are part of the series of Ancient Wisdom Minis, designed around a quote from Kabir that includes a heart reference. (Kabir was a 15th century poet and mystic.) The canvases in the series are small (6” x 6”) acrylic paintings featuring words of wisdom from the past. The first step in the process is to cut, fray, and prepare the raw canvas that will create texture and form the focal point for the painting.

“Lift the Veil” 6” x 6” mixed media on canvas. SOLD

“Love Sound” is currently part of the Hearts for the Arts fundraiser being held at Artisans Gallery, in downtown Santa Cruz (details below). It displays the following quote: “The flute of the infinite is played without ceasing, and it’s sound is love.” ~Kabir.

“Lift the Veil” features these words: “Lift the veil that obscures the heart, and there you will find what you are looking for.” ~Kabir

The 2020 Hearts for the Arts fundraiser benefits the Santa Cruz Arts Council’s arts education programs (SPECTRA and Mariposa Arts). The donated works are currently on display at Artisans as part of a silent auction for the first 13 days in February (bidding begins on February 1st and closes on February 13th).

For those in the area: The auction will be part of the First Friday Art Tour on February 7th and the Arts Council will host an Artists’ Reception from 3-5 on Sunday, February 9th.

I plan to be there on Sunday. Maybe I’ll see you there!!

Losing Both My Parents

My parents holding hands during one of my mom’s visits to my dad’s hospital room. The wonderful hospital staff helped make sure they visited one another every day.

Two months ago today, my dad died in a hospital room, at age 94. Exactly one week later my mom took her last breath in a similar room just a few rooms away. She would have celebrated her 90th birthday a few weeks later. After 70 years of marriage, they were still choosing to do everything together.

I’m finding that in order to move on and begin to share art related posts again on this blog, I have the need to first share this loss. The experience of watching both parents slip away was powerful and the loss is life altering. I can already see changes in the way I approach my paintings and my life. In recent weeks, I’ve needed time to hibernate and step back from “life as I knew it.” I’ve been taking one step at a time and easing myself back into the world. In writing this today, it is a step forward.

Helen and Ruby on their Wedding Day, 1949

I was so very fortunate to have both parents in my life for so many years. I so appreciate the abundance of love and support I always received from them. Their enthusiastic response, anytime we shared details of new ventures, accomplishments, possibilities, and experiences, was a continuous gift to the whole family. They made it easy and joyful to share anything and everything with them.

And how they loved each other!! I believe they lived as long as they did because of their commitment to one another. And being in their presence, you just could not help but be drawn into the vortex of love and gratitude vibrantly operating between the two of them. It’s no wonder they seemed to have fans wherever they went… and of course, they always went together.

For years, my brother and I hoped that our parents would somehow be able to leave this world at the same time or shortly after one another. We knew it would be too painful for either of them to be left behind without the other. They orchestrated their exit pretty well. They were miraculously admitted to the hospital on the very same day, for different reasons. During their final days, they were surrounded by loved ones and managed to visit one another each day. When they were able, they held hands, blew each other kisses, and continued to touch the lives of those around them.

We witnessed and experienced a whole lot in those weeks, including many precious moments. I know I will miss them deeply, but I am so glad that neither of them has to continue life without the other. Their love story continues.

What a gift it has been to have had so many years with my loving parents and to have been a witness to their love and commitment to one another!

Mom and Dad doing what they loved most - sharing a meal with their family. 2016