Monday, February 1, 2010

Weekly Reflection (Week 5): Maps







What would the Map to your Dreams look like? What directions might it provide?










Into the best of plans wanders a sweet, old, deaf stray lab who lovingly ate up much of my afternoon while I waited for his owner to come over to come pick him up. Chester was wandering around my house for awhile, collarless and lost until I went outside to walk Moose. Chester tried to join us even though Moose was less than welcoming (unless bulging eyes, incessant barking and snarling are welcoming) so I finally sequestered myself and my new shaggy friend in the garage while I called the humane society and then waited for the owners to call me.

A happy ending to a wet, soggy bunch of tails ... but plans for the afternoon now have to be rewritten. Which is in keeping with the theme for this week's reflection. I started out thinking "how would I map out the route to my heart's desires?" and the process of making the map, writing the directions and adjusting for several mistakes (another reason I
love gesso - the painter's white out) was very similar to the arrival of Chester into my day. (Can you tell I just love his name? He looked a little rough around the edges and then I learned from the owner her daughter had tried to paint him and in attempting to clean him up, some fur got chopped. So he was disheveled not from neglect, but from undergoing an artistic make-over!)

So my map is not so much a series of concrete steps towards a final goal, but a listing of the attitudes and outlook essential for any traveler braving the journey to find their heart's desire. So do tell, what would your map say? For that matter, I wonder what Chester might say about his journey?




(directions on my map read: be still, listen and receive guidance; transform ideas into do-able steps; allow creativity to blossom and flow; artful living every day; projects: start where I am ... just do it!; celebrate my life through Art; keep perspective: it's for me anyway; remember to Shine in whatever I do; savor the journey (it's the best part); The Treasure: discover what I am seeking is already inside me; a cherished creative)

5 comments:

  1. Adore your map! A gentle loving way to remind of where you are and where you're going. Great post! :)

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  2. Love the map and btw, your journey is one of my inspirations for starting my own. more soon. I also love the name Chester for an elderly Lab - wonderful. I wonder what he came to tell you? Maybe that some days you just have to follow your nose and wander? :)

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  3. ~ah...SAVOR the journey...tis the best part indeed...savor is my word for the year! i am trying to embrace and savor each moment that awaits for me...i love your map you have created...whimsical...may you walk the path you ever so wish to take...may you blossom and bloom each day that comes forth...brightest blessings~

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  4. What would my map say? What a fantastic question. I know it would prompt me to be awake through my senses. Look. Listen. Breathe. Touch. Know. Pray. Repeat. *Giggles*

    The map would make a great art journal page, too. Perhaps I will try it out. Thank you, as always -

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  5. Lovely Lis,
    Oh wow, what a delicious idea to create a map, am off to design my own this very moment :)
    Lots of love,
    Milena

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