#MicroBlogMondays: Send my baby some love

Meet my boys – Loki {on the left} and Simba {on the right}. They’re almost five years old, which means they’ve been with us for over four and a half years. But it feels like we’ve had them forever.

Simba is our little ball of sunshine. He becomes Mr. Lapcat every time I try to work on the laptop {ok, most times} and literally demands his cuddle time. If we are doing anything when he wants his cuddles, he will push it out of our hands and firmly insert himselfoin our lap, demanding to be the center of attention.

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Gratitude thread for October

There’s a thread of gratitude that runs through my life.

Moments, big and small, that I’m grateful for. People and events that I give thanks for. They range from the small things I used to take for granted – a clean car thanks to the car cleaner who comes in early in the morning; a clean desk at work courtesy the office boys who stay back late to clean up our office space – to the larger events, like a month of good health for the husband and me after almost two months of illness.

As part of my evening ritual I spend some time journaling, which includes – on most days – a gratitude list. Over time, this simple activity has led to a tangible difference in the quality of my days. I find myself in a much more positive state of mind, and I’m able to weather the storms that come my way a little bit better.Continue reading→

#MicroblogMondays: I’m becoming a hermit!

Slowly but surely, I seem to be becoming a hermit.

The Hermit tarot card: I'm becoming a hermit

This is a cycle that repeats itself every couple of years. I start turning into this person who goes to work and runs back home and doesn’t want to step out again. I think of meeting friends, running errands, going shopping or walking, but it seems like too much to do. I’m happy pottering around the house – writing, painting, journaling, doing some inner work.

Sometimes I realize that it’s just the stress getting to me. In those cases, it’s rather easy for me to snap out of hermit mode. At other times, it takes me a while to realize what is happening.

Why, you ask? Because I am an introvert – and as an introvert, I love my solitude. Being around too many people for too long saps my energy, so I’m perfectly content with my hermit life.Continue reading→

#TheMindfulBreak: It’s a wrap!

As I gather together my photographs from the mindful break project to compile them into an ebook, I’m blown away by the many small moments that I took the time to consciously witness. I’m struck, also, by the pictures that I did not take.

I had planned and written out most of the content for the ebook last month, so I had a fair idea of the quotes I would be including and the mindful practices I would be sharing with my peeps. Somewhere, at the back of my mind, I had a little checklist of the kind of images I would need to illustrate these quotes and practices. Now, as I look through the photographs that I do have, I find – at best – two or three photographs that were on my mental checklist, which tells me that this project took on a life of its own. And that is just as it should be.

Some of the photographs on my Instagram account from the mindful break project Continue reading→

Introducing the #Writeaholics!

Blogging is a solitary activity. It’s you, alone behind a screen, sharing your thoughts and dreams, your art and travels, your loves and hates, so many little glimpses into your life. Sometimes it can feel a bit lonely out there, adrift in a sea of a billion blogs all writing about a billion different things. You wonder if your voice is getting drowned, if anyone is listening, if any of this even makes a difference.

This is where the power of community comes in for a blogger.

For me, it came in the form of Blogchatter, through whom I found a lot of friends, numerous bloggers whose work I admire, and a number who inspire me to do better.

And now, seven of us have come together to blog better and stronger!Continue reading→

Unboxing The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Cards

the-wild-unknownThere are as many special interest Tarot decks as there are people – you have the Cat Tarot and the Druid Tarot, the Angel Tarot and Greek Mythology Tarot, and everything in between. I’ve never been interested in branching out into any of these, because honestly, once you start there is no stopping!

But the one deck that I have heard nothing but good things about is The Wild Unknown Tarot. And when I saw the cards online, I knew why. The black and white images with pops of colors are not only beautiful, but the essence of each card shines through in the illustrations.

The first two editions of this deck are sold out, so when I heard there was to be a third edition, I simply had to have it! While pre-ordering them, I saw that the artist had another deck out – the Animal Spirit oracle. Continue reading→

#MicroblogMondays: The birth of a painting

Before I started on my art journey, I often wondered how artists came up with ideas for their paintings. What sort of research did they do? What techniques did they study? How did they prepare for a session? I never found any satisfactory answers – or maybe I didn’t look hard enough. So I thought I’d share my process for brainstorming and researching ideas and techniques for a canvas that I’m about to start.

The birth of a painting

In the middle of busy work loads and hectic commitments, I’ve been squeezing in some reading time. My Pocket feed is filled with articles on color theory and symbolism, color meanings and associations, the meaning and significance of color in different cultures, color color, and more color.Continue reading→

Beat stress with art: intuitive painting

When I wrote about adult coloring books last month, it generated a lot of interesting comments and discussions. Chief among them was the argument that coloring is a fun, easy and quick way to beat the stress.

My argument is that the best way to beat the stress is with art.

Well, what if I told you that over a period of about a month, maybe even less, you could have a painted canvas ready to hang on your wall? You need no prior art background, you don’t really need to know how to draw, and all it will take is 5-10 minutes a day. The set-up and clean up is also super easy and very quick.

Painting this canvas will also help you to be mindful, it will help you to beat the stress while creating a piece of original art, and maybe even help you to experience a bit of art therapy.

Sounds interesting?Continue reading→

#MicroBlogMondays: Love is a Universal Language

Love is a universal language: Birds in love, Bharatpur Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India

Seeing these birds, their sign of affection high up there in their tree perch, oblivious to the other birds and tourists gawking at them, made me stop and think about love.

It’s the most basic human emotion there is. Love makes the world go round, after all!

And yet, it’s the most controversial one too.

We live in the 21st century, and people are still regularly persecuted for being in love.
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#TheMindfulBreak – it starts on Monday!

the-mindful-break-jon-kabat-zinn-mindfulness

As I was getting ready for the Mindfulness challenge, pulling together material for the Mindfulness ebook, this quote really stood out to me. I thought it would be helpful to share it with you, along with a few thoughts on what mindfulness is and how this campaign can {hopefully} help you become more mindful.

What is mindfulness?

It is simply being aware of the present moment, without judgements, without attachment to our thoughts, to the past or the future. It’s about being present.

Thoughts and feelings will continue to arise – that’s part of the human condition. But being aware that these thoughts and judgements do not define you, letting them arise and flow away and remaining centered in the present moment, is mindfulness.

How can you practice mindfulness?

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