#thedailyartwalk : The Shedding Part 3 …
- Mar 21, 2022
- 3 min read
daily self regulation and self discovery art
pause. breathe. check in. finding our centre again
read below to find out how to join in
Twice before we have found ourselves drawing tree bark and giving the drawing a title
the shedding
It’s always so painful. Peeling off some of the old and exposing some of the new. and there doesn’t seem to be a gentle way of doing it.
The hardest part is that it‘s not old habits or behaviours we are trying to shed, it’s deeply ingrained thinking. Thinking that was made ours bunch others. People outside of us. Our therapist calls it “brainwashing”. And she calls those people “abusers”. We call it ”sense of self”. We have yet to name those people.
Today it felt fitting to capture the peeling bark while still on the tree. The standing tall and strong tree while the skin of its past is slowly separated and eventually fallen to the ground. It’s a slow and arduous process. And we keep feeling like each time we’re convinced we’ve reached such far down the road new growth, we find ourselves right back here. Bleeding.
But Mother Earth knows what she is doing and the tree must shed so that it can continue to grow strong and powerfully wonderful. And so we trust. That the same is true for us.
On this day it feels both exhausting and empowering all at once. So, on our daily art walk, we chose to photograph the trees. We blurred the background so that we could focus only on what is directly before us. Easier to take the next step that way.
writing by Marc
photograph by Leo
#thedailyartwalk it’s a thing!
join the daily “challenge” (don’t love that word but it is kind of fun too, no?). And it’s as easy as committing to going for a wander each and every day and picking one thing, just one thing, and then photographing it or drawing or painting or scribbling or splotching or singing or dancing or writing or all and sundry or whatever entices you or excites you today. Make it ART. And let the whole experience serve you - to centre, to ground, to check in, to notice, to feel, to engage, to interact, to anchor, to invigorate, to enliven, to calm, to whatever it is you need to do TODAY. If you’re feeling brave, please share your version in the comments or on your own social media - don’t forget to us the hashtag #thedailyartwalk so we can find each other. Join our private community if you’d like to really get posting and sharing in a safe space.
Another option is to simply wait for our pic each day and then riff it - let it inspire you to create something that is yours with our piece as a starting point. We have one friend who has taken our daily leaves and made collages, pipe cleaner leaves, sketches and even polymer clay sculptures! How awesome is that?
How We Go About It (IF you’re looking for some more guidance)
We go outside (fresh air) and pay attention to nature and other details in the world around us (focusing tool). Each day we select one item or snap a photo with our phone and bring it home. On days we can’t get out, we investigate and pay new attention and find something in our home. We then select the medium that most matches our mood or that we feel will be the most regulating in that moment and we set to work drawing or photographing or sculpting or writing or singing or dancing or all of the above (regulating our nervous system and bringing ourselves back on line through hyper focusing)
We set an alarm for 20 minutes (our containment) but you figure out what works best for you. Sometimes a quick 5 will do; other times it feels like we need half a day, doesn't it? We do often repeat this exercise several times through the day when it's a real doozy of a day. Smile
Remember - there’s no good or bad or even in between! It’s all about process and experience and ANYONE and EVERYONE can do that.
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