Another amazing nugget from my meditation weekend. We were guided in a drawing meditation. I was so thrilled to put my newly formulated I-don’t-care-what-it-looks-like-I-will-do-my-art-anyway attitude to the test. We were asked to draw our hand from memory. ”Don’t peek!” Beth shouted, as we all attempted to take a sneak peek at our hands. We had about a minute to complete the task.
And the voices started in…”Oh my God, this sucks!” ”This doesn’t look like a hand!” “You are a terrible artist.” ”Do you really think you can make art?”
“Time’s up,” we heard. ”Noooooo!” I complained, “I need more time!” Yeah, I don’t think that more time would have helped my stubby big toe looking thumb, look any more like a thumb.
Ooh, I hope you are not laughing.
So then, she asked us to take a good, long look at our hand. Really see it. The next exercise was to draw our hand, 1/10 of an inch at a time. She gave us 5 whole minutes this time. I decided to pose my left hand for the drawing, and off I went, 1/10 of an inch at a time, paying attention to the lines and curves, the details of the nails and the knuckles, and even the ring on my finger. Here is my masterpiece:
Kinda looks like a real hand, huh?
I was caught up in this exercise, like the mindful meal, with a calm, clear focus, a drawing into myself that did not leave room for the critic’s voice. I like it in this place, this seeing place. ”Don’t draw conclusions,” Beth said. ”It is impossible to see something through our memory, or our story,” she continued. She wanted us to see… TRUTH.
My “from memory” hand was so deformed and harsh. The “Truth” hand so fun and effortless.
Don’t draw conclusions about your life. See what is there for you to see, every detail, every sensation, every curve. There is truth in what you really see.
COMMENTS
This was a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing this. As your mom, I “know” your hand! And by gosh, you got it! Good job! I love you. Every 1/10th inch of you!
Don’t draw conclusions. See what’s actually there and draw on that. I love it! Real life can be more beautiful than what we imagine, if we put our thinking aside let our selves lead. Awesome! What a great way to start my day. Thank you Laura.
🙂
