I woke up one morning thinking about aliveness and how the sense of being glad to be alive needs to be sustained, to be committed to - much like our physical and mental wellbeing does. I thought of the persistence of seemingly fragile flowers at living and thriving despite the odds. So over several breakfast mornings I worked on this sketchbook page using gouache and ink.
Another morning I wrote out some of my thoughts about building and maintaining resilience.
And I thought about how we can't do it all by ourselves - no matter what “it" may be - but every bit we *can* do is very valuable. That's why cultivating our own aliveness and resilience is so important.
I made a mug as a reminder that each good thing we can do…
… is a gift to ourselves and each other.
We create the world together every day.
Thank you for being here! 💚💚
And thank you, to all of you, for your ongoing patronage and support of my work! I appreciate every one of you! If you're a newly paid subscriber please feel free to download any or all of the 16 ebooks that I've written and illustrated (including the album from my current art exhibit) which you can download and access anytime you wish from this index page.
Thank you again for being here!! 💚💚
You're one of the best parts of being alive. Thanks for this message, Sue. It was always a tough one for me. It all seemed so pointless, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Just all egos and chaos. But nature is the best part of being on this crazy place in space time. After reading the amazing book, The Biggest Bluff by by Maria Konnikova, she opened my eyes to how insanely incredible the odds are that each one of us is here. So I can't discount my existence anymore. 🥰
Your thoughts are all good ones. Thank you for sharing them! 'Do what you can' is how I have come to go about my days. And I am surprised how efficiently that covers most of my needs. As you say, get help as needed and give yourself a wake-up call if you are avoiding doing that. If you are not sure how to proceed, ask someone else what they would do. When I find myself falling into a bad habit like dwelling on a mistake or dark time, I now tell myself to shake that habit off and actually do the 'dog-shake' that I love to see them do as a way to wake themselves up. Love the reminder of the delicate flowers that persist to live and share their beauty.