Musings

1/12/2021

Gratitude for the masked year

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As the year of crystalline vision and absolute vulnerability comes to a close, I find myself in gratitude for all of the valuable lessons that I have learned this year and will continue to cultivate, honoring the many fashions of growth and personal development.
I am taking a moment to give thanks for every continued blessing along the journey that was 2020 and investing my aspirations for the new year.

I give thanks for the ease I have received with understanding Natural Law and all of its implications, listening deeply to my intuition, to my environment, forging a closer relationship with the universal spirit.

I am grateful to fully recognize and embrace myself as an artist, as a creative, allowing comfort in expressing myself with this method and knowing that my process is valid. May I continue to hold my vision and remain in alignment with my muse and inspirations throughout the year ahead.

I am appreciative of my own journey, of the individualized path that I took to arrive at this stage in my life and I am choosing to honor the paths of others and their alternatives in the same mannerism. I am choosing to love myself completely in this lifetime, in every shape, fashion, and form of manifestation. Compassion is the gift of gracefulness and I aim to become so full of compassion that I am able to meet others from this heart center, offering advice if needed and remaining neutral.

I give value and meaning to my time so that others may express the same. I honor my creative process, I am showing a new level of respect for my artistic perspective, and I am stepping up for myself in all areas of productivity.

I am thankful for the lesson of an enduring relationship, of having a partner who fully listens, is completely present, and most importantly strives to be better each and every day. I am always blessed to be the mirror, to reciprocate and reflect, and alternate turns being the water that helps one another reach a little higher. For your support, for your love, your encouragement, and your friendship, I am forever in awe.

May this amazing planet that provides our nourishment, shelter, and wondrous experiences be greeted with respect, care, and faithful compassion. I give thanks for the efforts that we have demonstrated thus far in an attempt to save the planet's ecosystems and I continue to be inspired through being an active participant in striving to make a difference.

I aspire to enjoy more time outdoors, listening to the silence and being constantly surprised by nature’s critters. Midnight flower-picking, sketching / painting / printing in nature, and traveling to new borders.

I am easily finding myself becoming prolific with both of my businesses, being able to reach across a community, generate art for a cause that benefits others, and offer tools to live a more nourishing life by teaching yoga. I hope to be inspired through the growth of others in my community and by the impact of my art.

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12/29/2020

The Dilemma Of Social Media

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I have spent almost two complete years now living and existing in a lifestyle that is not driven by an outlet of social media and I must say, the process of disassociation was not easy. On the first day of deletion, I was flooded with an array of emotions: sighs of relief, an overwhelming sense of panic, addictive tendencies, and separation anxiety. After all, when the majority of our time is spent viewing and shuffling through our various applications, what do you entertain yourself with when they’re finally unavailable and out of reach?

Understanding that social media applications and my psyche just weren’t jiving anymore, I decided to part ways to truly come to terms with my own relationship to these sources of media, connection, and inevitably relation to self-value / worth. Like many of us, I would open Facebook to check on a notification only to find myself looking up and fusing back into reality about an hour later, the battery drained, eyes crossed, and a negative feeling running rampant through my mind. I can honestly say that negativity would come from the fact that I was wasting precious time viewing the perceived lives of others rather than focusing on my own desires and aspirations. Self-worth and the perception of value can also become a factor when viewing life through this particular lens, so I decided to take the leap and cut the cord once and for all. I panicked at first, wondering if I should have reached out to connect with specific people to exchange information, struggling to understand how I would keep up to date with happenings occurring in my neighborhood, and when-how-or-where the latest gathering would be.

I struggled through consequential withdrawals, an intense feeling of FOMO, and a longing for voyeurism. I tried drastically to limit my cellphone use to no avail, finding myself instead prowling the latest articles on Wall Street Journal or The Atlantic, attempting to fill the void of using my phone as a means of escapism and avoidance of the natural world.

But great and beautiful things started happening, too.

My relationship with my partner became so much stronger as I wasn’t distracted by things that honestly didn’t matter for our relationship: social status, relationship status, the couple's photos, the family tag-a-thons, etc. I wasn’t experiencing random mood swings throughout the day and most importantly, the negative self-talk had significantly diminished. I was becoming me again, calmer and less attached to the drama of the perceptive cerulean screen.
I was able to focus on my art, to feel confident in my growth and my progress. I was proud of how I was choosing to spend my time and genuinely connecting with the present moment.

Like a bad break up though, social media comes knocking when least expected.
Just when I thought I was strong enough, I received an email from Facebook three weeks post deletion explaining that it’s not too late to come back, with arms outstretched, radio overhead, music blaring. My very own virtual John Cusack.

I hovered with my cursor over the link like a cat stalking prey in a field asking myself:

Do I give in?

Do I respond?

Do I succumb?

That is when it hit me. I am not the one missing out on anything.

By choosing to prioritize the physical instead of the virtual, I’ve had time to expand my reading list, take French lessons, focus on my studio work, and genuinely connect with my family and friends.

Don’t get me wrong, if you are the type of person who can confidently project, recognize and understand that the algorithms are bullshit, then you are above and beyond the system. By all means, keep grooving to that glorious rhythm sister / mister!

However, if you are having similar thoughts to the ones mentioned above, maybe it's time to take a break from the ensemble of social media and experience the real world again for a change. If anything, it will give you a chance to explore yourself in a technologically driven era. A chance to adapt and discover new ways of reaching out, forging connections, and creating lasting memories.

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Gratitude for the masked year

The Dilemma Of Social Media

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