Circles of Compassion and Mandala 35

Tags

acrylic paintings, Albert Einstein, art journal, Art Journal Every Day, compassion, gratitude, gratitude journal, quote, Theology, Unitarian

Here is my gratitude journal entry for the recent past. It includes my new dahlia stencil and circles cut from paintings my boys did in preschool. My husband has a hard time parting with memorabilia and this is one compromise that helps. Plus I really love how the colors and textures of their uninhibited painting come together. I had attached the circles from their art before I found the quote that is written on this page.

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
― Albert Einstein

I’m taking a class at my Unitarian Universalist Church called Building Your Own Theology and it is an exploration of what I believe. Part of our homework this week was to find a quote about human nature that resonated for us.This one really works for me.

I finished a new coloring page this week also. It is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Opening my heart

Tags

altered art, Altered books, art journal, collage, compassion, gratitude, meditation, Thanksgiving, zentangle

I have been listening to Pema Chodrun’s book about compassion and she inspired this Zentagle and multi-page layout. I have been playing with copies of it so you will probably see it again in a new iteration. We are coming up to my favorite week of the year. I love Thanksgiving and we celebrate Game Day the Friday after. We invite friends and family to come and play, eat, and talk all day. My heart is opening up wider and wider. Come on in.

Here is the open heart layout. I also really like how the page with all the circles turned out. This is the third picture book I have used in a row and I’m ready for the texture and blocks of text of a chapter book. How could I resist a book about Thanksgiving for my November gratitude journal?

My yoga teacher was talking about balancing effort and ease in a pose and that really resonated with me. My life is about pacing myself, but if I can look at it as a process of balancing effort and ease it sounds much more graceful.

The long awaited movie premier came at the end of a busy day. I was pretty worn out, but it was worth it! I also had a lovely day yesterday that included me and my mom, Mommy and Me class, lunch at a new (to us) restaurant, and meditation.