Happy Lunar New Year

Dear friend,

Have you eaten yet?

It is the year of the dragon, and I am still on my sabbatical.

I am occupying my mind and time with meditation and baking. Like painting, I think baking in itself can be meditative.

“It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” ― Germany Kent

I like to think of something to be grateful for, and if I cannot come up with anything to be grateful for, I will repeatedly say “Thank you”, and eventually something worthy of gratefulness will pop into my mind. A thankful heart and mind are like healing medicine for the body.

I used this recipe for the bread in the first image but I deviated far from it because I did not have the right ingredients. Especially the sourdough yeast, so I improvised: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/spelt-sourdough

On the prior day, I gifted this little painting, Magenta, to be part of a children’s art school fundraiser gift basket.

I painted this study maybe 14 years ago, and it was forgotten until my kind neighbor mentioned that she was putting together a gift basket of art supplies for a fundraiser. I thought it would be nice to add this little painting to her gift basket.

Magenta. Oil on paper. 5“ by 4”. Gifted.

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.

Our past is our future

“Wisdom is hard earned… There are wise people in the world from all walks of life, from many nations and cultures. But there is one unalterable reality: No one who is truely wise, is young.” — Joseph Marshall III, Rosebud Sioux, Lakota

The impermanence of things

I do not yet have any new paintings to share, but I always have some thoughts to share with you.

The New Year’s celebration seems to be the only time we collectively and joyfully celebrate change. And every year we will surely hear someone say, Goodbye old year, don’t let the door hit you in your backside!

Rightfully so because we have free will! But we have freely allowed ourselves to be conditioned to behave like spoiled brats — we seem to find something to sour about because we do not like the changes that do not go our way. I think it is also called, self-entitlement. But what a waste of the power of our free will!

In this life, many demolitions are actually renovations. — Rumi, paraphrased

Changes will always happen and they seldom go our way. Sometimes the change can be dramatic and sometimes subtle. We could hate them or we could love them. However we choose to define them, they are all the same, changes and impermanent.

Nothing stays the same. Nothing is permanent. Our liberation is to break ourselves from our old habits to allow ourselves to celebrate the impermanence of things, and to celebrate the power of being kind to ourselves and one another.

Instead of saying, Goodbye old year, don’t let the door hit you in your backside! Say something like, Thank You 2023, and Thank You 2024! We look forward to the new adventures you will offer.

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. — Meister Eckhart

I paraphrase my friend whose background was in astrophysics: If you observe the Universe with Love, it will respond accordingly.

In a world where we can be anything, be Kind.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!