Who are you being today?

Head and Heart

Yesterday a friend told me I had an “artist’s soul.” That sounded nice. 

But, I asked back, what is an artist’s soul? This morning she told me her definition* and challenged me to come up with my own. I don’t feel ready to do that. I said I need a day to live through it, to feel what it is, not just use words.

So, today I am putting it on like my garb du jour. I am wearing the artist’s soul like a mantle, like a filter, like a lens....Everything I do, I will do with consciousness of feeling it like an artist’s soul would – whether it be in the studio or out. Carving into wax, painting with oils, playing with colored pixels, or even making soup or washing windows or working on the books. I like this idea.

I like the concept of taking on a theme for living each day, and choosing one to color existence in a way that feels right. Tomorrow’s theme might be Compassion. The next day’s, Brilliant Green, whatever that could mean in behavioral or contemplative expression. In future days, it could be Funny or Gratitude or Sketchbook or Reverie or Lover or Productive. So, who are you being today?

Today’s image offering: Head and Heart

I selected this image to go with this post because it is about duality. Everything we do or think or feel has a duality to it. In Bali, they express this with the black and white checkered pattern often seen on material draped on altars, big and small. You may know it as the yin and yang. Head and Heart depicts the left-brained and right-brained duality, which I often feel, sometimes as a conflict and sometimes as complimenting ways of seeing things. If you look closely, you will see that pieces of both sides have bled into each other – because all of our selves inform all of the other parts of us. It's a good thing.

*My friend's definition of artist's soul is that it "...has much to do with exploration and walking the path less traveled with lots of questions."