What happens when you start a line drawing practice? Week 4
How to capture your life stories through line drawing, juicy pens and words
Day 1 - Musings about Ozempic with a pen in my hand
Another week is behind me! I don t know about you but sometimes I cannot see how days go by! Work, back to base, work, repeat! No wonder so many people dream about their own businesses, so many people are so easily captured by the promises of … economic freedom. But this is another topic for another time.
This morning while going through my drawing routine, I listened to an exceptional interview. I discovered it thanks to a Substack blogger The vigilant Fox and the interview is on a drug which is taking America by storm - Ozempic. There were many exceptional moments during the interview. One of them was poising a question - why nowadays doctors are so eager to push yet another pill to their patients and not look at the cause of the problem.
The root cause is style of living which includes food or is mainly food. Isn’t it strange that humanity is medicated up to their eyeballs in this so called modern times? Isn't it strange that the food we are eating nowadays is so full of additives which are harmful to the body, that we are being constantly told what to eat, what not to eat by that square box in the room or the phone in our hand?
Isn’t is strange that we stopped listening to our own bodies? That we cannot decipher the messages coming from within? Our grandparents and the entire lineage were able to survive for thousands of years without being lectured on food and yet they were healthier than these last 2 generations. Isn’t it strange? There is nothing like listening to another person who … speaks up!
“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Day 2 - Drawing a cute dragon as the Chinese New Year is just around the corner
Saturday .. a bit more time to play with the pens and paper so I decided to go again through the Dragon of Hope neurographica session I took part in a month or so again. From time to time, I like to join neurographica teachers on YouTube. I prefer the Russian speaking ones as it gives me a chance to practice the language I love so much. So here we are .. a cute - I think he is cute - dragon keeping me company and hopefully helping me this year.
Of course I was listening to something in the background. It is my habit so why change it if I like it! This time I listened to qawwali, music, I love and you might like it as well. Qawwali is deeply connected to the Sufi tradition and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was considered and still is the King of Qawwali. What can say, I never tire of listening to him. A special blog post dedicated to Nusrat Faith Ali Khan and how I came across him shortly.
My message for today - be curious - open your mind!
“Music has no language. It's a universal tool for healing hearts and connecting souls.” - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Day 3 - Surviving another grey day
In search for colour! Boy oh boy it’s grey! Yep! I have checked again and nope there is no sign of sun …. just rain and grey. I know, I know we will appreciate the sunny days even more but hey …I’ve learned this lesson years ago! I need the sun … at least a little bit. So see, this is where drawing comes in handy. Drawing and the juicy pens. One can bring on the paper those special colours one needs in my case yellows, magenta, orange. This is why especially during the winter season I crave colour .. so my shawls are always around my shoulders providing the energy supply I need.
Oh forgot to mention! I do believe that colours capture and release energy. Back to my beloved Sharpies. I love the diversity of colours and the palette range this brand offers and I have a confession to make …. I love pens. Actually I am obsessed with them and I never have enough. Do you know the feeling? I bet you do!
Let’s bring more colour to the mix! Colour and music! A selection of quick drawings and a touch of music!
Day 4 - A place to recover and reconnect with nature
Well it is not Sunday, but my drawing made me remember the little walk - in the woods - I did this Sunday. I like unusual places, quirky ones, places with stories and Ashburnham in East Sussex one such place. Designed in 1777 by Lancelot Brown, each plant chosen with care, each footpath, series of lakes the brain child of one man, it is almost impossible to think how is it to design such a place knowing that you will never see it in its full beauty.
Woods, lakes, fields, an inviting Orangery with a selection of indoor camellias (apparently some of the oldest known) this is ideal for people in need for spiritual connection with nature and not only. It is also a Christian based establishment, an inspiring place for christians in search for community and learning.
Sometimes I see a Franciscan monk doing his daily walk - always smiling, always ready to stop and chat.
My eye got completely mesmerised by the remains of a hydrangea! I had to stop and admire the delicate lines and shapes - even in full process of disintegration beauty was present.
And nearby I found the opposite! Life pulsating through the oh so “pregnant” rhododendron buds!
Day 5 - Musings about micromanagement on a grey day
Drawing at the end of the day. It helps one clear the head, it helps one process the words one heard during the day, the actions.
How do you fight a challenging environment? Let me rephrase. How do you change the toxic culture in an organisation with a big potential. How? How do you tell people that rude behaviour is not on, that working with people is all about communication, about clarity, about respect for each other? How? How do you make people understand that bullying and micromanagement is not the way forward? How do you tell people who have never been exposed to true leadership and management what leadership and management is all about?
Is this a lost cause? Is it?
I needed uplifting colours today and of course I was back to using my juicy pens. Do I have an answer to my questions? Nope! But at last I was able to reach a more optimistic place thanks to my pens, paper and lines.
"There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage." —Chan Master Fuchan Yuan
Day 6 - Time to understand we cannot eat cables and iphones and give the farmers the respect and freedom they deserve
I can hear the rain drops! It’s 6.00 in the morning! Oh no! Rain! Not again! Please! But it is … it’s raining. For me, rain means heavy traffic, uncomfortable driving, puddles on the highway, potential road blockages, difficult parking, maybe low mood.
Farmers need the rain, the soil needs the rain, we need the rain. I was watching a short video on Youtube about farmers in Europe standing up to the official body who pretends to know it all, order everybody around and by doing so killing the soul the nations .. the farmers.
Isn’t it ironic that people who have no idea of what a day in a farmers life even looks like take decisions about such topics? Isn’t it cruel to impose insane rules on people who have farming in their blood? Who come from lineages of farmers who fed generations after generations? Isn’t it ironic that bureaucracy want to tell farmers how to farm their own land?
Isn’t it time to say ENOUGH and STOP obeying? Isn’t it time?
Day 7 - The tree of life and one of those moments when one feels vindicated - a tiny bit
It was already 12.00 midnight when I got my journal next to me, my pens and of course Bhakti who settled cosily on my lap, both ready to watch an interview I’ve been waiting for with trepidation. Although I had to go to bed after one hour I did this with a sort of pride. I know, I know it might sound silly but for me it is not.
Coming from a Romanian / Russian family and living in the West is not the easiest of combinations. I had to bite my tongue in Romania, I have to bite by tongue even more here. How ironic is that - the so called free world does not make one feel any safer and nope it’s not paranoia :)
I felt vindicated at least a little bit because what I knew to be true for a very very long time has finally been “shouted” metaphorically speaking from the rooftops!
It’s nothing new for me or for a tiny minority who refuses and refused to follow the crowds but it might, it just might wake up a few more people.
One of the joys of writing on Substack is that I can be … me. It will take me a while to open up even more, share what needs to be shared and the amazing thing is that I am doing it first of all for my own soul. If down the line a few more people might find it useful, engage in a dialogue, speak their truth and step in a circle of authenticity it will definitely be a bonus.
Our aims are absolutely clear: They are a high living standard in the country and a secure, free and comfortable life.
Vladimir Putin