Going on a Quest

Today’s Mary Magadalene drawing

AI says: “Going on a quest" generally refers to embarking on a journey or pursuit, often with a specific goal in mind, and can imply a sense of adventure, challenge, or personal growth.”

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I have another opportunity to live some ideal days this week. Every little vacation lately, has turned into such an opportunity.

I came up with that ideal at some point after spontaneously writing a detailed description of my future life. I thought I must start practicing and living that way as much as possible. It was so satisfying to write… So every little vacation and long weekend, I practice it. Since schools have several mini vacations per year, it’s become a periodic practice this year.

I recently heard someone express the same idea in a YouTube video. I don’t remember what was the conclusion, but it must have been that as you practice the way you want to live, it helps you get closer to that life. Sometimes I feel really close, like I’m there already, but then when I go back to work, I go so far away… If I weren’t drawing and writing every night, by now, I would be so far away that it would be very difficult to return.

Why is it important to me to stay close to that ideal life? Because I get very unhappy and frustrated when I go too far away. And because it’s so hard to sit down to work on my own projects when I don’t have a committed regular practice. Just as routine helps me get up very early in the morning to go to work, routine is helping me do my personal and life work.

Routine… that is not my favorite word because I always relate it to working at something that is not quite my dream. But in reality, I’ve had routines I’ve loved.

When I was doing my MFA, I used to wake up, get dressed right away, and go to the printmaking studio as early as possible to spend the entire day there. I loved it so much. It felt so plentiful, like I didn’t need anything else in my life.

When I became interested in all things spiritual, I would go to bed every night very early and read for a few hours. This is how I read the entire A Course in Miracles. I had attempted to understand that book when I was 19 but I couldn’t at all. Then, by reading one paragraph per night, I was finally able to understand. It took me 20 years, but it was that routine that made it possible.

That is also how I finished a 15 feet wide mosaic mural made of 10,000 tiny mosaic pieces. And it was wonderful to get started every morning in the same way.

And when I finally settled in a new home at this time of the year last year, I made myself find the routines that allowed me to be in the studio, start painting, start thinking again by placing my hands on the keyboard and start writing until the piece is finished.

That is exactly what I aspire to feel in life, every day. I always relate it to art, but in reality I understand that it can come from anything that my soul feels connected to.

How can we make life a work of art? How do we make every minute become full of beauty? How do we live in joy no matter what? How do we live more and more perfect days?

It a quest, and for me, it’s worth going on it. The reward may be life itself.