Heart, Part 2
I woke up feeling surprisingly well today and almost felt guilty about not going to work. But I stayed because going to work would have been a mistake in so many ways. Not only did I need to rest, but I’m hopefully training my team to assume responsibility and perform whether I’m there or not. And they did well judging by the messages and questions I received from them throughout the day.
Being at home gave me the opportunity to once again live the perfect day I aspire to live every day. I woke up really early, meditated, and prayed, just feeling the freedom from pain in my body. I didn’t even realize I had been feeling so much quiet pain. I can’t even describe it, but this morning it wasn’t there and that’s how I was able to tell.
I wonder if it was the anesthesia or just the prospect of two more days of freedom. Probably both. But I need to consider that moment and what it means for my life. I want to clarify that, as far as I know, I don’t have any disease or condition that would cause me to feel this way. But I know my own history of getting sick every time that I’ve felt what I’ve interpreted as unresolvable stress. It all started when I was born and continued from there. I thought that was over, but after seven years of stress, I need to consider that my body and mind may be trying to tell me something important…
On to more universal themes… Did you know that plants can sing? While drawing, I usually listen to a podcast or documentary. Multitasking? Doesn’t feel like that. So today, I was listening to a Gaia documentary where they explained that an experiment was performed in which they measured or captured the vibration of plants and were able to synthesize music out of the plant’s vibrations. The music is amazingly beautiful!
Listen here: The Music of the Plants
Maybe this is part of why I miss Puerto Rico so much even though I have only lived there for brief periods since I moved to New York in 1985. I like to sit outside, next to the green plants that grow around the house, close to the avocado tree that extends over the roof, and just be there for a while immersed in green, and probably surrouded by the song of the wild plants of my garden.
I realize I have two true dreams in life: to live peacefully making art all day (that includes several arts, the arts of painting and writing, the art of cultivating friendships, and the art of making nice meals to share…) and go back to my house in Puerto Rico to do just that.
For that, I’m working on a plan that I tested two summers ago and that has stayed with me for years now. I want to offer one-week retreats in my house, where we arrive at night, to be received by a great cooking fire, and wake up the next morning ready to work. We are going to paint a full painting and visit three beautiful places for inspiration: a beach, a forest river, and a tropical desert. Or a mangrove in the Caribbean, a rain forest hike, and a very old town or a Taino site, an ancient cave, and a boat trip. I have many ideas where to take you! Since you will take a lot of photos, we will use them to get inspired for painting. I will paint with you and/or guide you as much as you want. And then my friends and I will make an unforgettable meal, read poetry, and play music, a tertulia spa for the soul.
Now that I have both analyzed my current reality and dreamt of a more luminous future full of art, freedom, and joy, I will leave you with the hope that these writings inspire you to dream your own dreams and to create a plan to make them a reality.
As for my plan, I already have my house-studio, I have tested the idea, I have a car to pick up my guests from the airport, and I have a list of sites. All I need is a relaunch of my bravest self!
I would definitely be down for a Magdalene retreat. I have been to South of France with the intent of connecting with her energy, so that would definitely be right up my alley.