Eyes and Cigarette

BEHIND THE NOISE OF THE CURTAIN

ART WORK IS FROM AN ART JOURNAL ENTRY FROM 2019

It’s in the meandering, taking us across the seconds, minutes, and hours.

A portal seems to open that allows one to step behind the curtain

To look, to see - what is going on internally

A way to get behind the noise and into the stillness of self.

I find a pillow of comfort to lean against in writing about what I ate for the day. It’s part of a practice that’s evolved in living a creative life.

For a short while, I worked with an Expressive Arts mentor just before the Pandemic descended upon us. Just as we were getting started, like that, it came to a close due to closures and the world being turned upside down from what we had once known.

At that time, she shared through her website, a practice she and a friend had developed, which was sending an email to one another at the end of each day disclosing the foods they ate. A couple of rules were in place 1) no criticism 2) no judgement. I liked the sound of it and took it under my wing, with a couple of improvisations, making it my own. My interpretation of the exercise, was extending and accepting a daily invitation to trust and to be vulnerable with another human, to go deeper into the human experience of a trusted friendship. I never could find anyone to model this interesting experiment with, so I took it and re-imagined it as a solo version. I began writing what I had eaten that day, including drinks and the two rules. What I found was, more times than not, it was a way into my inner landscape revealing deeper layers of thoughts and feelings, hence deepening the relationship with self.

I’m curious whether anyone else has tried this and if yes, what were your results?