Keeping Peace

I am so proud to be the featured artist on Paint Party Friday this week!  Thank you for the great interview and shout out!  Each week, amazing artists link up to PPF -- please check them out and link up your work as well!

My mom is an artist.  She doesn't paint with acrylics or watercolors, but with the flowers in her garden, and with her cooking.  She made the most gorgeous and tasty vegetarian meal last night.  I asked her to pose with it -- she is the Julia Childs of Pine Lake Park!  Thanks Mom!

Why Is It So Hard To Keep My Peace? 
All the great spiritual traditions teach techniques for maintaining peace of mind.  But putting these techniques into practice -- to keep my peace and equanimity no matter what -- is very difficult.  Here in Pine Lake, I feel so at peace.  But on Wednesday, during a one day visit home, I felt the stress and pressure of ordinary life creep up around me as soon as I got off the highway.  And then, yesterday, as a difficult relative arrived into the mix, I again felt that tightness in my chest.  This morning in meditation, as I tried to "find" the feeling, it dissipated into thin air and I felt a wash of peace.  But then I heard his voice, and had to start from square one!  Practice, practice, practice.  If I can't keep my peace, I will keep my distance and I will keep my tongue!

I have felt a swell of creativity here, and it is where I will go for refuge today.  Here are two pieces I recently completed, both of which relate to the practice of keeping peace.  The first is a reminder to start every day anew.  Don't drag the past forward.  Cleanse the slate and be open to the possibility of pleasant change.  The person who irked me yesterday might bring me joy today! 

For Everyday Anew, I started with a layer of collage on a long thin piece of birch, and then drew a rough of the design with black oil pastel.  The collage informed me of the design.  Then I scraped paint around the design, further defining it.

And here it is, emerged from the collage!

This little birdie is going to fly over to the Anything Goes challenge blog; the current prompt is "anything but square."

It's not enough to begin anew; It is also so important to begin with love.  If we can meet difficult people and difficult situations with loving kindness, at least we won't exacerbate them.    Here is "Start From Love" in it's embryonic stage, and then completed.  

 

I have to thank my husband for urging me to add the red flowers in the foreground.  I think it was a great suggestion!

Here is a video that gave me some good perspective this morning.

 

Do you have techniques for dealing with difficult people and situations that work for you?  I thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.