Monday, June 8, 2009

retreat... 2- the night before, the day after


So there it was the night before the retreat and it was getting a bit late when Mosaic Woman pondered if I planned to pack art supplies. It had not occurred to me, just as it had not occurred to me to pack before it got a bit late. So I grabbed my blue and my violet and my green prisma color pencils and sharpened them. I started the doodle Friday night, thought "sea slug." and by Saturday night it was finished. It is my first "serious" doodle in a long time. Stained glass work will do that. But it felt good and right. The same feelings as returning to prayer. I am sure a good friend or Jesuit would want me to take notice of these feelings...


A while back an email came forth at work about interest in a meditation group. I either ignored it or forgot about it. Then an e-mail came out announcing the times. Today I made it for the third time. It was just myself and one of the leaders, a new therapist with whom I had yet to converse with at the school.
Now we have. I told her I had been a lot less groggy today even though I had spent 200 minutes gardening in the humidity that has entered our region. She asked, "Did you have a good weekend?"
I told her about Wernersville. We talked.

...




12 comments:

  1. I wish my doodles looked like that!

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  2. Gannet Girl--- now it wouldn't be yours then would it. how to improve one's doodling, my advice... play with color, play with color, play with color, and be mindful of your playing.

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  3. I'm in Pensacola, Wayne, and away from my computer, finding myself two posts behind here. It was good reading your thoughts while on retreat in the former offering and amazing to see what beauty flows out of you in a "doodle" afterwards.....

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  4. Jim--- enjoy your vacation. thanks for the kind words.

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  5. If that's a doodle -- what's a work of art?

    I pretty much only draw while on retreat. I wonder why?

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  6. Michelle--- OK, so let us just say it is an original stratosphere.

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  7. ...I like the stratosphere, but I'm still thinking about why I don't draw otherwise - since I generally like (despite lacking any talent for it!)

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  8. Michelle--- I thought you meant you drew not doodled on retreats ;') I create stratospheres because days of silence are awfully long and I refuse to take a novel or spend excessive time on the computer. And I was instructed to not over pray, so I do art work.

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  9. I, too, try not to "compute" on retreat and I will tell you from personal experience that over praying can be painful!

    ...I think I should go do my Examen and pray about drawing!

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  10. Michelle---- have you drawn today

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  11. Sigh...no. But I've drawn with words?

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  12. That is a beauty, Wayne. Love it. Will it become a stained glass work at some point?

    Actually, I tend to think that doing art work can be a form of prayer. And sometimes, I actually pray as I work when my mind goes there.

    That's cool about the meditation at work.

    Mich

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