Dialogue with Time

"Have you also learned that secret for the river; that there is no such thing as time? A bright smile spread over Vasudeva's face. "Yes, Siddhartha. Is this what you mean? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere, and the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, not the shadow of the future?" "That is it," said Siddhartha, "and when I learned that I reviewed my life and it was also a river, and Siddhartha the boy, Siddhartha the mature man and Siddhartha the old man were only separated by shadows, not through reality." --From Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

Access your inner wisdom. Dialogue with your future self, your wise old self, your past--child self, or with the self you will become 5 years from now. What has changed? What has stayed the same? What goals have been achieved? How have you progressed? grown? What are you focused on now? How has your perspective changed? Can your future self provide any insight into things you are dealing with now?

Variations: Again, this is a exploration that can be used again and again. Consider other roles/ parts of the self you could dialogue with? the spirit? soul? inner child? shadow? your critic?

(The concept of Dialoguing has been adapted from Ira Progoff At a Journal Workshop.)

A Classic Writing Tool- Dialoguing

"I think the creative process is not about creating something else; It's about the process itself, creating who I am."- Mayumi Oda (Artist & Writer)

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Picasso

Dialogue with your Muse. Ask questions. Intuit responses.
Find out if s/he has a name? Ask for guidance. Find out what kind of creating s/he wants to explore? Coax her out of hiding. Find out what s/he enjoys. Strike a deal. An hour of playful exploring to start the day, then move into goal oriented artworks?

*** Dialoguing has been adapted from Ira Progoff's At a Journal Workshop. Part of his workshop process involves dialoguing with persons, the body, events, work and society. I highly recommend this book.

Dialoguing is a tool that can be used over and over again. Consider other roles/ parts of the self that you could dialogue with.

Lettering Samples

I am posting some of the lettering I did in my journal recently-- usually whatever words pop into my head or a sort of word association. Sometimes I take a photocopy of my lettering samples and reuse them in my artwork-- you can also resize them if you want them larger or smaller or add in colour with markers or gel pens.