As humans, it’s hard to live on this earth and not have objects that carry meaning. We have wedding rings, homes, special furniture, mementos and gifts from dear friends and departed relatives. Some are more obviously meaningful than others.
As you take stock of your life, what objects do you have that are imbued with special meaning? A gift that came at just the right time? A card in a shop that you loved and decided to frame. A photo you took of light in the leaves on a special trip. Your first kitchen spoon. The perfect piece of furniture that came at just the right time for that weird corner in your house. A pen that was given to you on graduation. A pair of shiny just-so shoes that you saved up for and symbolized having “made it ” at a certain time in your career.
I ask because how we interact with the world is important. It’s how we make meaning, engage with and appreciate the context in which we live. My set of special items includes: a wooden spoon from my mom from her kitchen to my first away-from-home-and-living-by-myself-kitchen. A pair of tall leather boots that I really wanted to wear to an event some years ago and saved up for months to get. A gold necklace with a lotus on it that symbolized a leap into the unknown of my career that I wore during the 8 months it took me to land a particular job. The gold is wearing off now and silver showing through (I couldn’t afford solid gold!), but I run across it sometimes and remember me-then working so hard to affect change that me-now appreciates.
Objects can be marvelous focal points: they can remind us of our goals, of our tribe, of our aspirations, of our deepest desires. They can point to things we don’t even realize about ourselves yet. We can use an object as a focal point to initiate change.
For me, the practice of painting is this and more. I sometimes paint with a certain longing in mind. Or a transition I’m trying to affect. Or for other people who are interested in engaging around something as well. Color can provide this leaping off point: red for stability and sensuality, green for healing, orange for creativity, yellow for POWER and cheer and sunshine, blues for communication or connection to higher states of consciousness.
Try it! What’s on your mind?
- Connect with your theme, need, deepest desire! (I want more color, dance, mystery, beach, a partner, a new job, etc in my life)
- What would symbolize that for you? An object (like the lotus I mentioned which grows out of mud and muck) or a color (I want to bring in more creativity and ORANGE invokes this), a gift from an old friend or a photo of where you want to go (figuratively or literally) could all work
- Bring it to life on paper, canvas, wood – a place to refer back to. None of these efforts have to be perfect (is anything?). This is about what will serve to remind you of what you want to invoke, remember, work toward.
- Place somewhere prominent in your viewing space so that it starts to permeat your subconcious mind – eye level or desk level in a room where you spend a lot of time (beside your desk, your stove, your bathroom mirror, at the top of the stairs, at an entry way, etc.!).
- Consciously interact with your piece when you gaze on it. Remember what you were thinking when you created this. What you want to draw moer into your life – more creativity, more space, more ease, more possibility.
**Talk to me about commissions too. I have a limited number of spots this fall for commissioned work which is another way to start invoking new directions!