THE SPEED OF LIFE

How fast life goes these days! We try to slow it down by recording it with camcorders, writing journals, scrapbooks and diaries. We use whatever means are available today to capture the events of our lives and account for our past, which were the presents we missed as we moved into the future. And, while we’re busy showing off our videos and emailing photos to all our friends, life is happening. Meanwhile, what about the present? Isn’t that what we’re missing by going so fast? The past and the present are always there, flickering back and forth. It is only the present moment that we can control. And how we do it? Not very well, because we are always looking to the past for clues on how to make a better future and looking to the future with hopes and dreams, trying to figure out how to get there. We are perpetually outside of time.

LIVING LIFE TO THE LIMIT

How can we live our lives to the fullest in the present moment? How can we get off the “fast lane” and slow down enough to appreciate every minute? We can meditate, do yoga, or just spend a few moments sitting in a quiet place and letting our mind settle down, trying to reduce the noisy and chaotic input that life hands us on a daily basis. All of these methods are pretty good guidelines for enriching our present moments. But is there another less passive and more active and enjoyable way to fully engage in the moment? Yes, there is, and it is through creativity.

LOOKING INSIDE

Did you know that by using your imaginative and creative skills you can slow down time and enrich the moments of your life? How does this work? Simple and easily. In any creative act such as writing, painting or drawing, you must look within. When you do this, you have a dialogue with your inner creative and time slows down. Every minute spent in this effort is a very rich minute. This dynamic can be compared to traveling the longitudes rather than the latitudes of time. In this deepening vertical movement, you are investigating, exploring, and discovering rich data in your brain with the idea of ​​translating it into a visual experience that can communicate the amazing complexities of yourself to others. Through six creative projects you will discover the artist in you. These are two of the six projects:

THE ARTIST WITHIN YOU PROJECT: NUTRITION OF THE SOUL THROUGH THE DODDLING

Creating from your imagination, gathering your creative powers nourishes your body, mind and soul. Distress, anxiety, and stress can be released by doodling. And there is much to be discovered with what you doodle, just by making lines and doodles on the paper. Are they meaningless? Not in a heartbeat! Doodle projects done by groups of students reveal images that resonate with personal goals, concerns, dreams, and beliefs. Doodling is a powerful and revealing learning environment that leads students to consult their own creative powers.

The project requires only a pen or pencil and a few sheets of paper. Make swirls, dots, dashes or lines, whatever you want on the sheet of paper. Take three minutes. Look carefully at your doodles. Do you see? Faces? animals? An ocean? Often the image is about something you have been thinking about. Now, emphasize the images by darkening the lines around them. Add lines to lighten images.

Now make another doodle. This time she closes her eyes. Take three minutes and make any kind of marks and lines you want. Now open your eyes and examine your work. Do you see? Be sure to turn the paper over to see other images. Highlight the images you have found with dark lines and add lines or marks to lighten your images. If you are in a group, pass your doodle to the person to your right and ask if they see anything in your doodle. If you’re working on being yourself, ask a friend or family member to help you see additional images. Ask the person to add darker lines to lighten what they see.

Write about one of the doodle pictures. You can relate the image to something you have been involved in, a dream, a nightmare, or an idea. Whatever it is, attach a meaning and definition to the image. Explain your writing to the group, friend or family member. Ask them to write a meaning and a definition on their image.

THE ARTIST WITHIN YOU PROJECT: VERBAL/VISUAL/WRITING SKILLS

The project requires three photos of you (1) When you were young (2) When you were older (3) A recent photo, plus a few sheets of paper and a small bottle of glue or tape. Write on each photo: how old you were, what you were doing and what, perhaps, you were thinking. Work to clarify and condense your information into three separate paragraphs.

Take three separate sheets of 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper. Paste or paste a photo at the top of each sheet. Write the corresponding paragraph below the photo. Then, below your paragraph, draw a series of symbols or icons that communicate the information in the photo and sentence. Imagine that the symbols or icons you place will describe the information to someone who cannot read.

Writing a clear and concise definition of an image sharpens your communication skills in writing. Translating your memories and experiences into simple images familiarizes you with the creative process required to represent a given subject. Also, describing the photo in simple, clear terms that anyone can understand (you can share your description with a friend or, in a group setting, discuss the photo with others) builds their verbal skills. In a group, the exchange of this information is always interesting and highly interactive. If you do this on your own and share your experience with a friend, you will be sharing an intimate perspective of yourself that will enrich your relationship.

THE TIME LAPSE PHENOMENON

You may notice, when doing The Artist Within projects, an interesting time-lapse phenomenon. Often the session, which lasts an hour, seems to go very quickly. Students often comment that, at the same time, he seems very focused. They say they feel like they have accomplished a lot in a short period of time (and indeed they have). They have been creating unique shapes, delving into their thoughts, activating their imaginations, and sharing their experiences verbally and in writing. to others.