Through this channel I wish you the very best life for the year 2024. The unrest during New Years Eve with cars flying over Interstate 41 made me think how valuable a slower pace of doing mundane things actually is. Especially in America we are used to fast food, fast lanes and fast European vacations. This makes the experience of life shallow. Think about cooking. Making a meal from scratch, using fresh ingredients, herbs and spices is a joy in itself. The smell of rosemary or freshly squeezed celery does something positive for our mood.
Taking a photograph of certain beautiful view is fast and common. We want to remember it, share it and document it as a treasure. Storing a picture in the cloud these days goes very fast. We hardly ever look at it again and most of the time just forget about it. The experience however of sitting quietly in nature, take in the colors, smell the earth goes much deeper. You probably never will forget the experience.
The experiences of drawing a scene are the antidote to anxiety. Did you know that our society has the highest level of anxiety? This has many reasons but one of them is that the pace is too fast. When we take the time to inhale and do something not merely for the result nor as a means to an end but for the process in itself, we are able to calm ourselves. This drawing is made by one of my students Laurie Sattler while in the Rosemary Art District.
