Day 23 Heart by Mary GowDay 23’s heart is protected by tree branches.
I have a special place in my heart for trees. Growing up, there were many large oaks in the yard. For many years I’ve doodled trees and have hundreds of drawings of them I’ve shared with no one.
When I search on the internet for “tree protection” there’s all sorts of sites about how to protect trees during construction. Yet trees offer us protection – from too much wind, from too much sunshine, from too much rain, and more.
Like trees solidly in the ground, our inner tree branches protect our hearts from the elements.
Let stray hurtful words bounce back to where they came from. Stay open to expressing the love you wish to sprinkle the World with.
The tree within provides a solid foundation no one can touch or destroy without your permission.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Day 21 Heart by Mary GowWe become like the people we surround ourselves with. So what better time to see who that is than a holiday like Thanksgiving.
Today was a day of many conversations. In several of them I mentioned that I had this heart project. What I noticed this time was different than I had noticed in the past. This time I took the time to listen to how the person responded — not only by words, but did the person hearing what I was saying show any amount of interest in what I was up to?
Or was it a one-way all their way?
Thanksgiving isn’t especially the best time to check to see if who you surround yourself with are as supportive as you hope but I was interested to see the results of my small experiment.
Did anyone want to check out my website when I mentioned it? Did anyone ask what the URL or domain name was?
Granted holidays are a great time to be in touch with people close to us. People we hold dear.
It might be an interesting experiment to see if they’re as interested in your life as you are in theirs. OR holidays might be the WORST time because inevitably aren’t many people absorbed in their own worlds?
Over the course of several conversations with friends I realized one person in particular after mentioning this heart project and my daily postings didn’t express any interest in seeing them on the internet. Instead they suggested I give up the project, or scale back and not do one every day, or the full 100 days.
Could it be this person was reflecting back my own feelings? Or what? In some way were they testing my commitment? I entertained their idea of giving up or not doing today’s heart.
The testing may be what a friend does for us. I would hope for at least asking “Where can I see those hearts, Mary?”
Do we really have the conviction to follow through as originally planned? Is the project worth it? I thought about why am I doing this if hardly anyone sees it?
I’m working on this because I want to share my hearts at a time I think we could all use some heart.
So I’ll continue, and see how I feel tomorrow.
Today, grateful for friends and family, and considering: whose opinion really matters?
“I’d rather have friends who care than friends who agree with me.” – Arlo Guthrie
Day 18 Heart by Mary GowQuickly, spontaneously, I grabbed some items to place on a scanner to compose this piece: 1) an angel a dear friend and former neighbor gave me; 2) three fake flowers I bought to wear in my hair a la Frida Kahlo, and 3) a scarf another dear friend gave me.
Getting back to my love of photograms and scanograms this process takes me out of my head to a space that’s timeless.
I placed these items on the scanner bed, arranged them, then scanned them.
Then I played with it in PhotoShop.
This process reminds me how well I can do when I don’t think too much and instead act on intuition.
Day 18 is an intuitive heart, I call “Heart Emerging.”
“Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way.” – Florence Scovel Shinn
Day 17 Heart by Mary GowBack when the iPhone 4S was “the thing” I went to a social gathering of some creative friends of mine in my neighborhood at that time in San Francisco.
At the end of the gathering the host asked each of us to share one tip about something we’ve discovered.
One person demonstrated the Aeolian Harp App on his iPhone.
As soon as I got home I bought the app for $1.99.
Now a decade later, Aeolian Harp is still available, and getting favorable reviews!
From their website:
“Make music while you draw. It was developed by Uwe Oestermeier available for iPhone or iPad.
User defined parameter and color schemes can be used to explore the manifoldness of the underlying particle system.
The compass can be used to locate the following instruments in the four directions of the winds: Balalaika, Celtic Harp, Guitar, Gamelan, Guzheng, Kalimba, Koto, Marimba, Orchestral Harp, and Sitar. Each of these instruments can be assigned to a compass direction with a double tap on a cardinal point.”
