Category Archives: Austin Kleon

Three Truths and One Wish

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1. Truth: You can’t do everything. Knowing this, there are decisions to be made. At first, this was easy for me. I had accumulated a lot of unnecessary clutter, and a few too many toxic people. In those first innocent days of simplifying, it was really clear what to stop doing, what to get rid of, who to avoid. Getting rid of all the should, have to, obligation, pleasing and performing, striving to be perfect, being bullied, and negative energy was easy once I got started. It was clear when saying “no” was really saying “yes” to something else, something more important and meaningful. Like Austin Kleon suggests in Steal Like an Artist:

Steal Like An Artist - “Be boring”

image by austin kleon

It got harder when I had to start choosing between two things I wanted and loved, when I only had the time, space, and energy for one of them. That’s NOT so easy. Everything left after the first round of elimination is all desirable and loveable, worthy of my time and attention, but I can’t do everything.

2. There is enough time, and time is short. This seems like a brain teaser, and yet the truth of it is so clear. We all know exactly what it means. We don’t need to push, we can relax, but impermanence is real. This video is a perfect illustration of this truth.

Lotte Time Lapse: Birth to 12 years in 2 min. 45. from Frans Hofmeester on Vimeo.

3. Rest and relaxation are key, to balance out all the working and effort. I need to fully learn this, embody it. I need to learn to rest, to slow down, maintain balance. I am headed for a collapse if I don’t, and soon. I need to learn to use my brakes, stop and refuel. I need to pace myself, check myself before I wreck myself.

One wish: That we can all get boring and find the time, space, and energy for what we love most, and let go of what’s no longer working, and RELAX into what is, where we are, as we are, and never forget that gentleness is our superpower.

I is for Inspiration

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Inspiration

  • The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative; arousal of the mind, the heart and the brain, to special, unusual activity or creativity
  • The quality of having been so stimulated, or the product of creative thinking and work; a sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea; divine influence or guidance, intuition; a person or thing that stimulates in this way, an inspiring or animating action or influence
  • The drawing in of breath, the act of breathing, bringing in air; inhalation

I see something beautiful, confusing, alive, and it causes me to pause, breathe in, and look closely. In the moment before any judgement or understanding, it touches my heart, and my heart in turn opens to it. In the stillness of this moment, something swells. My chest feels full of wind, energy and fresh air, and I want to reach out, touch, connect. This longing hurts. In the purest moment of devotion, I make an offering, a wish, a prayer.

What inspired me today:

  • Lilacs on my writing desk. Tiny flowers, big smell.

  • Spring morning bird songs. Two tiny sparrows roosting in my lilac bushes. The robin on the fence (it’s a female, I’ve learned) who insists on believing that my neighbor’s bathroom window is a viable place to roost (she’s been at this for a few weeks now)–this morning, she was throwing herself against it with a mouthful of grass for building her nest. I am inspired by her, so completely wrong and yet so utterly devoted.
  • Susan Piver, this post especially, and her reminder “that the true meaning of your practice arises when you do one thing and this one thing has way, way more power than trying your super-hardest best or willfully throwing yourself at the dharma—and that thing is this: RELAX.”
  • Music. Some of it came from my computer. Some of it came from the river, full and moving fast. Some of it came from the newly opened Aspen leaves whispering to the wind.
  • Susannah Conway. Today is the six year anniversary of her first blog post. I am inspired by everything about her, everything she does: her willingness to be vulnerable and brave, her wit and charm, her creativity, her writing, her photography, her videos and books, her ecourses and her blog.
  • One of the books I’m reading, “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon.

What is inspiring you today?