Beauty Feeds the Soul, Heart and Mind

One of the most difficult things during my daughter's illness and recovery was the absolute misery and suffering that filled my eyes. Nothing like a transplant unit and a hospital to see very little other than pain and suffering. My daughter's room faced the back of the hospital. The "view" from her window was the back of the hospital and a bunch of gray pipes, etc. There was virtually no natural light. For approximately 20 minutes on a sunny day, there would be one stream of light that would come into her room on the window sill.

It was right in that place that I put a big bouquet of silk flowers. All around the room I put photos of family and friends so no matter where we looked, we were surrounded by love. I would go outside sometimes and sit in the sun and just look around at the green grass, sunshine, flowers, listen to the birds. I would very consciously take in as much beauty as I could to bring back to her. I did that a lot with dancing also. Store up all the energy, beauty and joy to bring back to her whether she was at home or at the hospital.

I've been reading some stuff that says that Beauty increases the feel good hormones serotonin and increases endorphins. I didn't know it at the time, but probably doing that is what helped save both of our lives. Even in the concentration camps, at times of war, during slavery... all the hideous things people have done to each other, people have had the resilience to dance, sing, create.

I believe that it is Art (in all its forms) that makes life liveable. No matter the circumstances, bring Beauty into your life. That's why the artwork I do here is so fun. I love looking at it, sharing it and it feeds my soul.

Bringing the World In - Especially when it's Hard to Go Out

Caregivers don't have time or energy to "go out" a lot of the time. This is exactly why I got the computer in the first place. I had a feeling (especially after doing research about bone marrow transplants) that we weren't going to be able to go out for awhile, so I wanted to bring the world IN. This is when I got on the internet. I did some very interesting things soon after Cristina was diagnosed. I researched about everything. I watched as much ice dancing as possible. I drove Cristina crazy. We laugh about it now, but I really watched alot of it. I had to focus a great deal of attention on whatever beauty I could find. I also HAD to listen to "oldies" music. I immediately tapped into as much teenage/dancing energy as I could.

I love finding art work... and I love sharing it!

Beautiful Hearts Heal Each Other

I absolutely loved this piece of art. I'm not exactly sure what it is... but that doesn't matter. That's what "art" is about. The creative expression. The Ultimate expression. Sometimes I think Art is the only thing that helps humanity to survive. Everywhere we look there's pain and suffering. Sometimes "man" made and other times, nature.

I would imagine the first time a human painted him or herself or painted in a cave or on a rock... that must have been quite a thing. Kind of like discovering fire! That's what this reminds me of. Something primitive and gorgeous. Full of life. Full of healing. One of the only pieces of art I ever did was at Jada Fire's Hidden Goddess Seminar in Las Vegas. At the center of it was a heart. That seems to be where Love resides. Brains without heart leads nowhere and heart without brains... well, I'd rather have that than brains without heart. I'd rather deal with stupidity than heartlessness (although I really prefer both).

This is the painting I wanted to go with my last blog about Dan, but talk about "stupidity." I couldn't figure out how to get it on that blog. Well, at least I have heart!