Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Reinvent-tage Retreat - Day 3

Last week at The Faux Event, I was chatting with the first couple of decorative painting Allen and Ina Brosseau Marx** (authors of Furniture Restoration and Professional Painted Finishes) who shared The Reiki Principles with me...they are:

Today's Intention

Just for today I will give thanks for my many blessings.
Just for today I will not worry.
Just for today I will not be angry.
Just for today I will do my work honestly.
Just for today I will be kind to my neighbor and every living thing.


I thought these were lovely intentions to begin each day...Just for today I can do anything...and I only have to commit myself for one day...tomorrow I can re-commit or commit to something else...but today I am capable of the above.

There are a lot of reasons one does not commit and follow through with what are great ideas at first. You may get tired or have a conflict or even become distracted. Heaven knows I am capable of any of these at any given time. Another reason may be overwhelm...it sounded really fun at first, but after a week or so it became burdensome.

I have so much on my plate this month. I have to edit, design and produce a 56- page, full color magazine; design and produce a catalog for a fine arts center; fly to Chicago for a 1-day workshop; give a textured wall presentation at the local showhouse, create a body of work for the gallery opening, and cuddle my new puppy...all this in addition to daily spiritual work and running a home. So for me to commit to this retreat was a big undertaking...to say the least.

After 55 years on this planet, I have come to know that I do not multi-task well...or at all. I am a focused 1-thing-at-a-time gal. I have schedule the retreat days like this:

6:00 - 7:30 AM...prayer, meditation, spiritual practice
7:30 - 8:30 AM...talk with daughter Casey while she drives to work, blog
8:30 - 9:00 AM...continue to blog, eat breakfast, play with puppy
9:00 - noon..........art making
noon - 1:00 PM...part two of Reinvent-tage Retreat, lunch
1:00 - 5:30 PM...magazine/brochure/prep for workshop & presentation
5:30 - 9:00 PM...free to be me
9:00 - ???? PM...Reinvent-tage Retreat post for next day


Once I have a plan, I can usually stick with it...so I have a plan for October.

When I was creating today, something wonderful happened...I began with one direction in mind, but ended with something very different. I stayed open to possibilities and went with the flow and I am very happy with the result. Although the title of my piece seems dark, I did not feel this way at all. It was a feeling of moving forward into something better...a growth experience. I am pleased with my progress so far.


See post here for your invitation to join the Reinvent-tage Retreat...and to see how the process works...

**The Marx's signed my book: To Rebecca who makes the world better wherever she goes...the most creative person we know.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those are lovely (and liveable) intentions - it is so much easier to keep good intentions on a daily basis than trying to make a huge sweeping lifetime change, that we feel let down with ourselves, if we have a human moment of weakness.
Thank you for sharing this - I will have to visit the links you provided. Have a wonderful, creative day!

Nunnie's Attic said...

Rebecca,
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for leaving me such sweet comments. I love how you have your intentions mapped out. I try to get certain things done at a certain time of the day but then life interrupts. But,I like making lists so I think that I will try this. It was a great post and what a lovely inscription in your book. Thanks again for the visit and come back soon.

Love,
Julie

Linda O'Neill said...

Wonderful intentions to live by...not easy to do sometimes but having those in mind makes living in the moment a little easier.

Love your puppy! Sir Chancelot is adorable!

Darla said...

What a lovely inscription in your book - and a sentiment I second.

I'm going to print out the Today's Intention that you posted. I spotted a couple of things right off that I need to do...one day at a time as they say.

Thanks for this.

Darla

gma said...

It's good that you follow your intuition as you work....and the end result is amazing. Will follow your advice on the multi-tasking
instead of going in circles when I try to do too much.

Sharon Tomlinson said...

I did not let myself read ahead, but now I see you verbalize exactly what my comment was telling you about on your prior post.

Pam Aries said...

HI! I am so glad you left a comment on my bloggg... I keep seeing you on all my fave blogs and I keep meaning to come see you!








when you come to Charleston..PLEASE let me know! I love your art!!

Anonymous said...

I love those intentions! I'm going to print it out and keep it where I see it all the time. I can do just about anything for one day! Thanks for sharing!

Manuela

paris parfait said...

Wow! You are one busy woman! And I am impressed at how you manage to juggle everything to allow for your priorities. That's so important - too often we allow the day-to-day mundane things to dominate our schedule. xo