PEAP #7 in honor of Anonymous, NY

Art in honor of Anonymous, for reminding us that it isn't always easy to create positive energy, we don't always succeed, but there is value in the process and effort itself. 

10 X 14 Watercolor and cut black paper 

Below is what was shared about the experience of participating in the Positive Energy Art Project: 

Don’t lose sight of the moon while reaching for the stars.  

FORGIVENESS

Hi Jennifer,

Love the PEAP. 

In theory it sounded easy.  In practice, it has proven to be a big challenge. 

I bit off more than I could chew in my choice of positive energy.  I decided I would focus on forgiveness and the cultivation of attitudes that facilitate forgiveness. 

In just a few days where I consciously made room for forgiveness, I found just how hard this process is for me, and my project lasted only two days of conscious effort where I notated my work.  However, during the subsequent days, I did not lose sight of the goal, and am continually trying to keep forgiveness on the top of my to do list.

I am grateful for your decision to put this project into the universe so we may participate, learn and be challenged.

So here goes…  

This is what I came up with a few weeks ago when I attempted to make forgiveness a priority:

• Reviving important relationships and mustering compassion, looking for growth and healthy relationships.
• Willingly living alongside stubborn and unmovable people.  Acknowledging the stubborn nature of a situation, I can do what’s needed to keep my sanity and my health intact – and exhale. 
• Pushing through with kindness rather than exacerbating a situation by responding in kind with the same obtuseness. 
• Being Simple.  Includes living simply, thinking simply / clearly, acting simply.  Cleaning up the mental and physical clutter. 
• Appreciating the good, the bad and the ugly.  What isn’t always pretty is real.  Real counts for a lot.  Life is messy. 
• Accepting defeat.  Experiencing forgiveness as a slow process in some instances.  Forgiveness is often preceded by struggle.  Sometimes accepting that a battle is lost leaves space to value what remains.  The result can be a variation of forgiveness if not exactly forgiveness itself.  It takes time and perspective.  Ultimately, once forgiveness is reached, there is no more defeat – in the place of defeat is the accomplishment.  I guess this is referred to as “letting go.”

Smelling the roses, anonymously

November 9 – 16, 2011

New York City, NY