Day 12 - Time, energy and discernment

Quotes

"It is the mark of an educated mind, to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

"Truth is one, the sages speak of it by many names." - The Vedas

"Ride the energy of your own unique spirit." - Gabrielle Roth

"You define what is important to you by what you dedicate your time to."

Intention

To create a page examining what discernment means to me and investigate what it means in the framework of my understanding of energy and time

My Process

For this page, I washed the circle in blue acrylic paint, allowed it to dry for a day, then covered over the blue paint with red acrylic paint. While the red layer was wet, I dropped large blobs of methylated spirit (rubbing alcohol) onto it. The paint initially cleared to reveal large swatches of blue, but then began to intermingle. I allowed the mix to start drying.  When it was pasty, I used a cotton bud (Q-tip) to etch patterns in the red layer, which allowed some of the blue layer to show through. When all the paint layers were completely dry, I added random streaks with white gel pen across one half of the circle and a series of speckles with gold gel pen across the other half. I took my experience with creating this artwork, to suggest that the process of discernment cannot be rushed. It needs to be respected and allowed its time. If that happens, one's energy coalesces into a personally meaningful and supportive pattern.

Journaling Prompt

When navigating a transition, it is necessary to be intentional in relation to how we manage our time and energy. 
1. Be mindful of your energy levels - How do you feel at various times during the day? Do you check in with yourself? Do you work yourself to exhaustion or are you so full of beans at the end of the day that you cannot sleep? Ask yourself - What can I do to manage my energy better?  
2. What matters to you? Ask yourself - What brings me joy? What makes me more productive? What can I do to include more experiences for joy in my day? What can I do to be more productive with the time and resources that I have?
3. Plan the use of your time and energy meticulously. Ask yourself -  How much time do I invest in my health and well being? How much time and energy do I invest in self development, relationships, in other things, experiences, relationships and ideas that matter to me? How do I do this? When do I do this? How often do I do this? Am I happy with my answers? Am I doing the best I can do in this regard?
4. Plan where not to invest your time and energy - How much time do I spend on social media? Is it in keeping with my goals and plans? Should I really engage in conversations that take time and energy away from what is meaningful to me? If a thought begins to trigger a cascade of worry and negativity ask yourself - can I afford to squander my limited time and energy on this?
5. Don't overthink - Am I aware of who and what I obsess about? Am I aware of why I do this? What can I do to change this pattern? What would be the benefit of making a change?
6. How much time and energy to I invest in learning new skills which will help me transition through changes in the best way possible? What are these skills How can I learn them? 

Daily Wrap Up:

     After completing your artwork and journal entry, consider the following questions:

   - Has my work followed the suggested theme? 

- - Is a particular motif, story or message persistently showing through in my work? What does this suggest to me?

   - If not, is there a pattern, underlying suggestion, message or idea which it has raised. 

   - Is this pattern related to my previous journal entries?

   - Would I like to follow it further? If so, how can I do that in a way which empowers me?

   - How do I feel about the work I have done? Why?

- - Do I feel any resistance to the process? Why?

    In your journal, write up a few comments answering these questions, or else highlight the sections of your written work that seem to suggest a pattern or feature you would like to work on.