Day 14 - Patience with the process

Quotes

"Nothing in nature blooms all year. Be patient. Deep in the roots, all flowers store the light."

"Be you. The world will adjust."

"Who are you when no one is watching?"

"Appreciate where you are in your journey, even if it's not where you want to be. Every season serves a purpose."

Intention

To create a page that explores my attitudes and supports regarding times when things are slow or I feel stuck.

My Process

For this page, I squeezed paint over sheet of wax paper, smudged it two particular spots, cut the sheet into a circle pasted it over the circle in my journal. Next I studded stickers (which were essentially large dots) between them and also pasted a cheery gift tag and strip of fabric tape on the page as well. Next I connected the dots with black permanent marker. The resultant image appeared like a map to me. The artwork seemed to say to me that sometimes the 'dots' (events) in our lives appear to happen at random, but in retrospect, if one takes the time to reflect on them, one sees a pattern, or even a map that gets us to where we need to be.

Journaling Prompt

What attitudes and behaviors can I adopt to help me cope with the times when despite my best efforts, things appear to have ground to a halt?
 Patience is required to live a good life, but sometimes it eludes us. When that happens, we exhibit some or all of the following symptoms: shallow breathing, muscle tension, hand clenching, restless feet, irritability or anger, anxiety or nervousness, a tendency to rush and make quick or snap decisions. It is possible to recognize these symptoms, their triggers and get to the root cause of them, by using the 5 'whys' of problem solving, which are:
1.  Assemble a support team to give you feedback, or help you achieve your goal
2.  Define the problem, ie name the specific behavior you want to change.
3. Ask the first 'Why' - What facts suggest that you have passed a trigger? 
4. Ask 'Why' five more times - each response should indicate a new avenue of inquiry (e.g. I got annoyed because (i) I was running late (ii) I was tired (I hadn't had enough sleep last night) (iii) I was a bit uncomfortable (ie thirsty - and dehydrated) (iv) I hadn't prepared enough to anticipate the turn of events (v) Someone else stuffed up, but I had to wear it. 
5. Know when to stop asking any more 'Whys'
6. Address all the root causes that your inquiry brought to light
7. Monitor your plan to address these causes.
NB: This strategy can be used to address any problem that you need to solve
- Make a tentative list of issues you would like to deal with
- Can the 5 whys strategy help address some of them?
- Would you like to schedule a time to begin working on them?

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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.