The best intentions

Well, internet access has been a bit dire to say the least so it will be a bit feast or famine I fear gentle reader!  There was an intention to post reasonably often...Living in Nepal, my days are very different. I am not running a household (this is a euphemism for saying Kopila won't let me lift a finger) so there is more time for reading and thinking when I get home from teaching the ladies.  I live in a pretty traditional Nepali house where several families dwell, one on each floor.  We are a short distance from the main road in a large town and goats, chickens, dogs and occasionally a cow and her calf wander freely in our courtyard.  The day begins early with the sounds of the aforementioned livestock (some of whom make interesting decisions about the timing of the day’s start!) and most of us are all up and about by 5.30.  There is less time spent making decisions and choices that we have in the West.  I do not have my little studio on hand and, without labouring the point here, internet connection is poor.  I do more walking, reading, reflecting.   My reading so far has been serendipitously integrated:  Pema Chodron’s Taking the leap; Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection; and Tory Hughes’ Creative Development Manual.  There are some helpful common themes – overcoming fear, being authentic, living creatively... and a unifying theme has been that of intention. Intention at many levels – a daily intention like not getting hooked into automatic responding to stuff that makes me mad; short term intentions like completing a particular piece of work or teaching a particular thing to the ladies, and longer term larger intentions…one of those is to prepare for an exhibition at our Regional Art Gallery in Broken Hill in May 2013. It's been useful to think a bit clearly about intentions. I have intentions for my business, my Samunnat involvement and my art.    And each morning, I think about one small, clearly defined thing I intend to do that will help me to live in a more aware way.  And then I think about how I've gone with that at the end of the day. And if I've remembered that even once, it's a cause for celebration.  (Photos are of getting ready for gai puja- part of the Dipawali festival we have just had.)