Draw a Cave = Reveal Prana

I tried to draw the idea of entering and exiting a cave. The first effort took too long and made me dizzy. I draw detail, and now I want to learn when to quit. One holiday card I drew took weeks. It was an animated cityscape in winter, complete with blinking traffic lights. Friend Joel called me when he got his mail. "Please tell me there aren't teeny-tiny lights in the little shop on the corner." Um. I have tried to work bigger (my therapist wondered when I was going to leave Lilliput) and simpler. One line instead of 80. Sentences of four words. Be clear. Less gobbledygook. So, when the cave in/out got too wiggy, I actually dragged it to the trash. Yay! Then I redrew the same thing, trying not to over -think and -do it. Here it is. When the into the cave group met the out of the cave group, there is the image for prana I saw once in meditation. In simplicity there is truth. If I can get out of my own way, maybe I can find some more truth and simplicity.

Communication and Boundaries

Lessons this year are arriving at supersonic speed, and ricocheting this month around issues that I've needed to attend to for years.

Deciding that "hermit" is not a good career choice was a needed first step. No more stealth sentient. The end of thoughtful. clever pseudonyms for me. It isn't possible to promote a book, create a "platform" for future work, and get credit for writing and art I've done, if I don't put my real name on stuff.

I have learned too, that setting boundaries has no chance of success if one doesn't communicate where and when the boundaries exist. Say "I cannot address your issue right now" in any human situation, and you'll get varying levels of push against that statement. Say "I cannot discuss this now, but I will be available at 3 this afternoon for one hour," gives your listener a time and duration to be heard.

Keep it simple is back in my business language. I had a sign on my desk in the 70s that listed what simple sounds like. "No." "Yes." "Get your hand off my knee." Simple still sounds like that.

Communication is not a first responder enterprise. It is still professional to address communications within one business day. Because you've labeled your email "high priority" doesn't make it mine. Serial voicemails don't obligate me either. Be sensible. I have learned that other people have a different agenda and schedule than I do. Darn it!

And...social networking may be neither social or networking. We'll see how this lesson works in the near future.