Contrast and Agreements (42/52)

Sometime earlier this year I fell upon the Four Agreements (Miguel Ruiz). This week they fell back into my mind, so I caught them here on the page. If you don’t know them,

The Four Agreements are:

1. Be Impeccable with your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

I remind myself of these to keep on track. Again and again. There’s something magical about the physical act of writing words.  I think the process is wired up to a special section of the brain that remembers differently.

There’s a lot about contrast. By which I mean to say – everywhere – it’s all about contrast, isn’t it? And on a smaller scale too.. Yester-page saw the words shouting out unhindered by art. This page is the opposite as from almost the outset the wordage got drowned out by heavy paint.

But it’s ok, I know what I wrote. The words are still fresh in my mind and readily retrievable from this bountiful online repository of stuff.

This page saw me in the mood for change. Random artifacts. Desk findings.

Moleskine users will recognise this addition (I never had cause to use these stickers – or these others that turned up a recent tidying flurry – but as somehow-un-throw-out-ables, there’s quite a collection to use up now)

It’s been a few pages since I played with the paints. So that was the spark to the first layer of word covering.

But…oh…

too dark.

Bring contrast: Add white

splurged on white

Thick dollopy white – oh THE PATTERNS!

OH MY DAYS!

But…..

Now too much white?

glimpses survive, but … more color to balance that white…

Like the proverbial kid in the sweet shop, or the bull in the china shop, I am the loon with the oil pastels, making the lumps and rhythms in the white paint come to life in all the colours of autumn that my eyes have been unconsciously soaking in.

Not usually a fav medium to me, I’m just developing a fondness for the slightly icky messiness involved.

And yet again, while the page (week) has a certain overall heaviness (ugliness)

that I didn’t have time to remedy,

the details (moments) hold the beauty.