Art Blog - June Maffin

The ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu was reputed to have said "Nurturing your love is like tending a small garden. If you keep pulling up the plants to see if the roots are growing, you will not harvest anything."

Over the years, I have come to recognize the importance of self-nurture and that regardless of what/who the 'love' is (Lao Tzu's quote), when we care for and encourage the growth and development (of another, ourselves, our art, our vocation), the result is self-nurture.

How often have I said/thought "I'm not an artist." "I can't draw." "I can't ..." only to realize that the more emphasis I put on the negative, the less likely it would be that I would cultivate my artistic and creative soul.

Are you someone who is more likely to "pull up" - be that your art, relationships, yourself? Let me encourage you to reflect on times in your life when you continually "pulled up the plants to see if anything was growing." Were these times of self-examination so that you could learn from your experiences, or were they times of self-recrimination and reproach and what results / consequences were there?

Are you someone who is more likely to "nurture" -- again, be that your art, relationships, yourself? Let me encourage you to reflect on some good 'nurturing harvest' times in your life - moments when you were self-nurturing and discovered rich soul-harvest in your art/ your relationships / your self-growth as a result.

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