I have started to become more mindful. I have mentioned the meditation app Headspace in previous articles. The founder of Headspace, Andy Puddicombe writes in his book, Mindful Eating,
“Mindfulness is usually defined as being present, undistracted by thoughts and emotions, and with an attitude of mind which is neither critical or judgmental. A bit of a mouthful, but all it really means is to live with a sense of happy contentment."
Day 194 of 2016, Earth series. Six inches square daily square.
This all sounds good to me. Being more mindful makes you notice your thought patterns. I started worrying that I would not be able to daydream. I was concerned I would be so focused in the moment on what I was actually doing that I couldn't spend time noodling around jumping from idea to idea. As an artist, many of my ideas come from daydreaming and observation. I often start with an observation first. For example, I made a daily square last week that really struck me. The deep purple and the light bright green looks so good together.
Now comes the daydreaming part. I have been looking for a new series idea. The Four Elements series has been 100 days long and ends on July 20. So I am inspiration hunting for an idea for a new series. A few weeks ago, I thought of doing a 2 color series. I don't really remember the context for this idea but perhaps it was a reaction to all the multicolored series I've been doing lately. The ease of just having two colors might make for a good change of pace. So I'm daydreaming about how I might pursue this 2 color idea for my next series. Greens and purples. OK. So now I have an idea. I get to continue daydreaming about the possibilities. Should I use one color purple and one color green or any purple and any green? I am leaning towards the latter idea to have a little more variety. As for the design parameters, I am thinking I will not have any design parameters. The freedom of coming up with a new design every day might be a fun challenge. For one week of this upcoming series, I will be on vacation in Minnesota. This means I need a design that will lend itself to hand sewing. So I can make it up as I go. The 2 color scheme will bring the whole piece together just by limiting the color choices. So while the color palette of the piece is unified, I think I can take my chances and go totally wild with the designs.
This is mindful daydreaming. If anything, the idea of paying attention to exactly what I'm doing is going to make my daydreaming more effective. It sounds weird to put it this way. But distractions like, "I need to make an appointment for this" or "We need more bread from the store” or "I need to do laundry", all those kinds of ideas interrupt my daydreaming. I hope to have much more prolific and productive daydreams in the future.
To learn more about this technique, I recommend headspace.com. They make the seemingly simple process but difficult-to-do thing called mindfulness so much easier. I am not associated with them in any way except as a subscriber and big fan.
The Earth series is ending this week and I have included a link to the Earth playlist. You can find it HERE along with all the other series playlists in my Spotify.