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Extra-ordinary

12/5/2019

5 Comments

 
"Tea Time 2" (A Commission) - mixed media on cradled wood panel, 24" x 18".  Sold.

It delights me when I receive a commission request.  Commissions are kind of an art trust-fall on the part of the collector - a pre-purchase of an as-yet-to-be-seen painting.  Whoa.  And it surprises me when the request is for a piece which reflects where my art was instead of where it is or where it seems to be going.

Yet as I spent time with this sweet girl over the last couple of weeks, I found myself delighting in the simplest of forms, the purest of muses and the ease with which she emerged.

"Mindfulness asks that we cherish our moment-by-moment experience, treating each Tuesday morning and Saturday night alike as extra-ordinary.  The challenge of awakening in day-to-day life is to treat both the holy and the mundane aspects of life as equally sacred." - The Dharma of the Princess Bride,  Ethan Nichtern.
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Tea Time 2 (A Commission)
Nichtern's advice applies here. The pursuit of the next level of painting feels otherworldly, holy - just out of reach.  It is the creative version of living at the edge of your eyeballs.  There is a temptation to pursue it solely, intensely and fiercely.  A temptation to raise the bar with each effort.  But finding the sacred in what I already do well and easily is a sweet delight and an opportunity to  both create and refuel at the same time.

I am reminded of a meditation on eating a tangerine by buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh:  “Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it’s wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.”​

​And so I will be communing with this avocado toast, dear reader.  I'd love to hear what breakfast food held the universe for you this morning. :)
5 Comments
Dotty Seiter Macbook link
12/5/2019 01:15:10 pm

Jen, love that you, and Nichtern, hyphenated extra-ordinary. I remember where I was—the American School in the Hague, 5th grade, rehearsing a play—when I first understood that the word extraordinary (which I pronounced then, and still do, as 5 syllables) did not have in the middle an /oa/ of the sort that would hold the same sound as in the word 'broad,' but instead contained the prefix 'extra' and the core word 'ordinary,' and probably needed to be pronounced with 6 syllables. And those were the least of of my surprises. At the time, I thought of extra as meaning more (extra candy = more candy), and that made no sense to me with this word—MORE ordinary? Didn't extraordinary mean something spectacular???

I get it now.

Love your discussion here and your tapping into Nichtern's words about 'awakening in day-to-day life … to treat both the holy and the mundane aspects of life as equally sacred.'

Thank you for sharing this painting and for the entirety of your post.

Homemade chia pudding w/ raspberries and pomegrate seeds on top. Thank you for asking. Sacred and mundane. Extra and ordinary.

Reply
jen
12/5/2019 02:39:24 pm

Dotty! Word wrangling is a real thing. How a hyphen can take it from something spectacular to something mundane - and yet sacred. Thank you for diving into this word! You are an extraordinary sentence crafter and I am certain your comments will resonate with others. :)

I would like to be at your house for breakfast tomorrow. That sounds delicious!

Reply
Dotty Seiter link
12/5/2019 02:42:02 pm

come on over—breakfast (extraordinary!) at 800a : )

Carol Edan link
12/5/2019 11:55:49 pm

Extraordinary and the ordinary in the same light! Good advice!
I usually have a small mini pita toasted with butter and delicate salt cheese. Maybe a few black Greek olives! Very Mediterranean!
Love your little damsel with her sweet smile and gift!

Reply
jen
12/6/2019 10:34:58 am

Oh now Carol.....breakfast today at Dotty's house. Tomorrow I am coming your way! Olives for breakfast? HECK YES! Delicate salt cheese? Yum!

Reply



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  • Home
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