Mind Walkers

"Mind Walkers" - mixed media on 300 lb watercolor paper, 22" x 30".  Available here and at Artfinder.

I will not let anyone walk
through my mind with their dirty feet.
-Gandhi

​Recently I've been pondering the sometimes powerful trail of mental debris left behind by other people.  

​Of course, dear reader, we know that the mental debris is there because we allow it. Maybe unconsciously.  Maybe deliberately - because the sadness or pain or rage fuels us somehow.  The other people didn't put it there, per se.  We let it in.  And we let it set up house, build a fire, drink our water, grow tendrils through our self-worth and root there.

I've heard the gist of this quote in other ways - be careful  to whom you rent space in your mind, for example.  But this one  resonated.  I am pretty careful about what I put in or  on my body, avoiding chemicals, toxins, (most) junk food and such.  But I have not historically been as vigilant with what (or who) is allowed in my mind.

Mind Walkers

This painting began a long time ago - more than a year - during a workshop with Pat Dews.  The woman's face peering from the black bird was a watercolor creation waiting for inspiration.  I grabbed it with the intention of painting over, but it became more of a painting around.  First the bird (the boundaries of the mind, perhaps?) and then the background (in the style of Stan Kurth) . When the Gandhi quote crossed my path, it dawned on me that the piece required a layer of protection - the ghostly coyote/wolf stands between an open mind and the world, allowing a moment to choose which thoughts to allow passage through.  Only those with clean feet, of course. Perhaps a  new doormat and boot tray are recommended?

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The blog (and the blogger) will be on vacation next week as we spend time with loved ones and gather joy for our pockets.  Wishing you and yours a delightfully malarkey-filled Thanksgiving.