Sumi-e

Sumi-e, a beautiful experience of painting without having the feeling to paint. It is more breath work than painting. On every exhale a particular movement, very Japanese, and a stroke on the paper. I am learning the technique and just trusting on my intuition that I can actually do it. To simply go with the breath and the movement and no further thinking on how it should look like. It works and it feels so liberating. It really brings me to the moment itself. the 3 hours were gone before I noticed. What a wonderful morning.

It is not about the final outcome, the piece of bamboo on a thicker paper, though I am very happy with the result. Brings me back to the bamboo of the garden in Manila and the forests in Asia. For many years I have been convinced that I could not draw or paint. It is just a thought. Ofcourse everybody can paint, it just depends on how important the outcome is.  I am loving these creative activities, like sewing or making food. I notice that it is all the same. It is giving space to let go, to flow, to go with the flow and enjoying that moment. Very small, very simple.

“Every time we are willing to let the story line go, and every time we are willing to let go at the end of the out-breath, that’s fundamentally renunciation: learning how to let go of holding on and holding back.”
― Pema Chodron