Philosophy, art and ideas
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
― Aesop
Greetings and welcome to the second blog post.
Given the circumstances that many of us find ourselves in (fears around the pandemic, increased social isolation etc.), it seems appropriate to think about kindness and to consider how kind we are to ourselves, particularly during times of stress. Being kind to ourselves need not to be a 'grand gesture', but merely small things that support our sense of self-esteem and self care. Small acts of kindness go a very long way and we usually remember even the tiniest acts of kindness that we have received for a long time - sometimes we never forget them.
How often do we treat ourselves like our own best friend? Do we forgive ourselves easily for making mistakes? Do we engage in critical self-talk? Most of us would benefit from finding kinder ways to relate to ourselves - and yet find it quite difficult to do so. Aesop's quotation above, reminds me to practise acts of self-compassion because as he states, these acts are never wasted. Not wasted on others, nor wasted on ourselves. In the context of creativity, how many of us are self-critical of the work we produce? Is the fear of making mistakes holding us back? How can we practise becoming more authentic? Mindfulness can support creativity by exploring the ways in which we engage with the process. It can help us loosen up and help us take more risks with our artistic work.
If you're interested in exploring how philosophy, art and ideas can help unlock your creativity, why not try one of our upcoming Winter Wellness workshops? They can be accessed via zoom and are bookable via the Something Less Boring website (you can also click on the image below). During the last Winter Wellness session, we created personal 'HeartScapes' (a personal creative piece in response to the workshop's theme of 'Listening with the Heart').
The next workshop will be held on Sunday 28th February at 10am GMT. The theme will be Compassion. During this session we will create individual 'KindScapes' - inspired by focusing on kindness and self-compassion. We will first explore what compassion means in mindfulness and discuss some artistic examples. This will be followed by a gentle guided meditation, followed by a creative challenge. These are often very abstract, symbolic and personal. But they're also fun and illuminating!
Until the next time!
