Simple Things

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at

home are of more importance to the soul

than their simplicity might suggest"

~Thomas Moore

Sometimes doing simple ordinary tasks can be refreshing for the mind and spirit. Things like cleaning, organizing a drawer, or filing papers. Often my most relaxing, refreshing, and restorative days are those spent "putzing". Putzing for me is having no agenda, no time frame to work within, where I can just bounce from task to task as the mood strikes. So opposite of most of my week, which is bound by schedules and deadlines and time-bound tasks. Alas, I find yet one more both/and complexity in my personality and life. I am both detail oriented and structured, as well as spontaneous and free-spirited.

Recently I discovered it is this way for me in art as well. I enjoy the days where I simply "putz" at painting or gluing background pages. I find those days to be both very relaxing and refreshing, as well as very creative. In the mundane, simple task of painting background pages my creative juices start to flow and I am flooded with all kinds of ideas. Last week Ispent one of my mornings simply painting and gluing background pages. It was very therapeutic.

From painted and glued background pages comes art: