Light and Whispers

Today’s drawing of Mary Magdalene

I started a new book today. It’s the third book this year. Each has about 80 sheets. That’s a lot of drawings!

Not all the drawings I publish here are good. Some nights I’m too tired to draw or write or think. But I have the choice of honoring my promise and embarrassing myself a little bit, or quitting and embarrassing myself a lot.

This symbolic act, an act of prayer for a transition, and for recovering my creative energy, has made a great difference in the way I see life these days. Some great things have changed: I have a nice place to live and a studio room. And some of the circumstances have not changed much: full time job, living in New York, stress… But I do feel a change in myself and a much brighter view of life.

In a way, I feel like I’m going back to the beginning, starting from scratch with a book and a series of workshops. But I have a body of work that tells me that, no, I am not starting from 0. I’m starting from 100.

Because nothing can take away a live lived and experience gained. I will trust that I remember the good things and also the mistakes in order to build something better.

I will continue drawing Mary Magdalene until the end of this year, and next year probably substitute this practice for a new one that helps me advance toward a new body of work. I have many drawings now in case I run out of ideas.

It’s only the middle of the year, but I can already see how a daily practice can help cement a commitment by proving to yourself that you have the discipline and perseverance to continue. And in this way I express my devotion to Mary Magdalene and thank her for her company along the way.

In general, within a practice of a discipline, the road is long, but not lonely. There is light that guides and whispers that encourage. The rest is up to us.