Do-Be-Do-Be-Do

It's somehow easy to be doing. For an artist, doing is definitely related to creating, to making something, to using the mind, body and spirit in a process that usually results in some work. For me as an individual, doing seems to be hard-wired into the system.

I've been recuperating from a couple of surgeries over the past weeks and have found my need to be doing challenged. Suddenly I'm unable to be in the studio and don't have the energy to be creating. It's very frustrating. I am missing my old life.

I have before me this wonderful opportunity to simply be. I can rest as much as I like without feeling lazy and can sit and watch the geese family gliding across the pond to my heart's content. I can read for hours and nap in the middle of the day. It sounds idyllic but it doesn't feel like a choice. So my challenge is to simply be, to accept this quiet time and to know that at least it must be feeding my spirit.


Meanwhile life in the world goes on. I had a piece accepted in the Ava Gallery Summer Show and that was a big boost for my esteem. I will be showing work during the month of August at Umpleby's Cafe in Hanover so can begin to organize that exhibit. Soon I will be stronger and will be back in action. I wonder how much about simply being I will bring with me.

Barbara Bartlett