Connection

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of connection now and many years ago. I got a lot of pictures from very personal to general ones.

Some of them have remained the same since the beginning of time like a man and woman kissing or a small baby at its mother’s breast. People were always connected at the family and tribal level to ensure security and food sources.

At a certain point, people wanted to expand, seek new territories, which usually did not happen without bleeding. The new type of connection between conqueror and native habitant was established, worldwide, through the whole history.

To reach new territories quickly meant the development of transportation. Millions of new roads and railways began to crisscross the globe to better connect places and people. Later, transport also spread above the earth’s surface by airplanes and space shuttles.

Industry and other technologies were developed hand in hand with transportation, reality has reached the fantasy of filmmakers. I wonder if it was the steam engine that established a new kind of connection between man and machine, the connection where the machine stands above everything else.

It made me think if the pride of connecting to machines is similar to the pride of the people who built the Tower of Babel. I am trying not to lose the truth of my heart, the most important connection.

Love and hugs,

Ivana

The illustration above is made from heart by colored pencils.

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Power of the heart

Many of us have experienced a broken heart, perhaps more than once. But how to heal it? Most common answer is that time heals. Agree, but on which basis?

According to my understanding, the heart is endless source of love that springs even from a broken or injured piece. I perceive love as the emotional equivalent of blood. That’s why everyone is capable to love, without exception, without excuses.

And it is love that nourishes and heals the emotional part of ourselves, just like the blood nourishes and heals our body. Time helps, but the most important is to let the heart work and love, even for the smallest things in the world. The more love you exhale, the healthier your heart is.

People often confuse broken hearts and injured ego, which is a completely different thing. Unfortunately the ego doesn’t have a self-healing capability. The ego is more self-pitying and self-destructive. It remembers old pains and wrongs well, as if patiently waiting for a cosmic apology or satisfaction.

I believe, that we don’t become bitter because of a broken heart, but because of an injured ego that refuses to let go and forgive.

I decided to send a bunch of love into my ego today, so it would not feel rejected or unwanted. Also, a big bunch of love to all of you, my readers!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ivana

Milestones and goals

Most people analyze the previous year and set up goals when the New Year is coming. I tried to illustrate both, remembering a game I played with myself years ago.

Like the medieval knights had a shield with the insignia of their family, I drew the shield that best characterized me at that moment. Great time to use secret symbols or color language, great time to simplify even deep thoughts, great time to combine art and fun. Have you ever tried to make up your personal shield?

I love when my right hemisphere activates while I draw, and then comes totally different kind of thoughts. That’s why I don’t have a plan in advance, I gradually draw what comes to mind and where there is still a space left on the paper. At least when I’m trying to draw messages from the inner self.

I used the same process for the Milestones 2021 and the Goals 2022 shields. Maybe they look ridiculous, but I precisely know what each part means. This time I don’t only share my art with you, but my heart.

With love, Ivana

Hearts

Today’s painting – drawing is one of therapeutic. A wave of sadness came over me suddenly, so I needed to realize the power of hearts.

I believe, that the result shows clearly what was going through my mind 🙂

There are huge number of variations, each heart is unique in its capacity and depth of experience. Some are cheerful and others are recovering from their injuries. They all have the ability to heal if we leave them open. And sharing always helps.

Thanks for reading, my heart is beating with you.

And happy Valentine’s day!

Ivana

Rose of my heart

Many call it weed, complain about ugly smell of blossoms, but they run to it for help in case of heart weakness. Yes, I’m talking about hawthorn (Crataegus) from the Rosaceae family.

I love hawthorn since childhood, mom taught me to know its taste and healing value. To be honest, I prefer hawthorn to a thousand beautiful roses. All the fragrant roses fit into well kept gardens around noble houses, but it’s not me.

I have a thorny nature and hard stone inside. More likely you can meet me on a walk in the forest or wild nature than elegant in the city or artistic garden. I can do it as much as hawthorn. There are cultivars that grow in urban parks, but they almost lost their healing effects through breeding.

I spent a long period of my life in a busy city and I wasn’t unhappy. But I was slowly losing my basic essence, which was pointed out by my physical body. When I was finally willing to admit it and change my lifestyle, the body began slowly to recover.

My whole lifestyle has changed from busy to slow but I have time to see the beauty of life in great details and enjoy it better. From time to time I watch things that I already knew as a little girl. And that’s why I devoted my colorful drawing to all the hearts and healing power of weed roses like hawthorn.

Love, Ivana

The evolution of parenthood

I had a chat with my friend about the public discussion whether homosexual couples can adopt or educate children. All speakers seem to be guided by the future prosperity of the children, having arguments about missing patterns, confusion in traditional values and a wide range of potential risks.

One part of my self understands such debates as manifestation of democracy and a gateway to liberal legislation. The second part considers such debates to be useless or even waste of time.

In my opinion, sexual orientation has such influence on the quality of parenthood as a place of birth. Neither of which we can change. But regardless of place of birth or sexual orientation, each one of us can have enough love and ability to take care of another human being. And this is, again in my personal opinion, the only meaningful optics to read the issue.

Perhaps the same discussion was led by the representatives of the plant kingdom a few million years ago. For a long time, they couldn’t agree on the rights of male and female plants, about competencies and responsibilities for offspring. Perhaps even a war has occurred and most of the plants with declared sexuality have been destroyed. Only a few resistant species remained like nettle, and since then it has been said that nettle couldn’t be burn even by frost.

A large group of peaceful plants that considered offspring higher than ego went through an admirable transformation. In order to avoid fighting of genders, they began to create both – male and female organs in the same flower. And this concept is dominant in the plant kingdom today.

I am afraid, that humankind is far behind the plants in evolution. But I still hope in healthy mind and loving heart.

Ivana

What’s wrong?

I’ve been walking through the colorful landscape, accumulating sunshine of amazing Indian summer, and suddenly came to me a burden of emotions, requiring immediate drawing. Fortunately, I was ready for a similar situation, having a pencil and paper in my backpack. Sometimes it’s exhausting to use nature as a partner for spiritual conversation 😊

Still in the heart of landscape, I drew a rough sketch and was surprised how the original intention developed. My first emotional load was supplemented in a breathtaking way, which was ugly and true at the same time.

I had to draw a bigger sized picture in colors just after returning home, but nothing could change the story that screamed from the depth of my soul.

The lovely proclamations and prayers are directed to the sunflower instead of the sun and the pink lady opens heart to the whole world except to the person with whom she’s connected.

And the other person is shivering in the cold directly under sun, waiting for apology and satisfaction, instead of taking luggage and leaving the board.

Both are stuck together and both are waiting for the other to change. Nobody’s happy. What’s wrong?

I sent a question for solution to the universe and immediately got the answer. I’m going to draw it in colors, but the sketch is already done. Do you have tips what might be there? 😊

Hope you like the picture even though it’s not much about hope.

With love, Ivana

To be connected

Following my last advice, I turn attention to the faith. Although I’m not a part of any religion officially, my heart speaks Hebrew.

I have no preconditions to it from the family, it came to me in dreams many years ago and since that I’ve confirmed a strong response of my soul and heart to the sound of the Hebrew language in various circumstances, even though I didn’t understand a single word in the beginning.

I’m still on the way of searching how to implement this fact into my daily life and not to pretend anything. Maybe I’m not fast enough and this is why the violet color sits deep in the wardrobe full of dust.

So I returned to the picture I drew a few years ago, when I was trying to catch my vision of the commandments inside of the tree of life.

I have meditated over this drawing last days and it seems to me, that each of us is a kind of smart-phone with the spiritual crown instead of antenna, constantly sending messages about true personal stuff to the whole universe with stars as transmitters.

It doesn’t matter how colorful and funny things are displayed to other people, the truth is preciously mined and sent to the attention of HaShem.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe when you get no direct answer, but the point is to keep trying and stay connected, right?

With love and apology for my Hebrew handwriting,

Ivana

Taste of colors

Have you ever wondered how the colors smell and taste? I am sure they have their own energy that is not easy to exactly perceive, but we can play with associations. I will take a risk and show my inner self by giving you an example.

Red, when I close my eyes and ask for red, I feel the blood – wet and sticky blood with ferocious taste on my tongue. Something bleeds and calls the fragility on the border between life and death. My second attempt for red was juicy fruits of red color with a large amount of seed inside. This time life and fertility have beaten death 😋 But still I feel a kind of potential danger in red. It might taste great, I stay in alert.

Yellow. I smell the freshness of the lemon, but its sour taste is balanced by a ton of honey. Sweet and fresh sour mixed together, that’s how I taste the yellow. Yellow is the light why I’m not afraid to go to a dark cellar.  Yellow is the tool through which I can see the truth, even it could bring a huge shock.

Blue is an ocean at night, wide and deep, full of dark secrets. I feel how cold and wet the blue is. Anyway, for me the blue doesn’t represent the purity because I’m fully aware of millions microorganism living there. Plus I feel the salinity inside of blue and each grain of salt means the impurity which separates sterility from viable environment, with too high salinity of death on the opposite side. For me, the blue brings the alchemy of living environment or better to say how much secrets and impurities are acceptable in our lives.

Orange is a sun for me. I feel friendly sunshine on my skin or even a hot sunny day in the middle of desert. Orange is always smiling in my imagination, enjoying every second of life. Orange is fun, a sense of humor, a celebration of life alone and with friends. Orange is a must otherwise you would fall into sadness or depression.

Violet makes me feel lavender in the old cabinet, in which the spiritual robe hangs and only lavender prevents moths from destroying it. In my image the violets is full of grey as if the dust covered the spirituality.

And finally green, this is the place where I can freely run and truly be who I am. I smell all the shades of the forest, the resin of the conifers that improves my breathing and breaks the boundaries of my options in life. Inside of green, I can always touch my heart and read what is written inside.

So, this is my honest imagination of colors at the moment, I’m staying naked in front of you.  I’ll tell you next time how to read it, how to detect a possible problem and how to bring some harmony into it. Would you like to guess? Feel free to write comments, I’m curious. And if you like to share your imagination through colors, I will be honored.

With love, Ivana

Kissing under blossoms

My knowledge of traditions isn’t great, and I’m also not sure where the tradition ends and the superstition starts. But they say that May is the month of love and a kiss under blooming tree confirms the love of two. And maybe that’s why the wedding ceremony sometimes takes place under the blooming gate.

The truth is, that blooming trees in May bring splendid beauty that takes breath and touches heart. The blossoms are mostly white or pale pink which corresponds to purity and love. All together promise juicy fruit in the future and what else can we desire for our love.

From that point I understand the habit of kissing lover under blooming tree and the romantic part of my soul likes the idea. But it seems that everything is subject to evolution. And I met a shocking evidence of it yesterday.

At that time my heart and soul were filled with the beauty of nature, I was returning from the walk through the blooming landscape where butterflies of many kinds accompanied my steps and the herbalist inside me had a full bag of hawthorn flowers, pine sprouts, nettles, etc.

And then, on the parking place near my home, a car stopped and two young people stepped out, engine running. There was nothing but concrete and a thin tree with few blossoms that had been planted a week ago. The young lovers quickly kissed each other and left immediately. It took about 2 minutes, but I am still in shock.

It looked like a duty, as if they checked an item on their “to do list”: to buy a bread, to kiss a partner, to make exercise. Hurry to get it all. Suddenly I felt sad and old.

Is this picture of time? Is the life so accelerated that there is not enough time for beauty and love? Do we need to make important events up to 5 steps from the car?

Yet I wish to the two young people that their love would be stronger than the tree they chose.

Ivana