Seasons

People complain how much rain we have this year, especially in summer. I feel rebellious because I love it! After two three hot and dry seasons I finally feel alive. And how much living and green is around! It’s a real pleasure to walk and watch.

Despite my body doesn’t work properly at outside temperatures close to 30°C (86 F), it emotionally crushes me when I see in my non-desert area cracked ground, brown grass and dried fruits before ripening. Every tree and shrub begs for a drop of water which I have in my backpack for refreshment even on short walks. This has been repeated for the past few years as the groundwater level has dropped to an all-time low. My heart was bleeding because of it, while most people enjoyed sunny holiday – or until pandemic they did.

That made me think about the weather and the climate. Earlier, I used to consider a weather conversation was a kind of small talk and a big climate declaration was a kind of political bullshit. But times change, people evolve. Now I feel much more connected to nature. Not because it is fashionable, but simply because that’s how my life journey developed.

I’m happy to live in a temperate climate zone, where the seasons still rotate and where, with some exceptions, summer temperatures are tolerable for my body setting. I love that diversity!

Which weather or climate zone do you prefer and why?

Love and hug,

Ivana

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Bubbles

Washing hands made me think about bubbles. Zero weight bubbles have the ability to bring us help in many forms.

I remember how we enjoyed creating bubbles through a straw from a cup of water with a drop of detergent that mom gave us to keep calm for washing dishes. It means she played with bubbles in her adult way, while we children admired the flying balls, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. And of course, we tried to catch them. I can still hear our laugh in the garden.

Bubbles in the bath are also great. They create a light and even aromatic cushion into which you can bury your head and body, and there are still plenty of bubbles left to play if you want. You can enjoy it in various moods as a child, lonely or relaxing adult, or even in groups of two or more.

Remaining with literal meaning of bubbles, there is their enormous value in washing and cleaning disciplines of all kinds. Anyone who has ever tried to wash or clean anything with and without bubbles knows the truth about the difference.

But we also make no detergent bubbles. How often have you heard the sentence “Close yourself into a bubble to feel safe”? So we follow the trend. Keeping our inner self safe among billions people, we live in bubbles, losing real contact with real others.

Today’s paradox is that our mandatory isolation has helped a number of bubbles burst. As if the face mask replaced the bubble and people discovered what had not been seen before.

The Covid-19 virus is also kind of bubble inside a pandemic bubble, and works against us as well as for us.

It’s up to each of us which bubbles to choose and how to deal with them. Personally, I’m going to find a straw and return to the bubbles of childhood, to the bubbles full of rainbow.

Enjoy bubbles and share which bubbles you love or prefer, thanks!

Hug and love,  Ivana

Regarding watercolor painting, I was so focused on the bubbles that I thought about the rest only after I painted them. That’s why the dark background painted later made me crazy and additionally stole the original lightness and round shape of the bubbles. Now, they look more like snowballs than bubbles. But one learns through mistakes, right?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

As I was born and grown in the communist Czechoslovakia behind the “iron curtain”, I didn’t have a clue about Patrick’s Day for a long period of time. We’ve been taught and brainwashed about great soviet heroes and holidays instead.

Fortunately, we were allowed to keep some of the old myths, legends and fairy tales as well, especially if they didn’t sound too religious. And so we got the hidden wisdom through elves, fairies, witches and other fairy-tale beings.

One of those mythical characters is Vodyanoy – a completely green creature that rules over the waters. Because we don’t have a sea in my country, Vodyanoy usually lives in ponds, lakes or deep river bays. He looks elegant, prefers green or red top hat and has a tailcoat, from which the water is always dripping. We really have a lot of stories where Vodyanoy appears. Some Vodyanoys are good or cute, others are evil and scary, but you can easily recognize them because of green color and water, dripping from their clothing.

The reason, why the Vodyanoy myths came back to me in these days, was the last prompt on Deviant art. The challenge was to draw a green picture in honor of the St. Patrick’s Day. I tried to fulfill my intention, celebrating the Irish heritage. I drew for hours but the mind didn’t flow in the Irish mood at all. So much green has caused to me to see more Vodyanoy, sitting in a really green pond.

I would say that no matter how many things you learn in life, cultural roots remains with you for ever. What do you think?

Thanks for reading and extra warm greetings to all Irish people! 🍀

With love, Ivana

Mirror, mirror, tell me…

Recently I have noticed how many trees of Larch (Larix decidua) are fresh and green as in early spring unlike the others that proofed passing tropical summer by falling yellow leaves. Looking down I saw the finest hay instead of grass under every Larch on my way, while the isles of new green appeared on other places after few rains in last days.

It almost looked that Larch had a unique ability to keep water for its solo needs and not to share it with its close neighbors. At that moment I saw the evil Queen from Snow White, because especially this summer a drop of water was a step to survive. But Her Majesty Larch didn’t care about survival of the others but only about her own beauty and freshness.

From strange reasons I felt disappointed. It hurt my naive fair-play attitude and broke the current idea of larch as a fragile individual to be protected. Even as a little girl I touched the soft larch needle rather than plush toys. I admired the courage for being different from other conifers because children knew how classmates could punish otherness. I loved this extraordinary tree as well as walks around the river in my hometown, where they grew much and witnessed my teenage years and dates.

I still love the scent of larch that is similar to pine, but slightly softer. I love the exclusive homemade “honey” from the young cones full of tasty resin, and I love the beauty of larch wood in shades of red. But from now, I will never believe that Larch is weak.

Thinking about it I realized that Larch in the system of Bach flower remedies helps to increase our self-esteem and self-confidence. So, there must be some, right?

Later I also had to admit that during my lifetime I often wanted to protect those who had demonstrated weakness but didn’t really need my support. This was a bitter pill to learn from Larch, but thanks for it!

With love, Ivana

Sleeping summer

There are people who come to life with the sun and have almost no limits. On the contrary, my body switches to hibernation as soon as it’s too hot or hot for too long. And it has been so over the past few weeks!

I was paralyzed by the weather and worked only on autopilot as if I was drugged. Feeling sleepy, but without possibility of true sleep at night. Who would call it cooling when the daytime temperature in the shade is the same as the temperature of human body, and at midnight it is only ten degrees less? For weeks! And they forecast the hot hell will continue…

Luckily, some rain came today and brought happiness to my soul. I walked (not danced) in the rain and absorbed the drops by the whole surface of my body. It was so different from common shower. Although the shower was more comfortable, the rain today was more cleansing because it touched not only the body but also the soul, perhaps because I was so thirsty for it.

Later I noticed that the portion of today’s rain was nothing for the nature around. The soil remained dry and cracked, the fallen water somehow disappeared. Berries stay dried on the bush, sadly announcing low to zero harvest. And the leaves on the trees become yellow and start to fall as if autumn was already there.

One must be happy for a little thing and I’m looking forward to a nice sleep today, if possible without thinking of tomorrow’s hell.

Wishing you a pleasant summer,

Ivana

Playing with the Elements, Part 3 – Water

Water is lazy, quiet and cold. Therefore it represents sleep, silence, darkness and even death. Water cannot move on its own. Its movement is always caused by external forces such as gravity or Moon in the case of high and low tides.

So, why we do say that healthy water must flow? And that standing water is an opportunity to grow molds and diseases? Because the external forces of nature and the Universe never stop. And if the water stands, then something acts against those natural or universal forces.

We humans love to act like this. Here are some examples of how we block the natural flow of water in our civilized lives.

On a macro scale, I would mention a boom of concreted riverbed which didn’t respect the original streams and which, a few decades later, cause disastrous floods.

Inside of human body, we often block natural sweating, which is the most effective way to get rid of toxic substances through the largest body organ – the skin. Instead we massively use inappropriate deodorants that block the sweat glands and forbid them natural working, which is the exact parallel to the amount of concrete used in the artificial riverbeds.

I understand that the sweat can smell badly and we live close to each other, especially in cities. On the other hand, the amount and smell of sweat depends on what we drink and eat, how our metabolism works, and how much stress we live in. If we focus more on these improvements, we don’t have to use devastating deodorants, but only light natural versions.

Emotions like sadness or regret require natural flow of tears to overcome difficult situation. But the common social habits often demand to hold tears back. Again, it is close to the parallel with concrete riverbeds. If you block the flow of tears for a long time, there is born a retention tank of emotions that will rupture in future for sure. And then all the pain pours at once.

Sleep is another good example inside the water element. Naturally we are set up to sleep at night, silence and darkness. In such conditions, the body really rests and gains enough strength for the next day. How many of us respect biological clocks and go to sleep with the sun? First I admit that I am a night creature and I don’t want to get up early in the morning. Even though I know it is bad, and it spoils my metabolism and water levels in my body. This is definitely my weakness.

But that’s not all yet. Night sleep should be in silence and in dark. But where to look for them, especially if we live in cities? Unfortunately we live in constant light and sound smog, so darkness and silence become unachievable ideals. And so the water element is spoiled a bit more every day, and thus our physical and emotional health. In the long-term it is definitely worth to invest in the light and soundproofed bedroom.

I prefer to stop with negative examples now and present a few positive tricks how to improve the quality of the water in our lives.

Dreaming is a nice quality inside of water element. And it could be a lucid dreaming even though it seems very useless. Fantasy is an eternal ally of water, so use it as much as possible. You can start with drawing or painting, let be inspired by fantasy rather than reality. No matter of the outcome, the process is beneficial.

Being alone and in silence is always a tool for harmonizing the water element in your life. Therefore, prayer, meditation and relaxation techniques are so effective.

And how about influence of the previous elements?

Fire and water are of course opposites. But the life needs both of them. Water is quiet environment, which needs to get a fiery spark to create a fetus. Water represents woman, waiting for male (fiery) sperm. And do you remember that Air represents socializing? If a man and a woman socialize well, then they create a new life.

Frequent topic is the relation between emotions and mind, i.e. water and air. Take real elements for help. If you don’t saturate water with oxygen enough, your water environment would be dead, even it has appropriate temperature (fire). So using only emotions without oxygen of our minds doesn’t keep us alive. Then we could tend to stay alone, dreaming, without connection to other people. So much water takes the life spark out and we become more dead than alive.

In the case of too much oxygen in water you can see big bubbles, so the water looks more like soda water full of wild whirlwinds, where isn’t even one quiet thing. This is a parallel of overestimated mind and underestimated emotions, which means a stressful life without rest.

And both examples above worked with appropriate temperature. Imagine there is not enough fire, so the water becomes ice. And this represents situation, when emotional person doesn’t put fire into the water. From warm feelings, hardness or even cruelty become.

And that’s why we should maintain balance among the elements. Sometimes is useful to implement small tricks and so to change the sequence of other events.

Next, I will speak about the Earth and the mutual influence with previous elements.

With love,

Ivana

In case you missed Playing with the Elements, Part 2 – Air, Playing with the Elements, Part 1 – Fire

 

Playing with the Elements, Part 2 – Air

Imagine the real air. What qualities does it have? First, it’s invisible. Second, you cannot touch it. It’s all around us and can even expand if we give it space. It’s in constant motion, never stops. So, where to look for the air parallel in our lives inside of the 4-element system?

Our mind if full of thoughts that are invisible and we cannot physically touch them. They are definitely moving constantly and sometimes they even expand exponentially. So, our thoughts belong to the element of Air. And if we talk about pollution in case of the real air, we should talk about pollution of our mind as well.

What can pollute our mind? All the useless information we often starve for! Living in the information era, we are obsessed with information and we often forget to put filters in order to keep our mind clear and healthy. Never ending stress on production and/or consumption of information is the most dangerous source of pollution in the segment of Air.

How to reduce it? Breathing and exercise (which leads to better breathing) are good ways how to clean the mind, and both belong to the Air as well. There is a wide range of breathing exercises, some of them are very aerobic, but you can be successful even with the quiet ones, based on yoga for example. Or you can walk regularly. Especially when you walk in nature, it’s a good way how to clean your mind and reduce the information overpressure.

I believe that is what you are exactly doing already. Perhaps you just didn’t realize it was compensation inside of the Air’s element.

Talking is a very similar issue. Communication also belongs to the Air, as well as all the social bonds. If we tend to overwhelm our lives by talking either in a virtual or in real world, we simply need some physical exercise again. We need to move and breathe.

If we want to achieve a balance across all the elements, we need to learn how to identify them in our lives. So, what else belongs to the Air?

All kind of invisible waves meets the condition of being invisible, untouchable and in constant motion. The sound is a good example. If you think your place is too noisy, go outside or anywhere to the silence. Breathe deeply.

The same definition and solution is valid for the electromagnetic waves. They can pollute your inner Air system and cause damage. We cannot do much, but we have to count with these omnipresent waves in total sum.

Finally, I would like to mention cooperation with the previous element. Let’s go back to the real air, for better imagination. The air is a good tool to keep the fire alive. Breathing to the fire is a way how to wake up the flames. On the other hand, too much of air means a danger for the fire. You can either kill it or spread it out of control. And that’s why is important to keep the Air in reasonable limits.

Too much thinking, talking, collection of useless information, being in noisy places or in places with huge density of electromagnetic waves can kill your joy, laugh, excitement and even your vitality. Or it could spread sparkles of your interest into million directions, so you became lost.

The Air, as well as the Fire, is a good tool, but dangerous master.

Next, I will speak about the Water and the influence of the Air and the Fire to the Water.

With love,

Ivana

In case you missed  Playing with the Elements, Part 1 – Fire

Playing with the Elements, Part 1 – Fire

As I have already mentioned in the article Seasonal clock, I work with four elements on many levels. It keeps me fascinating how several basic principles can be applied to something such complex as life.

Speaking of the 4-element system, the players are fire, air, water and earth. Each of them has its own spirit and each of them is needed. If we learn how to identify them in our lives, we can find a way how to reach balance more easily.

Although many say that water is the main player and without water it would not be life, I will start with the fire because only the fire warms the water to the temperature suitable for living. And this is also a nice example how the elements affect each other and cannot even exist separately.

The fire is the first spark of life and the feeling we are still alive. It is a small flame that may become a torch. Depending on conditions and our will, the torch brings the light and heat as long as we feed it. To keep the fire we need to supply oxygen (the element of air) and fuel, for example wood (the element of earth). On the advanced level, we also need to make the fire safe, having some shelter for it. And this belongs to the earth as well.

The fire represents everything that warms or burns or what brings the light. The fire means interest, curiosity, joy, laugh, activity, competition, excitement, passion, enthusiasm, etc. For simplicity I would call interest as the core of the others. People like the fire, being attracted to it by invisible forces, but they are also afraid of being burned. Then they build the shelters in the name of safety, too tight for life. And then, they complain that there is not enough joy or success in their lives. Or that they miss the sense (light) in their lives.

How to solve it? Anything that arouses your even small interest is a flame whose future you have in your hands. Is there enough oxygen and suitable fuel for it? Which kind of oxygen and fuel is needed for your particular case of interest? And are you willing to feed it? Then just try! No fire is dangerous from the very beginning. And only when you taste and like the first fruits it’s the time to think about the shelter, no earlier. So you avoid many disappointments and energy losses.

The fire itself isn’t positive or negative, it is neutral or better to say natural force whose priority is to shine and warm. No good or evil inside. It is our will and experience which make the fire either a tool or a weapon. Trying to separate from the fire means the same like to separate from the life, dying alive. It is only fair to accept it, just as the fact that accidents happen.

Finally, I must say that having a lack of fire is just as dangerous as having it too much. Imagine how difficult is to keep living in desert, how much suffering it costs. So if you don’t balance the fire of your excitement and desire, your life may turn to desert. In my case, I tend to be too enthusiastic sometimes and forget to eat, drink and even go to toilet. The subject of my deep interest can claim the fire so urgently that simply switches other requirements off, including basic biological functions. So I know that I have to be careful because all kind of addictions work on the same principle.

What to do? If you have too much fire inside, find a way to let it out. It is better to diversify methods and make regular breaks across your activities. Never hold the fire back! You would create a volcano with uncertain date of explosion.

I will bring the fire topic throughout the other elements again, speaking about their mutual influence.

Looking forward to your questions and comments,

Ivana