Join us for a #bluesky conversation with the #Spiritchat community on Sunday, Jan 18 at 9amET / 2pmUTC / 730pm India 🙏🏽😌 Topic : On Growing Simplicity bit.ly/sc140-simple26 Host: @ajmanik.bsky.social #nature #essence #spirituality

Dear #Spiritchat folks ~ we pause our live #bluesky chat for Sunday, Jan 11 ~ we will meet again at 9amEST on Jan 18. Peace and light to all. Namaste. 🙏🏽 #peace #pause #harmony

More beautiful birthday flowers to grace my week.

I dont limit these things to once a year as a New Years resolution. I tend to be pragmatic. If I want to continue to learn to play piano, I have to schedule regular time to practice. If I want to continue to grow as an artist, I have to make regular time to paint. Etc #spiritchat

Personally, I feel that we need an alignment of both heart and head; feeling and thinking. #spiritchat

Agreed. Politicians and advertisers intentionally trigger emotional responses from the public in order to justify or steer their actions, choices, decisions, public opinion, etc. #spiritchat

I still have the intention to seek and live truth. However, I still find I can be deceived on occasion simply based on the nature of our current world. So I make room for natural error and accept that truth is often a matter of perspective. #spiritchat

I agree and disagree simultaneously! 🤣 I agree that with time, we can transform suffering into something tolerable. That said, in the moment, when you or I burn our hand on a hot stove, it hurts like hell! Unless nerve endings are already dead! #spiritchat

My goal for this has evolved over time. I want to learn to listen without taking on the emotions of the other person. The middle way. To be open with a natural boundary that doesn't cause my own sensory overload. If that makes sense. A challenge for people in healing industries. #spiritchat

Good intentions can act as a guide. However, people are still infallible human beings and none of us get it right with every person every time. Due to perceptions, expectations etc. #spiritchat

Took the day off today for my birthday. Instead of making Sunday pot roast, it’s a Monday roast today; with a few variations. Decided to cook potatoes separately to make creamy mashed potatoes (later today) and will add mushroom+sweet peas to the roast towards the end of the cooking cycle.

Just had lunch with my eldest daughter, her hubby, and two of my grandchildren for my birthday. (It's on Monday, Jan 5!) And these are the lovely #flowers she gave me. #bouquet

Just finished prepping Sunday slow cooker beef pot roast. Ready to cook all day.

Some paintings and drawings I gave as gifts for Christmas this year. #art #painting #drawing

Finishing up with some last-minute details on paintings for Christmas. And I framed one of my charcoal portrait drawings I did fairly recently. Had to take the picture from the side due to the reflection. #art #charcoal #drawing

Our weekly Sunday 9amET #Spiritchat will be paused for this event on Dec 21. Peace and light to all ~ 🙏🏽😌💜

Mostly finished with limited palette abstract cityscape. Oil on 16x20-inch canvas. #art #painting

This #painting first began as an alla prima still life I created from a fresh floral bouquet, small teapot, dish, and orange. I added more details later on after the painting dried. It was also the first time I ever tried anything ‘alla prima’. #art

“It is the duty of the artist, of the musician, of the choreographer, of the poet, to help people, little by little, to raise their level of consciousness.” ~Jonas Gerard From a post I wrote on finding our true voice. #art #painting kindledconnection.substack.com/p/from-anger...

This is an ocean scene I painted in acrylics within the past year. Based on a reference photo taken by friend and creator of #spirtchat ( @ajmanik.bsky.social ) #art #painting

Started new limited palette oil painting (blues/turquoise). Work in progress. #art #painting #KindledConnection

On this #Thanksgiving weekend, we wish safe travels to all as we pause our #Spiritchat for Sunday, Nov 30. We will meet next on Sunday Dec 7 at 9amEST / 2pm UTC. Peace and light to all ~ 🙏🏽😌

Happy Thanksgiving to those who may be celebrating today. And a wish of gratitude and love for all.

Just finished three quick sketches of foreshortened figures. #art #drawing #Charcoal

Just finished a black-on-black oil #painting on 16×20-inch canvas. #art #kittens #cat #Spiritchat #KindledConnection

Working on multiple paintings at the moment, including my first mini oil painting on a 2.5×3.5-inch panel board. #art #painting #landscapes #KindledConnection #Spiritchat

Join us for a live #bluesky conversation in #Spiritchat, Sunday Nov 23 at 9amEST / 1pm UTC / 730pm India ~ Topic: On Growing Gratitude Host: @ajmanik.bsky.social #spirituality #growth #autumn

Started playing around with some soft #pastels and #charcoal pencils on black paper. #art #drawing #KindledConnection

Just completed a graphite and #charcoal abstract #drawing. #art #painting #KindledConnection

Recently, I published a blog post featuring an #artist I admire: Jimena Agra. Yesterday, I received a package from her in the mail that include three prints of some of her #paintings and a thank you card. I love them! #art #gratitude

Just started and finished an alla prima #painting with a 2-hour time limit. Alla prima means you paint it all in one sitting/session. #oils #art #KindledConnection

We pause the live chat in #Spiritchat on Sunday, Nov 16 (family retreat weekend) ~ let us gather again on #bluesky, Sunday Nov 23 at 9amEST. Peace and light to all 🙏🏽😌

Finished white charcoal fish drawing. #art #drawing #painting #KindledConnection

White charcoal #drawing on 18x22-inch black mixed media paper. #art #KindledConnection

Finished mark making #painting. Oil on 16x20-inch canvas. #art #spiritchat #KindledConnection

Todays' #art project updates. First, started my new #drawing (simple sketch for now) assignment with white charcoal and eventually, white China marker on 18x24 inch mixed media paper. Finished drawing of rose in graphite. And more progress made on 'Van Gogh' style #painting. #spiritchat

Today’s progress pics on latest #painting and graphite #drawing. I anticipate that I will be able to finish the drawing tomorrow. #art #Spiritchat

A8) Mind/body connection (and heart/soul) or thoughts and feelings. Establishing proper boundaries can help when needed. (Knowing where you end and others begin). Changing what can be changed. i.e. work out of alignment with highest good? Find different work, etc. #spiritchat

This is beautiful... yes... we have no idea of the depth and breadth of the healing power of the heart 💙 🙏🏽 #Spiritchat

A7) For me, I need to find space where I am alone with stillness, connecting with my breath in order to be present and aware of my body, and often a combination of music, favorite books, and activities I enjoy such as painting or playing piano. #spiritchat

A5 Unification of heart and mind eases stress on the body, making for a fulfilling, healthy life. #SpiritChat

A6) Interesting question. I'm not sure of the correct answer. I can only say that what comes to mind is trauma. When someone experiences trauma, that person's entire nervous system CHANGES. So in that sense, one cannot return to original wholeness, but a different wholeness. #spiritchat

A5) It brings peace, clarity, and harmony to one's life. #spiritchat

I have heard it said that “Nothing is every truly lost... every fragment of our life is held gently by the beholder... we simply forget the beholder” #unification #Spiritchat

A4) I would say the first step to re-unification is awareness and mindfulness. i.e. For a dissociated person, they have to become mindfully present in order to 'return' to their own body. Breathing meditation is one method and one can begin noticing the sensations in the body. #spiritchat

A2. A hurried world. Stress. Many interests. Work life imbalances. There are lots of reasons we feel fragmented. #SpiritChat

A2 disunity is caused by people pleasing and not honoring our boundaries #spiritchat

A3) This topic also reminds me of compartmentalization. This is often how people can lead 'double lives'. As for this question, feeling detached from the body comes to mind. If we dissociate, we are no longer paying attention to what our body is trying to tell us. #spiritchat

A2) Trauma, some of it is taught such as socially acceptable lies when we say 'I'm fine' even when you are dying inside, when people are forced to do things that go against their heart such as soldiers in war, or work demands, etc. #spiritchat

A1) It reminds me of something I've shared here in the past. How sometimes in life I will feel so scattered from work or busyness, that I feel like I've left parts of myself everywhere I went, and how I need time to regather those parts of myself to become whole again. #spiritchat