The blank canvas and the mind.
Imagine a whole range of experiences.
Thoughts,
Feelings and the sights,
Sounds,
Textures,
Tastes and smells of the world around you.
Now,
Picture each of these as a pot of paint,
Vibrant and alive with colour.
Imagine one pot holding the flutter of emotions in your stomach.
Another one containing the tree that you're looking at,
Its leaves swaying gently in the breeze.
A third pot captures this stream of thoughts flowing through your mind,
While another holds the distant chirping of birds.
Each experience is unique,
Part of life,
Ready to be painted.
Before you is a vast blank canvas,
The kind artists use to create their masterpieces.
It's pure and inviting,
The foundation upon which all of life's experiences are painted.
Now,
Imagine an artist standing before this canvas,
Dipping their brush into these pots of paint.
With each stroke they paint the experiences of life,
The five senses,
The sounds and sights and all the other experiences from the external world,
As well as thoughts and feelings from your internal world,
All of this onto the canvas.
But unlike real paint,
These colours don't stay forever.
They fade away,
Like chalk drawings washed clean by the rain.
And as the old colours disappear,
The canvas makes space for new experiences to take their place.
This canvas represents your awareness,
It holds all of life's ever-changing experiences,
Fleeting thoughts,
Shifting emotions and the rich sensations of the world around you.
Yet often we lose sight of this canvas within us.
Instead of noticing,
We fixate on individual pots of paint,
Especially the ones filled with thoughts and feelings.
It's easy to get stuck here,
Even when some of these colours are unpleasant or unhelpful.
But beneath all the paint,
Beneath the thoughts,
Feelings and experiences,
The blank canvas remains blank,
Untouched and constant.
It is always there,
Quietly holding everything that comes and goes.
From this place of awareness,
We can make space for thoughts and feelings without being consumed by them.
We can choose where to place our attention,
Not caught up in unhelpful thoughts or feelings,
But observing them with curiosity,
Allowing them to come and go.
What pots of paint,
Thoughts,
Feelings or sensations have you been focusing on most lately?
How might it feel to step back and notice,
Rather than getting caught up in the colours painted?
What new experiences or shades of life could you invite onto your canvas,
If you made more space for thoughts or feelings from your internal world?
Dear mind,
As I sit in this cafe,
I am writing this letter to you and for me.
Sometimes I forget about the blank canvas,
This observing part of me.
I forget to step back and notice.
I get so caught up in the painting upon the canvas,
Especially the chaos of thoughts and feelings,
That I lose sight of this bigger picture unfolding.
Sometimes it feels as though I'm covered in the paint and I'm swept up in a flood of it.
But when I step back and remember the canvas,
Everything changes.
I see that the canvas is always there,
Holding all of this.
It doesn't get overwhelmed or lost.
It simply watches,
Steady and constant.
I'm coming to know more and more that the colours of my experiences are part of the human condition.
Even the ones that feel messy or overwhelming.
The cool blues of calm moments.
The vibrant yellows of joy.
Even the heavy greys of sadness.
They all have their place.
But none of them define the canvas itself.
None of them define me,
Unless I choose them.
Dear mind,
You remind me that I can choose which thoughts and feelings to give energy to.
The thoughts and feelings you bring are part of my masterpiece.
They're not the whole story.
The canvas is bigger than any brushstroke.
And it's always ready for something new.
So here's my commitment.
When I feel lost in the paint,
I'll remember that I am the canvas.
I'll remind myself that my awareness is vast and steady,
Holding everything without judgement.
And I'll choose to unhook from any unhelpful thought or undesirable feeling from time to time.
Yours sincerely,
With compassion and gratitude from me.
I choose to embrace the growth of my consciousness by allowing this affirmation to settle within,
Nurturing me just as I am in this moment.
Every single time I notice an unhelpful thought,
Simply as a thought,
My consciousness evolves just a little more.
I am the canvas,
Unshaken,
Serene,
Holding the light,
The dark and all in between.
I am the canvas,
Unshaken,
Serene,
Holding the light,
The dark and all in between.
I am the canvas,
Unshaken,
Serene,
Holding the light,
The dark and all in between.
