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| The Teeth of Joy by Mary Stebbins Taitt digitally manipulated watercolor painting Dedicated to John Gibson |
Each of these assignments from the goal setting track seems to me to require a great deal of thought. Here is today's assignment:
Write your personal mission statement, something that explains who you are and what you believe.
How to do it
A personal mission statement can be in whatever form you wish - a list, a sentence, or a paragraph. If the thought of a mission is intimidating, consider this a personal statement or credo. What's most important is that you draft a statement to explain who you are, why you exist, your personal values, and what you hope to achieve. An example mission might read: "I make a difference in the lives of others by using my artistic abilities and social network to bring art experiences to people in my community," or "The work I do as a parent is important because I'm raising my children to be kind and productive."
I've done this before, created a Mission Statement, but I no longer know where it is. It used to be posted in my office somewhere.I believe in kindness, to others and to myself.
I believe in love, in loving myself and others.
I believe in joy.
I believe in balance, an appropriate dynamic balance.
I believe in energy, in the flow and exchange of energy.
I believe in creativity, in the life giving life-sharing benefits of creativity.
I believe in intelligence, in a variety of different kinds of intelligences.
I believe in life.
I do not think an off-the-cuff Mission Statement will serve me terribly well, but I will start with something simple and revisit it.
My Mission Statement for today:
I, Mary, intend to use love, energy, kindness, joy, intelligence and creativity to provide, in a balanced and dynamic way, enjoyable, growth-inducing and healing experiences for myself, my family, my friends and my community.
What does that mean, exactly? That I am going continue doing what I am doing? Kind of, with some modifications, perhaps.
I think it means I want and intend to do writing, art and other activities that provide happiness, joy, healing and understanding to myself and others. Does that mean I cannot write about or paint negative things? No! Because for healing to occur, sometimes we have to see, understand and confront the problem.
The thing that could be different is that I hope to pay more attention to whether my activities support this mission or not.
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So what about yesterday's goals for today? Did I call the dermatologist? Did I do my exercises? No, not yet, but I haven't forgotten. It's too early to call the dermatologist. They don't open until 10 AM. It's 8:15 AM here, now. And I will do the exercises as soon as I finish this. (Okay, I just went and did the exercises. I need to do them again tomorrow and that should reestablish the habit. And now it is 8:56 and I want to make an art piece to go with this post.)
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Quote for the day: from Pat Barker's Life Class: “It's the hardest thing in the world to go on being aware of someone else's pain.”
― Pat Barker
I just read that 2 minutes ago. How does that relate to my Mission Statement? It reminds me of the Bob Dylan Song, "Black Diamond Bay."
Because I am in physical pain much of the time, and because I am also in emotional pain, I seem if anything less able than before to contain other people's pain and react appropriately. That is, people at a distance. Especially masses of people. I can be empathetic and sympathetic of certain pain, especially specific individual pain, at least for a while. So perhaps I could look at what small doable things I might do to help. For example, would a card cheer someone up? It won't help people dying of famine or cholera in the wake of a typhoon. But it might cheer someone who is lonely.
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I tried to make a cheery painting to go with this post, but the one that I liked is not cheery. Hmmm. It's not outwardly cheery, but I like it anyway. (Hope you do, too.) It took more time than I intended to paint.
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And, finally, I bit the bullet and called the dermatologist. I'm not sure why I find this so difficult.
3 comments:
Mary I really do so love these colors and your work. I do also deeply appreciate the dedication.
On reading the post and in particular:-
"Does that mean I cannot write about or paint negative things? No! Because for healing to occur, sometimes we have to see, understand and confront the problem."
I found that when I started writng poetry I was really working out my doubts and fears, doubts and fears that most people have I guess, the point is these were things I wouldn't or couldn't verbalize.In doing this I experience a re-evaluation of my belifs which were either found wanting and then re-examined, or I could see the ebb and flow of life at work. Teaching me not to take things to personally.
I was also most interested in the part about healing. I am not a medical man and realized for me as a healer that no matter the condition that the healing energy given or sent with love would jknow what was best for the person concerned. Sometimes even just listening with a caring ear helps.
Yoy Mary have a great desire to give to the world despite your health and though you may not realize it, having the desire and the thought sends the healing energy on its way. Bless you!
Sorry about the typos. :)
Thank you John for your kind and loving and supportive words.
I do try to send healing out to the world and to people who need it (and back at myself, too!)
Please do not worry about typos, as long as I can make out your meaning!
I often wish to be a healer, but I have so many compromising health issues. I hope to heal through my art and poetry and writing, but also directly and indirectly through laying on of hands and Reiki etc.
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