Saturday, March 11, 2023

Best practices


The cards  --
(some of the cards
I've written every night
for more than a year --
which Steven has saved.
The fur in the bottom left corner
is my cat, Monet trying
to get into the photo.)

Kindness hit me as a principal requirement in my life when I
experienced such high levels of kindness at the 2009, and 2015
Florence Biennales. I've been lucky to be treated kindly for most of my
life, but people at the Biennale, as one of my friends described
it, raised the bar. They did everything they could to help
each other, and life long connections happened.  We all still care
about the people we met there.

So I wondered -- what are your kindness practices? One of mine
is to write a note for my husband every night to leave in our middle
bedroom where my husband puts out his clothes for the morning. 
Because I've been a night teacher for almost a decade, I am in the
habit of going to bed much later than my husband, and he gets
up much earlier than I do.

This practice started more than a year ago, when both of our cats
-- the 14 year old Tortie point Siamese, Fiona, and the three 
month old Tortie point Siamese kitten, Monet, stopped eating. 
The kitten had gastroenteritis, and the older cat had a gum
infection.

I started writing the notes to let Steven know whether or not
they'd eaten their night snack, and then as they got better, I'd
write about what happened in the day, and thank him for all
of the nice things he'd done for me.  And guess what happened?
He didn't want me to stop -- so I haven't. And he has saved every
one of these notes that I write on cards that feature my art.

What are some of the things you do to add more kindness to your life?

Have a loving your life day.

2 comments:

Evelyn Oldroyd - painter said...

I love your writing a card each night. And using your own cards is so meaningful. Such a wonderful habit to keep love alive ❣️❣️❣️ And I too think kindness is so important to practice. And the more one remembers this the better we are for it.

Barbara Muir said...

Thank you so much Evelyn,

I've tn a bit worried that I'd run out of cards because the printer
who prints all of my reference shots, and makes beautiful cards with
my work is away until the end of this week. But I think I have enough
until next week! lol. You are very kind, and I know you're right. Being
kind transforms people's lives -- like your comments. You make me feel
so happy and that's wonderful.

Love your work.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO Barbara

Portrait Artist

My photo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission a portrait, or purchase one of my paintings please contact me at: barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
A major highlight in my career? Drawing Oprah Winfrey live via Skype for her show "Where in the Skype are you? Galleries: Studio Vogue Gallery, Toronto, Canada. The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Gallery at the Porch Door, Kingston, Canada. Your positive comments on this blog mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you!