365 days of aRt. DAY ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY-SIX.

have you ever watched the rain
watched it spill from the sky
and cascade onto the earth
like a blanket of translucent perfection
have you ever sat and listened to the rain
listened to it declare it's love to the flowers
it's endless and unconditional love
have you ever danced in the rain
danced like it were your soulmate
and the gracefulness of your motions
were a conversation
have you ever
(canvas text)

Blog about the piece: Over the years we have conditioned ourselves to feel a certain way toward things in life. It is something that comes from our cultural paradigm, our up-bringing, even the experiences and events of our past. We condition ourselves so much to act (or moreso react) one way that it is hard to do anything different. For example, how often does the rain make you feel sad or frustrated? "Rain, rain go away, come again another day!" Some have conditioned themselves to not like the rain, but what they don't often realize is that these conditioned responses are shadowing the experience of the rain in the moment. If they stop to question their conditioned reaction, they may find that they don't feel sad or frustrated at all. They have the freedom to enjoy the rain and even celebrate it. We do this with lots of things in life. I catch myself doing it with my children all the time. I say "no" out of a conditioned response, but once I acknowledge that it wasn't really me acting in the moment I am able to reevaluate how I feel. Try it. At some point today really pay attention to how you react to a certain stimulus or situation. Maybe in your relationship (oh that's a good one) or at work. Train yourself to slow down and think about your reactions instead of allowing them to come from past experience. You might be surprised at what the real you truly feels.