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Sunday, January 4, 2015

"Serenity Prayer"


"Serenity Prayer" - Ink, Graphite and Watercolour
"Plegaria De Serenidad" - Tinta, Grafito y Acuarela



I have been very quiet and for a good reason. Unfortunately life threw our way one of those unthinkable things and I have been been doing whatever needs to be done. I apologize in advance if this post gets lengthy.
Six weeks ago last Friday, our 15 year old son Mateo had a brain hemorrhage due to a congenital malformation (AVM) which required emergency surgery. There were never any symptoms and it all came as a huge surprise but despite all that we are extremely fortunate that after 21 days in intensive care we still have him with us and doing remarkably well. Thankfully the hemorrhage didn't cause too much damage that we know of at the moment (he is in full use of his mental capacities, his memory and sense of humour are all there, he has pretty much full use of his left arm and on Friday he walked for the first time  with the help of a walker.) Doctors and nurses are commenting in how it is pretty much a miracle. I believe in miracles now and I am so very thankful. It has been of course an emotional roller coaster. 
I have been living at the hospital with him since Nov 21 and of course have had no time (or desire at times) to do any art. He is now in the neurological rehab floor, we have also started to come home on weekends, Christmas and New Year. The second day my daughter packed some things to take to the hospital for me as I never came back home  after we went into emergency, my sketching supplies were among those very first things  but I had no desire to record on paper what I was surrounded by. As things started to get less critical I started to doodle, started to do some "zentangling" which is a combination of meditation and drawing patterns. It is mindless, requires very few supplies and can done anywhere. It was my way of doing something for myself, loosing myself while at the hospital. 
While he was still in Intensive care, towards the beginning of December a friend posted on facebook about the 30 day challenge and I was very upset when it dawned on me I wouldn't be able to do it. I have done 3 of the 4 that have happened and had every intention of doing it again. Unfortunately, to add insult to injury I woke up in Jan 1 (I was planning to go paint) sick as a dog with a flu bug or something. I have spent the last 3 days in bed, but I have decided that I will do the challenge anyway. It will be a "However Many Whatevers in 30 Days". Doesn't matter what, doesn't matter how many. The goal is to do something creative for myself to see about replenishing my tanks which are pretty empty at the moment.

So here is the first creation of the year, a zentangle called "Prayer". This came to me as  I was adding some colour to it (because I felt like it :) (most zentangles I have seen are in black and white but some do have colour)

Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change,
the courage to  change things I can and
the wisdom to know the difference".


Thanks for reading this far, even though this post sounds very gloomy, I am sure things will be ok and we will get used to our new normal. 
Happy Creating Everyone! May 2015 give you health, love, passion for life and all your heart desires. 

*****

He estado bastante callada y con una buena razón. Desafortunadamente la vida nos mandó una de esas cosas impensables y he estado haciendo lo que sea que tengo que hacer. Me disculpo de entrada ya este post puede ser largo. 
Seis semanas ayer, nuestro hijo Mateo de 15 años tuvo una hemorragia cerebral debido a una malformación congénita (Malformación Arterio-Venosa) y requirió cirugía de emergencia. No tuvo nunca ningún síntoma y esto fue una gran sorpresa. Somos muy afortunados de que él esté con nosotros todavía después de 21 días de terapia intensiva y está progresando muy muy bien. 
Gracias a Dios la hemorragia no causó mucho daño que sepamos en este momento (tiene uso completo de sus facultades mentales, su memoria no ha sido afectada y su sentido del humor sigue estando ahí, tiene casi uso normal de su brazo izquierdo y el viernes caminó por primera vez con ayuda de un caminador). Los médicos y enfermeras siguen diciendo que es un milagro. Yo creo en milagros ahora y estoy tan tan agradecida. Ha sido por supuesto una montańa rusa emocional.
El está ahora en rehabilitación neurológica, hemos comenzado a venir a casa los fines de semanas y para Navidad y Año Nuevo. 
Debido a todo esto, he estado viviendo en el hospital con él desde el 21 de Noviembre y por supuesto no he tenido tiempo (ni deseos en muchos casos) de crear arte. Mi hija me trajo cosas al hospital ya que no volví a casa desde entrar en emergencia. Mi cosas para dibujar estaban entre esas primeras pero no tenía ningún deseo de documentar en papel lo que me rodeaba. A medidas que las cosas se pusieron  menos críticas empecé a garabatear, empecé a hacer lo que llama "zentangling", una mezcla de meditación y diseños repetitivos. No requiere gran concentración o planes específicos, acepta interrupciones y se puede hacer en un rato. Era mi forma de hacer algo por mi, de perderme mientras estaba en el hospital.
Mientra él estaba en Terapia Intensiva, creo que fue a mediados de Diciembre una amiga puso en su Facebook una nota con referencia al desafio de 30 cuadros en 30 dias que comenzaba en Enero y me dió mucha pena el darme que cuenta que probablemente no iba a poder participar esta vez. He echo 3 de los 4 que han  ocurrido hasta ahora y tenia inteciones de hacerlo de nuevo. Desafortunadamente, para agregar insulto a la herida, me levanté el 1 de ańo muy engripada (tenia planeado pintar). Me he pasado los ultimos 3 días en la cama (Hoy estoy mejor) y he decidido que voy a participar en el desafío de todas formas: Va a ser "La Cantidad Que Sea de lo Que Sea en 30 días". No importa lo que sea, no importa cuantos. Lo que importa es hacer algo creativo para tratar de reabastecer mis tanques que estan bastante vacíos en este momento.

Asi que acá está la primera creación de 2015, un zentangle. Esto me vino mientrasle agregaba color, porque tenía ganas de agregarle color, la mayoría que he visto son en blanco y negro. 

"Plegaria de Serenidad"
Dios, dame la serenidad para aceptar las cosas que no puedo cambiar,
el coraje para cambiar las que puedo 
y la sabiduría para reconocer la diferencia.

Gracias por leer hasta acá, aunque este post suena bastante malo, estoy segra de que las cosas van a estar bien y vamos a poder acostumbrarnos a nuestra nueva "normalidad".

Felices Creaciones este ao! Que el 2015 les traiga salud, amor, pasion por la vida y todo lo que su caorazón desea.



10 comments:

  1. I am so sorry your son and your family had to go through this. So glad that he is doing better. I am sure you feel drained. Praying for God's healing for your son and for strength, courage, faith and peace for you and your family.

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    1. Thank you Bobbie so much, your prayers are very much appreciated!

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  2. It's beautiful Marcela! You've been on my mind a lot lately. Miss you!

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    1. Thanks Shar! Miss you too! Hopefully soonish our life will get back to some kind of normal, I am enjoying this doodling, it is satisfying my creative need under not so ideal circumstances. Happy painting this year my friend, here is to a creative year!

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  3. I was pleased to find your blogpost today. Happy to hear that your son is further improved. I continue to send prayers.
    I have found art to be pure catharsis and I am happy that it is so for you!

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    1. Thanks Alice, thank you for your continued prayers, art has come to the rescue many times, enjoying the process a lot at the moment without being so concerned about the finished product, it's the act of doing it at the moment. Happy Painting this year, wish you a super creative 2015!

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  4. Vas a pintar mas de lo que crees!!! vas a ver!!.
    Me parece perfecta la adaptación que hiciste, y tenes el alma llena de alegría, asi que todo va a ser sumamente hermoso, y distinto, ya empezaste con éste. Besote enorme Ana Paula

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    1. Gracias Anita! Hacer esto me hace bien en este momento y no requiere de mucho tiempo y equipamiento, Un beso

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  5. This is beautiful Marcela, and the prayer behind it. Sending prayers your way. So glad you are taking up the challenge, it is a sign of hopefulness :) Look forward to seeing you... so glad you are feeling better too :)

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    1. Thank you Sheila for your prayers, I am feeling better but that flu did take a lot out of me, must be a result of the events of the last few weeks that took their toll. Hopeful things will go back to normal at some point :)

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