The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

So I wrote a poem yesterday and today I started my new painting. I don’t have anything to share today as far as the painting goes, it’s still really early days for it, but I am sharing the poem because I thought it was one of my better pieces. I’m really happy with it.

My favorite people to be around are my husband and my oldest friend. I met my oldest friend in Kindergarten and she has been my constant for 38 years. My husband has been my companion for the last 20 years. Both of them are so familiar and close that I don’t feel I need to talk to them or entertain them in any way. We can just happily be together doing our own thing and just appreciate the quiet company. Silence is never awkward and I appreciate that about them because I have trouble keeping up conversations for a long time.

So today I made progress on my daily intentions related to my New Year’s resolutions. I exercised, did something creative, and walked the dog while practicing mindfulness. I still have to do my coping strategies for panic disorder and then do social media, but those aren’t very hard to do compared to exercise and starting that abominable sketch for the painting (my least favorite part is getting the pencil drawing on the canvas and outlining my lines in acrylic pen).

I made it through my 96 hour fast. We are having stew for dinner with lots of veggies so it’s something gentle on my stomach for my first meal in 4 days. I don’t feel the need to eat a lot, the whole thing has been really calming and peaceful and I haven’t thought much about food. I haven’t been hungry since day 2. My brain is just quiet and at peace right now, and it was a really enjoyable experience. I plan to do this once a month. I did it last month with similar results, felt really at peace and calm throughout the whole thing. There’s a difference between abstaining from food because you are forced to and resenting it the whole time and choosing to abstain from food for meditative purposes. This was for meditative purposes. It’s the closest I can get to a spiritual experience because I am not religious, so just achieving a calm and peaceful brain is my version of prayer.