This is so beautiful and meaningful. You are a wordsmith and most definitely a writer. You managed to capture the fleeting moments of pain and pleasure to allow me the opportunity to experience a fraction of your vipassana. Thank you for sharing
Thanks so much for taking the time to read it and for your encouraging words 🩵 It means so much. Its so special to know that I've made you feel even remotely what I felt while I was there. Love you <3
Zoë, this is such a beautifully raw exploration of pain and transformation. I love how the ant becomes this mirror for our struggles, and the Vipassana journey has peeled everything back until all that’s left is truth, both painful and liberating. The shift from dismemberment to reassembly feels profound, especially the way love emerges from the clearing of space. Its really the sign I needed to get back into meditating more consistently 🌸🌸
Thanks so much for reading Nadia and for seeing the heart of what I was trying to capture here 💛 It means so much that this piece spoke to your own meditation journey. I love how even when we drift, that quiet space stays patient, waiting for our return.
Zoe, this is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing your experience. I love how you started with the ants. I remember in my Vipassana I was obsessed with the robins. I am usually quite scared of birds but the same robin with one leg always came to sit by me under it’s tree. Seeing the rhythms of nature like never before was one of my biggest takeaways. Gorgeous writing as always x
Ellen! Thanks so much for reading and for this lovely comment 💜 I love that you had a similar experience. Initially, it felt strange starting the piece with the ants but then I realised that during the silence, this was how significant they felt. These small creatures have so much to show us if we slow down enough to see. In many ways, they were the real teachers. I love that your fear transformed into connection as the days unfolded. I feel the same about the ants - I didn't particularly like them before, but now I only feel awe.
wow Zoë, what a beautiful experience. There were so many things here that clicked with me. Perhaps today I'm staying with 'I am more than my art', I never heard it said in those words before. Since it's the thing that gives me the most meaning and probably makes me feel worth it, I should probably stop having this relationship with it. As I read through this I realised I don't see myself at all, I can only see myself through my art, or through my endless self-doubt and beliefs I inherited. Reading this, I feel free, whereas most days I feel so trapped. Thank you for sharing your experience ❤️
Thank you for sharing something so vulnerable Gala. It means so much that reading this made you feel free 🩵 I'm so glad that you connected to that line because that realisation hit so hard for me. If we keep pouring ourselves so completely into our work that we forget we exist beyond it, then we'll start valuing our art as more than ourselves and that feels so wrong to me. I think we are so much more multidimensional than our art can ever be.
Wow, full body chills reading this! I had similar questions during my vipassana retreat about emotions and art-making, and I love your conclusion that it’s really about fully opening to emotions while also seeing them in the context of all life and impermanence, all at the same time. Beautiful and wise and honestly I think this will help to integrate my own experience. Thanks for sharing 💜
Eden, thank you for this beautiful reflection! It means so much that these words helped illuminate pieces of your own Vipassana journey. That question about art and emotions kept circling in my mind those first few days and became the heart of my struggles. I feel so relieved that you wrestled with similar questions because, when I was in there, I really felt like I was the only one :)
I would love to read about your experience. Have you written a piece on it?
Zoe! This is incredible. Thank you for sharing your experience. The journey you travelled through sounds very transformative and the way you poetically captured your inner landscape was beautiful. The symbolism of the ants and the imagery of your experience with the flower were particularly moving.
I have recently re-connected in a deeper way to my meditation practice and it’s been so joyful to remember just how crucial it is to dedicate time to silence, stillness and connecting to the energy of consciousness. We really are co creators with the divine. What a wonderful piece 🤍
I'm so glad I got to share this with you Jennae 🌷 thank you so much for reading and for the lovely comment, they always make me think deeply. I'm so grateful to meditation for teaching us that we are part of the divine. Its wonderful that you know this feeling and are also revelling in stillness. 'The energy of consciousness' is beautifully put and reminds me that consciousness is also something so transitory. I find so much comfort in this 🩷
Thanks so much for taking the time to read it Cynthia! Yes it really seems like we are, I love that we get to share this time of stillness and grounding together 💛
Thanks so much for sharing this Daniela. I think we each have our own tools to help us navigate the world in our own authentic way. It's beautiful how you've discovered that this deep internal awareness — what some might see as disconnection — actually helps you stay grounded and true to yourself :)
This is so beautiful and meaningful. You are a wordsmith and most definitely a writer. You managed to capture the fleeting moments of pain and pleasure to allow me the opportunity to experience a fraction of your vipassana. Thank you for sharing
Thanks so much for taking the time to read it and for your encouraging words 🩵 It means so much. Its so special to know that I've made you feel even remotely what I felt while I was there. Love you <3
Zoë, this is such a beautifully raw exploration of pain and transformation. I love how the ant becomes this mirror for our struggles, and the Vipassana journey has peeled everything back until all that’s left is truth, both painful and liberating. The shift from dismemberment to reassembly feels profound, especially the way love emerges from the clearing of space. Its really the sign I needed to get back into meditating more consistently 🌸🌸
Thanks so much for reading Nadia and for seeing the heart of what I was trying to capture here 💛 It means so much that this piece spoke to your own meditation journey. I love how even when we drift, that quiet space stays patient, waiting for our return.
Zoe, this is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing your experience. I love how you started with the ants. I remember in my Vipassana I was obsessed with the robins. I am usually quite scared of birds but the same robin with one leg always came to sit by me under it’s tree. Seeing the rhythms of nature like never before was one of my biggest takeaways. Gorgeous writing as always x
Ellen! Thanks so much for reading and for this lovely comment 💜 I love that you had a similar experience. Initially, it felt strange starting the piece with the ants but then I realised that during the silence, this was how significant they felt. These small creatures have so much to show us if we slow down enough to see. In many ways, they were the real teachers. I love that your fear transformed into connection as the days unfolded. I feel the same about the ants - I didn't particularly like them before, but now I only feel awe.
wow Zoë, what a beautiful experience. There were so many things here that clicked with me. Perhaps today I'm staying with 'I am more than my art', I never heard it said in those words before. Since it's the thing that gives me the most meaning and probably makes me feel worth it, I should probably stop having this relationship with it. As I read through this I realised I don't see myself at all, I can only see myself through my art, or through my endless self-doubt and beliefs I inherited. Reading this, I feel free, whereas most days I feel so trapped. Thank you for sharing your experience ❤️
Thank you for sharing something so vulnerable Gala. It means so much that reading this made you feel free 🩵 I'm so glad that you connected to that line because that realisation hit so hard for me. If we keep pouring ourselves so completely into our work that we forget we exist beyond it, then we'll start valuing our art as more than ourselves and that feels so wrong to me. I think we are so much more multidimensional than our art can ever be.
Beautiful.🥹🐜🌊☮️
Thanks so much Adrienne!! <3
Wow, full body chills reading this! I had similar questions during my vipassana retreat about emotions and art-making, and I love your conclusion that it’s really about fully opening to emotions while also seeing them in the context of all life and impermanence, all at the same time. Beautiful and wise and honestly I think this will help to integrate my own experience. Thanks for sharing 💜
Eden, thank you for this beautiful reflection! It means so much that these words helped illuminate pieces of your own Vipassana journey. That question about art and emotions kept circling in my mind those first few days and became the heart of my struggles. I feel so relieved that you wrestled with similar questions because, when I was in there, I really felt like I was the only one :)
I would love to read about your experience. Have you written a piece on it?
Zoe! This is incredible. Thank you for sharing your experience. The journey you travelled through sounds very transformative and the way you poetically captured your inner landscape was beautiful. The symbolism of the ants and the imagery of your experience with the flower were particularly moving.
I have recently re-connected in a deeper way to my meditation practice and it’s been so joyful to remember just how crucial it is to dedicate time to silence, stillness and connecting to the energy of consciousness. We really are co creators with the divine. What a wonderful piece 🤍
I'm so glad I got to share this with you Jennae 🌷 thank you so much for reading and for the lovely comment, they always make me think deeply. I'm so grateful to meditation for teaching us that we are part of the divine. Its wonderful that you know this feeling and are also revelling in stillness. 'The energy of consciousness' is beautifully put and reminds me that consciousness is also something so transitory. I find so much comfort in this 🩷
Enjoyed reading about your experience. It seems we are exploring similar themes in our lives. Grateful for you.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read it Cynthia! Yes it really seems like we are, I love that we get to share this time of stillness and grounding together 💛
Thanks so much for sharing this Daniela. I think we each have our own tools to help us navigate the world in our own authentic way. It's beautiful how you've discovered that this deep internal awareness — what some might see as disconnection — actually helps you stay grounded and true to yourself :)