Design Your Universe by alrun-art on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Two weeks ago I hurt my hand so I hadn't been able to draw. However, I wanted to take the chance to use the time I usually spent drawing to broaden my mind regarding a topic I've been interested in for about a year, which is mindfulness and consciousness. I read a lot and deepened my meditation practice to a point where I'm actually meditating 10-20 minutes a day. I've meditated for half a year already but never really had the discipline to do it daily, but in the last couple of weeks something clicked and I finally manage to practice on a daily basis, and I honestly even enjoy it.

I also thought a lot about art and artists who struggle with self doubts and anxiety regarding their art. I am one of those people who tend to get caught up in self doubts and the feeling that it's never good enough. BUT, due to all the reading and meditating I've been doing I'm slowly getting to a point where I can control my thoughts and notice that all these doubts are only generated by my mind and thus can be toned down. This includes not focusing on the negative in my art and worrying about what people might say. That's why I think I am getting more comfortable posting more speed paints or drawings I can objectively see flaws in, but it's okay because I don't feel bad about failing.

The painting above is, of course, inspired by my meditation and mindfulness practice where I visualize a "creative spark" starting in my chest which expands as far as my mind can go. While I was drawing I always had the phrase "design your universe" in mind. Then I remembered that there was an album and a song of a band called "Epica" that's called Design your Universe, so I listened to it and it blew my mind. I used to listen to that album many years ago and I didn't like it that much since it was too hardcore metal for me. But now I listened to the lyrics and omg, they deal exactly with those things I am currently reading about! I just didn't get the real meaning behind the lyrics back then, and now all of a sudden I do. We all can design our universe when we start getting conscious and recognize our true and calm nature, away from negative thoughts and rumination.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I hope you like the painting