Expand
It is 4 AM. My body trembles from soles to neck. All the nervous system trembles everywhere: In the heart, in the feet, in the stomach, in the neck. As if I am sitting in a truck while the strong engine is working. I had this happen before but this is stronger. I don’t know what it is. On one hand it is frightening, but not much. I have gone through things like this so many times already. On the other hand I have been asking for so long to be guided and to be supported in my being who-I-am to the fullest degree possible. I know I need to do a drawing. I don’t want to get up from my bed and walk to the studio, but I have to do a drawing.
Surprisingly, when I start, I am very calm and the movements of the brush are very easy. I do a second color and a third and I know that this is it. I have finished.
I find in me the energy to do the going-in-with-words. I make a list. I scramble. In the new order of the words I insert a few more words that help to connect the lines and here it is, all done with ease and flow:
Expand
Go go go
Connect
Life is bubbling in you
It makes a lot of noise
And sometimes it hurts
Build
Say yes yes yes
Heart and all
Going far, going far
And about to dance
Expand
Work together
Expand.
I used to be a graphic designer and an illustrator. I became involved with the Chan Meditation Center and studied meditation and Buddhist knowledge with the late Master Sheng-yen from Taiwan. For twelve years I was in a process of deepening my meditation. I had many more experiences and insights and my life changed. After having illustrated more than 40 children’s books and writing two of them, I left this career too and went to New York University to study art therapy.
You can see more about Giora’s work on his blog and website
