Three Interests/Three Icons Meme
Here is the three interests/three icons meme that I did for
danachan:
Three interests:
birds - In my self-discovery through therapy, a bird is one of the things that has come to symbolise me in my journey to understand and accept my past and who I am, and learn how to better express myself to others so that I free the person I am inside and can be happy. A bird symbolises that because I hide the real me, like a bird in a cage, not allowing it out. I am learning how to find a way to express the real me and let my inner-bird out so that it is free to fly. Also, when things are too difficult, I like to escape, and a bird is free to escape by flying away, so I sometimes will imagine myself doing that.
The Shakers - Ah, now this is an interest I have had for over fifteen years, even though I am Jewish. The Shakers are a Protestant denomination officially called the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. What I admire about them is their dedication to peace, hard work and perfection. Their communities are so tranquil and peaceful that it is like a religious experience just to be in one. Shakers did everything with care, believing that making something well was in itself, "an act of prayer." They never fashioned items with elaborate details or extra decorations, but only made things for their intended uses. They relied on their own skills and natural resources for all these as well as for providing for their communal family. They invented many things, including the clothespin, the flat broom and the wheel-driven washing machine. They were once the largest producers of medicinal herbs in the U.S., and pioneers in the sale of seeds in paper packets. They considered music to be an essential component of the religious experience. The most famous Shaker song is Simple Gifts, which Aaron Copland used as a theme for variations in Appalachian Spring.
They devote themselves entirely to prayer and worship and God and believe that an individual cannot be totally devoted to God if they are also devoted to another individual. Therefore, the Shakers do not marry or procreate and either adopted children in the past or gain converts into the Shaker society. Although there were 6,000 believers at the peak of the Shaker movement, there were only twelve Shakers left by 1920. There is only one remaining active Shaker community in the U.S. today, located at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. They still accept new recruits.
water lilies - This is another vision that keeps coming to me through therapy that represents my family and in particular me. Water lilies are beautiful and tranquil looking. Although they usually congregate together, each flower is unique and has the ability to float freely on the water.
icons:
It just seems perfect for me right now. The icon is a scan of a water colour painting I did of my visualisation tree from therapy. As you can tell, therapy is a very important part of my life right now. When I feel anxious and overwhelmed and am having either an anxiety or panic attack, one of the things I do to calm myself down is to escape into my visualisation tree. I climb through the dark, heavy, suffocating branches below until I get to the top of the tree, where I can breathe freely of the clean air and imagine I am flying free like a bird, away from all of my problems.
I like this photo because it shows many aspects of Pippin's personality. Pippin does not look foolish or like he is thick or a dolt in it. He is pensive and we can see that he is thinking, taking things very seriously. We also can see the interest and curiosity in his eyes. He also has that youthful look of innocence about him. Lastly, well, that bow-shaped mouth of Billy Boyd's is just irresistible, isn't it!
This is a closely cropped portion of a drawing of Baby Pippin I made in coloured pencil of Baby Pippin in the flower faerie style to celebrate his faerie heritage. Here is the entire drawing:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b345/gryffinjack1/baby20pippin12.jpg
If anyone else wants to play, comment here and I'll choose three of your interests and three of your icons for you to explain.