I realized recently that my whole life has been a lesson in non-attachment. Though it may seem odd, I’m so appreciative that this is the case!
I believe I’ve mentioned in a previous blog that at the age of 9 yrs I broke my spine while my family and I were visiting friends at Emma Lake near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan at their lake cottage. I fell out of a top bunk bed against some wood that happened to be leaning against the wall. I don’t remember much other than it was a bit of a calamity. Once home, it took several days or longer to realize something was seriously wrong. I had developed severe pain and a bad limp. (I also seem to remember a broad jump I made around that time at an outdoor school fitness event which may have caused the final break.) A visit to our family physician and xrays determined that my L4/5 had severed. Surgery and a three week hospital stay, followed by a body cast for 9 months meant the loss of play and conversation with other children – except for one compassionate friend of whom I remain close with). l don’t dwell on this occurrence but am instead grateful for the sensitization it has afforded me to others’ maladies and traumas. This physical history has also shaped my emotional personality such that I’ve had my strident, aggressive tendencies acquired through my family lineage tempered. That means a lot to me.
I never think of myself as disabled, (I carry and haul way more than I should), even though there has been a lot of monitoring and self care to learn and undertake over the years. By age twelve I had developed a severe ’S’ curvature of the spine. This lengthy interlude entailed wearing a full-spine Milwaukee body brace (no bending from neck to crotch), for three years.I remember trying to catch a baseball with a few of my friends while wearing ‘Barny’ – the name I gave my brace to help normalize that Frankenstinian period of my life…oh, and I forgot to mention I also wore braces on my teeth for one year of that interlude). Needless to say it was exceedingly difficult to make a good impression on the brown eyed young fellow playing ball with us for whom I had an immense crush.
Fast forward…It’s been fourteen years since I decided to move to deep southwest Saskatchewan. I moved for several reasons. My art practice had turned to the land including images of bones and themes of life and transition. Additionally, after years of intensive work to correct some habitual behaviours, I finally decided to create distance from a family relationship, and move closer to what I was dreaming intensively about; land and developing an understanding of my responsibilities and connections between First Peoples and we settlers. I view that leap from city to rural life as another example of working through my attachments. To face reality squarely was necessary in order to move through my fears and challenges. The move to Val Marie has afforded me all that and more.
So why are lessons of impermanence and non-attachment so important? I’d mentioned my resultant interest and sensitivity to others’ plights. To see others suffer, (whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, was always difficult, but over the years and through my study of Yoga, my work with animals and the elderly, and creative practices, I’ve developed skills and capacities to help mitigate. The years of being so sensitive to others’ suffering, including animals and insects, meant that I grieved deeply and continually. Learning from responsible, gifted teachers about the concepts of impermanence, non-attachment, aversion and the qualities I could develop to cope, assist, and remain stable has infused my life with meaning and purpose. We lose too many humans at their own hand. There is much work to do in the world so to stay connected to reality regardless of what is going on is essential. To be able to cope and respond without getting pulled under means others benefit, as do we.
These lessons also inform my creative practice. It’s through my paintings that I continue to explore my own relationship with the land and its resident beings. I’m one of them. As an acquaintance once said to me, we are nature…and indeed we are. Through stories and images gathered, I collage compositions for my paintings and develop whole experiences to walk into and through.
I recently met a woman who teaches intuitive creative process. Given my own intuitive painting practice and related retreat/workshop offerings, she caught my attention enough to visit her website and register for a course. Susy Keely is a Buddhist practitioner and a creative. Her insights are not ‘artist’ specific. Those who don’t consider themselves artists could easily benefit from her suggestions regarding our unhelpful conditioning and creative expression. Her methods align with my own but as she has had different life experiences she has a different way of stating them. She has this to say about attachment/non-attachment and creative practice:
“When we gain some facility with clinging and releasing, becoming less attached and invested, we see how clearly our sense of who we are is shaped by how we relate to other things. What they mean to us, what we think of them.When there is less clinging and less investment, we begin to open the space to see how the self is defined through what we are in relationship to. Without being in relation to other things there is no self that can be found in a very concrete way….Our art is part of us but it’s also outside of us. The more we identify with our work, the stronger the clinging becomes….and that can start to make the art-making process very rigid….that narrows the space of exploration – the stakes are higher….When we can see something as a process through our practice, through creative or Buddhist practice, it becomes a bit less personal. It becomes more manageable to work around it or despite it.”
Next time we censor our inclination to respond to our world creatively, let’s give pause to why that is, thank our ‘protective conditioning’ and send it/her/him away. Pick up that brush, let the voice soar regardless of pitch and let’s bring some balance, joy and healing into our midst!
Read further for opportunities to explore our natural world in creative, movement based, and/or meditative ways.
What is possible when we view the land as a relation? As a mother? Can we live in a way that allows us and the Earth to thrive? What kinds of connections and changes do we need to make and how are these changes possible given the increasing number and magnitude of world challenges?If you’re feeling the pull to creatively explore your place, purpose, decisions and relationship with the land through meaningful investigation please consider registering for our second Visions and Longings Retreat, August 7th (evening) to August 9th, 2026, or our fourth annual Cactus & Lotus Retreat, September 11 – 13, 2026! Gather with a small group of like-minded people who support each other on their weekend journey of discoveries. We’ll explore the land with intention and simple assignments, use meditation and humble, non-threatening materials to distill our experience, enjoy delicious food, laugh, cry, ponder, acquire personal insights for home practices, explore earth friendly actions and creatively nurture our inner landscapes. Visit skystory.ca/events/ for more information on either retreat. Early bird rates available!
Experience a Special Night Sky in Grasslands
November 15 and/or 16 for the Leonid Showers
Call now to book your accommodation including breakfast, gift certificate towards an evening meal, indigenous night sky stories and meditation around the fire pit. Starting from $180 or register for the evening without accommodation $45. Call Diana at 306 550 5377 or email admin@skystory.ca . Non-accommodation attendance $45. or see details at skystory.ca.
NEW! ONLINE INTUITIVE PAINTING SESSIONS
Can’t make it to a retreat in person? Stay in touch with other intuitive painters via drop-in painting sessions (beginning in November, Wednesday evenings, twice per month, $25/session). Come to one or more. If you’ve attended a Nature in me Intuitive Painting Retreat or have booked a consultation with Diana and have read Aviva Gold’s Painting From the Source, you are eligible to attend! Pre-register the day prior to ensure you receive the ZOOM link. For more details visit skystory.ca/events/ Note: minimum of 2 participants required.
I look forward to painting with you!
Call Diana at 306 550 5377 to register or email admin@skystory.ca
Protocols & Pretendians