What I know for sure, is that everyone needs to read Oprah’s book, “What I Know for Sure.”

I sat before my blank canvas, listening to the sound of Oprah’s voice in the background as I began the audiobook. Candle burning on my table, paints at my side, I felt a peaceful tranquility spread through me. I savor these moments.

I used to just listen to music, but I now find that engaging with a good audiobook or podcast – does wonders for the mind.

I suppose its a form of meditation and allowing creative channels to flow throughout my being. A sense of comfort.

On this cold December evening, I was graced with the melody and warmth of Oprah’s voice and her sheer wisdom altogether. I listened:

“If you peel back the layers of your life, stillness awaits.”

The sound of this quote struck me. I immediately paused what I was doing, stopped the audiobook, and took a note of it in my phone.

THIS – this – I repeated to myself - isn’t it the essence of this painting? The process of finding stillness.

It’s not cut and dry. It’s not something that smacks you all at once like a punch to the throat… well I suppose all of our spiritual awakenings are different.

Quite honestly, I was angry at how the painting was turning out and I was telling myself it looked like crap. The paint wasn’t applying cleanly on the impasto layer.
Okay, maybe let’s just reapply the primer on top of this layer – covering it up.
Still nothing. Didn’t apply smoothly to the layer below and looked even more muddy.
AHA.
The only way to apply it fresh was to scrape it away – to start anew. To deal with the layer itself, remove it, starting again. Thus, the process of meditation in itself.

For me, it’s a constant process, a filtering of ideas and thoughts. Cleaning out the old ones to make room for new. I found myself scraping away the old, loosely applied paint and reapplying a more polished, cleaner version on top (or was I really just revealing what was beneath already?)

In my frustrations of this new painting experiment, I experienced a breakthrough. I felt myself smiling while I scraped the paint away.

The thoughts in my head: “This is LITERALLY the point. It is the concept of inner work - expressed in a painting. I didn’t even see it like this until now and connected it to Oprah’s quote.”

Thus, keep painting, keep doing what you’re doing. For, it will soon become more clear. The layers below will shine through more clearly when you scrape away the unneeded things on top.

The power is you.

This I know for sure.

Also, I would definitely recommend Oprah’s book:

Here are some quotes that I took away from it:

“We all share the same heart space. We just fill it with different things.”
“What you focus on, expands.”
“The light from your life comes in one conscious breath at a time.”
“Be in the world, not of it.”
“Alignment = Enlightenment “
“We lose sight of being, when we’re all too busy doing.”