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"Once upon a time , there was a Chinese farmer, who lost a horse; it ran away ;Â and all the neighbors came round that evening, and said :Â "That's too bad..." , and he said: "Maybe".
 The next day, the horse came back , and brought 7 wild horses with it , and all the neighbors came and said : "That's great, isn't it?", and he said: "Maybe".
A few days later, his son was attempting to tame one of these wild horses, he was riding it, and he was thrown and broke his leg; and all the neighbors came later that evening, and said: "Well, that's too bad, isn't it?", and the farmer said: "Maybe".
 Some days passed, and the conscription officers came round, looking for people for the army, and rejected his son, because he had a  broken leg, and the neighbors came later that evening, saying:
"Isn't that wonderful?"
 And the farmer said: "Maybe..."
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  "The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense  complexity, and it is really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad , because you never know what is the consequence of the misfortune , or , you never know what are the consequences of good fortune."                                                                                 Alan Watts
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                             March in a nutshell
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         The month of March has always been close to my heart, for a couple of reasons - watching the rebirth of nature, eagerly waking up each morning and watching the Earth turn greener every day , and also...it's my birth month... a time when contemplating  my childhood comes naturally and so perfectly magnetic ...
 My mom always used to say ( and still does) : "In all bad things there's some good", and I like to follow: "And in all good there's something bad".
 I truly admire this "yin-yang" , oriental attitude in my otherwise devoted christian mother, it brings balance and perspective to our opposites-oriented lives.
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  "But let's talk about childhood instead, for it alone is gay and innocent, and, honestly, this is the truth."
                                                                           Ion Creanga, Romanian writer
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                   On Childhood and doing Nothing
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“..."But what I like doing best is Nothing."
 "How do you do Nothing?" asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time.
 "Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, What are you going to do ,Christopher Robin?, and you say - Oh, nothing, and you go and do it."
  "Oh, I see," said Pooh. "This is a nothing sort of thing that we're doing right now."
  "Oh, I see," said Pooh again. "It means just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear and not bothering."Â
     A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
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  A vague feeling still lives, as in a mist, of a simple life, a bigger, more accepting space, and a pervading  sense of belonging that enveloped me in a cozy universal bubble ...when I was a child...
    I don't seem to have many memories from my past, it all feels like a distant dream, but for certain seemingly unrelated flashbacks that are strongly associated with a feeling of spontaneous freedom and empowerment...
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   Cultivating dolce far niente* , atop a very high pile of freshly stacked hay, in my grandparent's grandiose hayloft is as close to heaven as I've ever been...Â
  To smell a sweet fragrance of dry grass, in an atmosphere filled with cackling, crowing, mooing, chirping, distant sounds of much-younger grandparents working the soil;  watching  streaks of light penetrate the dark room through the cracks in the wood, bringing into existence a dancing show of minuscule particles of pollen and dust - my very own genuine multi-dimensional experience...who cared about snakes?
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  ... or walking 2 miles every week to the village cooperative to buy bread and candy ; sensing  subtle and familiar aromas stimulating my olfactory nerve a mile in, getting stronger and more inviting as I got closer, of divine bread, freshly taken out of a brick-oven, ( made by actual people with the freshest, most organic ingredients)  ,mixed with the redolent smell of ruminating farm animals , that every villager owned ( a smell that still brings happiness to my heart, to some people's dismay)...; the high commodity of candy and how exotic it seemed after my summer vacation in the idyllic countryside.
    Also, I can't forget the chattering, loud busybodies sitting on the side of the road, trying to pry the origin of each visiting child that looked suspiciously clean... " Now, who might you belong to?"...wildly inappropriate...
    A small price to pay for having other freedoms, like having time to vegetate and be idle , letting time and space expand, allowing my consciousness to be fully integrated in the richness and perfection of the moment ...or , as we Romanians say, "rubbing the mint".
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     Spending the day at the lake with my mom and dad, basking in the sun ; one of my greatest joys was out-fishing my dad and making him proud of me (read: putting him to shame)...
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   I enjoy reminiscing about happy and carefree times, don't you?
    Well actually, when I'm done indulging in the pleasurable recollection of past events, ( too much of a good thing is not a good thing for anyone) I have the necessary energy to do some passionate and purposeful work .
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                      A new project has been born!
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 I'm very excited to announce that  I've just had the opportunity to bring my visionary work to the wide public, namely my  parents-in-love, who were willing to sacrifice a perfectly white wall to accommodate  experimental creations. ( I really appreciate your confidence in me , guys!)
 The basis was continuing the theme of a room divider that they had hung on a wall, in the same style.
 This time , I took progress photos of each day, which I will share with you.
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 The evolution of a mural
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 It started with a quick sketch :

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After it was approved, it was time to tackle the actual wall; and day 1 consisted of measuring, drawing and mixing the colors to match the existing artwork :
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 Day 2 : perfecting the colors and blocking them in:
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Day 3 : painting houses, trees and arches:
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 Day 4: covering white spaces, painting brick sidewalk, and checker sidewalk:
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 Day 5: details on trees, green fence, houses, columns, and bushes:
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 Day 6: planters have been added,  shading on flowering vines, water details , boats and fish, and the background for the underwater scene.
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Day 7: coralÂ
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 Day 8: stars, finishing touches , signature, and...yes ! taking the masking tape off...a highly satisfying  symbolic gesture of successful  completion !
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...and cleaning up.
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  It was a fun little project , pretty easy going, but also peppered with an edifying challenge .
I love dares , they're an adventure and an opportunity to test myself, and always learn something as a result : in this case, matching the colors to the previous artwork , from the 3 primary colors, black and white...  and it turned out to be a genuine  learning experience.                Â
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 I would love to hear your questions, thoughts and impressions ; your feedback provides the support much needed for the creation of these posts.
  If you enjoyed this, please LIKE and SHARE this on Facebook!
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Much love,
 Laura
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*dolce far niente (Italian)= the sweetness of  doing nothing , pleasant relaxation in a carefree idleness.
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