Seven years ago, in May 2017, I was approached by Siri Opli who asked if I would like my daily Just for Today memes to be illustrated. I had no reason to say no so we embarked on a journey with no plan to reach any destination but just to enjoy the ride.
We flipped the order of creation over the years. Sometimes Siri would send me art and I would write having been inspired by it. Other times, I would write the words and Siri would be inspired to draw or paint accordingly.
Last month, the scheduling software I was using to batch schedule JFTs stopped posting to Facebook Groups, a change at Meta’s end apparently, so this month we are changing the way we are doing them.
We will still record Just for Today themed meditations – here’s one recent one for example. This one incidentally was one that I did following a reading from a medium who suggested I create content for younger people, perhaps with ADHD and autism.
Siri will be now be collating and curating old and new groups of illustrated memes on the Deckible app as card decks – here’s an example
Now there is a modest charge for each deck but Siri would love your support and the big advantage is to get all the associated JFTs in one place – many with the associated meditation. Better still is the ability to be able to journal against each card and even do spreads of cards.
So I throw the gauntlet down to any reader of this blog to stop doing something, out of habit, that no longer serves. This allows something else you did not expect to pop along.
Now this has already happened to me and I hope to be able to announce it after the next orbit of the moon.
I leave you with one of the first ever illustrations that Siri did – it is still our favourite – as well as the meditation it inspired.
This month I did something I have been meaning to do for ages, I had some new photography done for my site.
The wonderful Maria O’Brien of Haiga Photography popped over to my house on a glorious pre-spring day. You’ll find my mugshot on all main pages of the site now, as opposed to me hiding away down somewhere deep.
I am so pleased at what she did and am wondering why I spent so long just hiding behind my voice on meditations, audiobooks and my podcast. Time to be seen, as well as heard.
Now the first draft of Soulwaves, the novel, is in the can – more on that in the next blog – I dusted off The Zone Show podcast this month and started it up again.
In this episode, I chat to Jelena Adzic about her transition from meditator to meditation guide on Insight Timer.
You will hear from Jelena again in the next episode when she turns the tables on me when we talk about said novel … and the next page I am turning.
A Meditator’s Journey
by Tom Evans chatting to Jelena Adzic
Being Heard Even More
I’m thrilled that my new 30 day course, Mindfulness for Busy People, is now live on Insight Timer.
The new course format has allowed me to collate meditations from many sources of mine into the app into one cohesive container. The course contains a mix of remastered existing meditations along with brand new ones that link the whole 30 day narrative together.
This month saw the unexpected passing of my mother-in-law. She has been in a care home for 8 years and wasn’t ill (for once). She had had a happy day, laughing and joking and was chatting to my father-in-law watching TV early evening. She was alive one second and gone the next. We had just moved them to their 3rd care home as my father-in-law had had a stroke and needed more care.
It was peaceful and painless for her and we were lucky to get a funeral slot just before Xmas. We are now left with a bereft person who doesn’t want to be around.
It makes you reflect and realise about the cycles of life. We have been in elderly care mode for at least the last 10 years and this gave me the impetus (and opportunity) to write at least 10 books and create hours of meditative visualisations and resources
Efforts Redoubled
So now our care and attention will increase, as father-in-law will need company, before the end of this year, next year is mapping itself out. When we encounter death, it is natural that we think about our own mortality. The fear of death left me many years ago but I do have a desire to leave behind a legacy of what I have learned for others (and possibly a future incarnation of myself/my soul). So this puts a focus on the next orbit of the Sun.
Project 1 : Soulwave : The Novel : I’ve now decided not to pressure myself on this and just to get the 1st draft written by my next birthday in March. Then to produce the audiobook by the 21st June, which will double as the the best proof read and edit you can get. And then to make the publication date, the 21st September.
Project 2 : Just for Today : These daily nuggets of mindfulness have been going out for well over two years now, latterly illustrated. In the New Year, Siri and I will be taking them to a new place where community involvement sits at the core.
Project 3 : Meditations : My free meditations are already on Insight Timer and more will be coming. One short story (from the Germinatrix) and one new free meditation will be published a month. Plus a new 30 day course will appear Q1 of 2019 which will replace three of my existing standalone courses.
Project 4 : The Big Awakening : While all of my creative output has been finding its way to the world, a massive amount of esoteric wisdom has yet to see general release. Some 1-2-1 mentoring clients have seen and experienced small snippets. I am giving no shape to how it gets out there but I know, with publication of The Big Ü, a channel now exists. Watch this space and it will be revealed – and all I know is that projects 1 to 3 above are the foundations.
The Earth travels over a half billion miles each year as it orbits around the Sun.
So today, on the Winter Solstice, you can think of as being the end of one orbit and the start of the next. It’s a good time to reflect on this orbit’s highlights and what’s coming up on the next spin around our home star.
Here’s what’s been happening since this blog I wrote at the Summer Solstice :
The journey so far:
Published the first illustrated Just for Today book with the most delightful and talented co-creator from Norway, Siri Stiklestad Opli
Created a 10 day meditation course for Insight Timer called The Art of Timefulness – due out Q1 2018