One Year Smoke Free - Today!

[Sloth Tonight]

Auggy I now am vaping ACB, and I vaped Virus early this morning, so I have vaped 4 flavors in your honor today my friend

Will end the night with a glass of Wakonda *nod*

 

[Augmented Dog]

Auggy I now am vaping ACB, and I vaped Virus early this morning, so I have vaped 4 flavors in your honor today my friend

Will end the night with a glass of Wakonda *nod*

Good man!
Can't help but think that you're using me as an excuse to vape through the NT menu, though!
Lol!

 

[StevesCVO]

Congrats on 1 yr stinky stick free!! Just been a little over 2 for me and I couldn't be happier. Here's to your continued success!

 

[Pictor]

Okay...
Two suggestions.
A good vanilla candle always eases me. Also, you may have to go through a cpl "fails" before you find a good one, but sandalwood incense cleanses and inspires. And, if you just want smoke and also want to clear and cleanse yourself and your space, burning white sage (not the food kind) is wonderful.
Ok, three suggestions.
Thus, the Mage speaks.

I like both vanilla and sandalwood, especially sandalwood. Patchouli too.
The burning tobacco comment was sort of a joke notion to get the effect on my brain of smoking - I concentrated far better when I smoked, so need to find my way around that!

 

[Mikeo]

Ain't it great...Congratulations.

 

[69CamaroSS]

MAJOR CONGRATS my friend!!! I just hit the one year mark as well....doesn't it feel great to say that "It been OVER A YEAR since you had a
<---coffin nail!?!?!?

I quit on accident when I got an ego style setup for the purpose of "supplementing" my smoking which I couldn't do at work. Within a week, I couldn't STAND the taste of a cig!!! Within a very short time, I fell in love with ECF and the support and wonderful people on here and haven't even looked back...through some very hard times and good ones!

Nice taking your life back and no longer having to feel like a leper and be forced to be "exiled" to the rain, cold and sweltering heat to get the nicotine that we needed, huh brother?

Here's to year #2!!

 

[glowplug]

Okay...
Two suggestions.
A good vanilla candle always eases me. Also, you may have to go through a cpl "fails" before you find a good one, but sandalwood incense cleanses and inspires. And, if you just want smoke and also want to clear and cleanse yourself and your space, burning white sage (not the food kind) is wonderful.
Ok, three suggestions.
Thus, the Mage speaks.

Great suggestions!!! Sage and Sweet Grass (what is Sweet Grass? I know it is used in smudge sticks but don't really know what it is?).

@Pictor, if you are missing some of the effects of smoking, it may be the other chemicals in tobacco in addition to nicotine. I have heard that WTA (Whole Tobacco Alkaloids) has/have been very helpful to some. You can find juices made from this and it more closely approximates the constituents of cigarettes without all the harmful stuffs. Maybe this would get the creative juices flowing again. It has helped folks who just couldn't quit smoking as well as those who experienced depression after quitting. Just a thought....I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't find WTA based juice in VG as well. I did a quick look and there are lots of flavors.

 

[Augmented Dog]

I like both vanilla and sandalwood, especially sandalwood. Patchouli too.
The burning tobacco comment was sort of a joke notion to get the effect on my brain of smoking - I concentrated far better when I smoked, so need to find my way around that!

So did I work better with a cig burning.
Patchouli, I think, is sexy, but works like speed. Used to wear patchouli oil all the time, back in the day. Only Like a pin point amount, though. Lol!
I don't recommend patchouli for your purposes, but I know not your sensual triggers, and creation is deeply personal. (We, the strange, the insular, the Artist).
Feels to me that before anything else, you need to ground, center and relax. Nothing inhibits creativity as much as trying to be creative.
Your work is astounding in its detail and realism. I'm willing to bet that when you flow, you are in automatic mode; time vanishes, you feel "guided" and the magic simply manifests.
Pictor, it IS magic.
When our best work happens, it is during an unintentional, spiritual high that can't be explained to anyone that hasn't been there.
We cannot make it happen, we can only open ourselves to allow it to use us to become its channel.
You are blessed and way talented. Our talent is the reason we've been chosen to express and capture pieces of the mundane world in a way that reveals the hidden beauty and divinity in that which most see everyday, but are unable to notice, until the artist frames and draws the eye and soul of the bored and tired to the hidden, subtle truth.
Peace and Blessings!

 

[Augmented Dog]

Great suggestions!!! Sage and Sweet Grass (what is Sweet Grass? I know it is used in smudge sticks but don't really know what it is?).

@Pictor, if you are missing some of the effects of smoking, it may be the other chemicals in tobacco in addition to nicotine. I have heard that WTA (Whole Tobacco Alkaloids) has/have been very helpful to some. You can find juices made from this and it more closely approximates the constituents of cigarettes without all the harmful stuffs. Maybe this would get the creative juices flowing again. It has helped folks who just couldn't quit smoking as well as those who experienced depression after quitting. Just a thought....I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't find WTA based juice in VG as well. I did a quick look and there are lots of flavors.

Sweetgrass is just that. A grass that smells, tastes and burns sweet.
It has been used in spiritual ceremonies for centuries on this continent. It draws spirit and helps us to drop the "dirt" we collect during everyday survival in common reality. It can be, and is used as a smudge and to create a safe, sweet place for ritual.

 

[Sloth Tonight]

So did I work better with a cig burning.
Patchouli, I think, is sexy, but works like speed. Used to wear patchouli oil all the time, back in the day. Only Like a pin point amount, though. Lol!
I don't recommend patchouli for your purposes, but I know not your sensual triggers, and creation is deeply personal. (We, the strange, the insular, the Artist).
Feels to me that before anything else, you need to ground, center and relax. Nothing inhibits creativity as much as trying to be creative.
Your work is astounding in its detail and realism. I'm willing to bet that when you flow, you are in automatic mode; time vanishes, you feel "guided" and the magic simply manifests.
Pictor, it IS magic.
When our best work happens, it is during an unintentional, spiritual high that can't be explained to anyone that hasn't been there.
We cannot make it happen, we can only open ourselves to allow it to use us to become its channel.
You are blessed and way talented. Our our talent is the reason we've been chosen to express and capture pieces of the mundane world in a way that reveals the hidden beauty and divinity in that which most see everyday, but are unable to notice, until the artist frames and draws the eye and soul of the bored and tired to the hidden, subtle truth.
Peace and Blessings!

Wow - that is a killer post

 

[SpaceCase]

Makes me want to draw.

 

[Augmented Dog]

Wow - that is a killer post

Brother,
With this, I find myself drawn back into a place of teaching I used to occupy, but haven't visited for quite a while.
Where do ya think the Wakonda "slogan" came from?
That stuff is powerful in ways Clark may not have intended.
Go google Kinnikinnick.
Now I'm starting to sound scary and esoteric.
End program.

 

[Augmented Dog]

Makes me want to draw.

Go draw.
10char

 

[SpaceCase]

It's a matter of what to draw and the process. I /can be/ very talented, generally speaking I am not.

 

[Augmented Dog]

It's a matter of what to draw and the process. I /can be/ very talented, generally speaking I am not.

Draw anything! If what you begin isn't where you need to be, you will be directed - if you allow it.
If you "can be," you Are.
I think you know this already.

 

[Pictor]

@Pictor, if you are missing some of the effects of smoking, it may be the other chemicals in tobacco in addition to nicotine. I have heard that WTA (Whole Tobacco Alkaloids) has/have been very helpful to some. You can find juices made from this and it more closely approximates the constituents of cigarettes without all the harmful stuffs. Maybe this would get the creative juices flowing again. It has helped folks who just couldn't quit smoking as well as those who experienced depression after quitting. Just a thought....I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't find WTA based juice in VG as well. I did a quick look and there are lots of flavors.

Thanks Glow - I do have some, and in VG too - I'd forgotten that I had it. I stopped using it because I don't like the taste of it very much. I was using it in a menthol liquid, but it still tasted a bit too much like tobacco! I'll try using some again ..see if it makes a difference.
I've tried a few things, and I do have some supplements designed to help dopamine/serotonin, but keep forgetting to take them! I must make more effort!

So did I work better with a cig burning.
Patchouli, I think, is sexy, but works like speed. Used to wear patchouli oil all the time, back in the day. Only Like a pin point amount, though. Lol!
I don't recommend patchouli for your purposes, but I know not your sensual triggers, and creation is deeply personal. (We, the strange, the insular, the Artist).
Feels to me that before anything else, you need to ground, center and relax. Nothing inhibits creativity as much as trying to be creative.
Your work is astounding in its detail and realism. I'm willing to bet that when you flow, you are in automatic mode; time vanishes, you feel "guided" and the magic simply manifests.
Pictor, it IS magic.
When our best work happens, it is during an unintentional, spiritual high that can't be explained to anyone that hasn't been there.
We cannot make it happen, we can only open ourselves to allow it to use us to become its channel.
You are blessed and way talented. Our talent is the reason we've been chosen to express and capture pieces of the mundane world in a way that reveals the hidden beauty and divinity in that which most see everyday, but are unable to notice, until the artist frames and draws the eye and soul of the bored and tired to the hidden, subtle truth.
Peace and Blessings!

One of the best smells for me where work is concerned is distilled turpentine and linseed! It's an inspiring smell, and some of the resins are pretty nice too (Canada Balsam, Venice Turpentine etc.) It's easy to be inspired, harder (for me) to stay put and get engrossed in that all too familiar mental state that you describe.
"you need to ground, center and relax." Very true!

I used to start working, take up to an hour to get engrossed, and then hours would pass, and work would get done.
Your description of the process is very accurate.
I miss that state of creativity and discovery.
You are so right about us not being able to force it - just telling myself I must get some work done isn't enough, and I must try to relax and not stress about it, yet not relax enough that I stop caring - because the day would dawn that I would care very much. I need to find that magic again.

Wow - that is a killer post

It is! It's like a gift that I need to find out how to utilise properly. There are a lot of truths in it. It's like recognising a part of me that I seem to have mislaid.

It's a matter of what to draw and the process. I /can be/ very talented, generally speaking I am not.

I was about to type 'just look about and rest your eye on an object, and draw it' ..and my eye rested on an old Spezial oil can on my shelf ...just like this one:VINTAGE ANTIQUE OIL CAN DISPENSER SPEZIAL GES. GESCH. RARE | eBay
Something like that would make a good subject?

 

[Augmented Dog]

Pictor,
I started to write a reply to you, and got lost in emotional tangent.
Been where I think you are saying you are now.
I'm trying to find a way of saying this that won't make me look insane and disassociative to everyone else and just can't seem to package it right now.
It all has to do with art becoming a job, instead of the way we escape to our own "true" reality. You know what I'm trying to say, I hope.

 

[Pictor]

Pictor,
I started to write a reply to you, and got lost in emotional tangent.
Been where I think you are saying you are now.
I'm trying to find a way of saying this that won't make me look insane and disassociative to everyone else and just can't seem to package it right now.
It all has to do with art becoming a job, instead of the way we escape to our own "true" reality. You know what I'm trying to say, I hope.

I think I do understand - if you mean that somewhere along the line, me continuing to produce work, and have my galleries make regular sales of paintings became more important, then yes, I always knew that if I 'needed' to work it would add a completely different dimension to how I work.

When my husband retired almost 10 years ago, it gradually started to feel different ..like something was in the offing - yet nothing changed: we were fine and the galleries were still selling my work - all was good.
Then the recession happened, and although it took a while to gravitate to the galleries, it started to happen, and the biggest slow-down was right before the Olympics here in 2012, and it's taking time to get anywhere near what it was ..it could take years! Whereas work would be selling all the time, it's more likely to during specific exhibitions now, and that I itself adds more pressure to excel - which of course can easily have the opposite result.
Suddenly, the change meant I became almost afraid to paint something in case it wasn't something 'super special', and any creative person will know that such things happen now and then, not every time. It meant that not only did I find it daunting, it stopped me being adventurous or trying slightly new things to place amongst the expected.

Add the missing aspect of smoking tobacco early last year, and I've found myself floundering lamely and miserably. There are always things that get on the way, but the slightest thing will distract me from the work I should be doing.
I'm consoling myself right now with some of my Strawnilla mix!