on days like today

For a good portion of my early life, I spent a lot of energy trying to self-regulate the way I feel – doing my best to find a balance between experiences and peace between extremes.

Realistically when we are in the process of healing, which as living beings is continuous, we require time. If we neglect making time for ourselves, life offers us time; it stalls projects, it asks us to reconsider ideals or expectations so that we can cultivate the freedom of being present with ourselves.

I created “Tranquillity + contentment in all states of development” as a Written Collage to remind myself that well-being lives both in times of stillness just as it does in times of flowing energy.

Celeste Hutchings, on days like today: Tranquillity + contentment in all states of development, 2022, Written Collage, Fine Art Print on Matte Archival Photo Paper, 13" x 19”– 33cm x 48cm, Toronto, Canada

Choosing to slow down, to act from a space of fulfillment rather than exhaustion is profoundly healing both consciously and subconsciously. 

Learning to enjoy taking my time – the time necessary to accomplish work and experience life with awe has become an act of love. It has become an act of self-compassion, an act of faith, an act of grace and receptivity.

I painted “on days like today” to honour my decision to appreciate all of the ways in which I experience the unfolding of my life as I allow myself to take my time.

The pastel violet, mint and blue became colours of gentleness. The aqua and spirulina green became waves of truth and refortification. The periwinkle and dusty violet became moments of honesty. 

The collage present in this piece includes a holographic paper that symbolises our vital energy as living, spiritual and creative beings. The bricks, the arches and the foliage in the collage collaborate as meditations on physicality as Divine form.

When we have experienced life in overdrive or under-drive we can become rigid to a certain pace of being. This can lead to falling out of sync with our innate timing, out of sync with the rhythms of nature, out of sync with the present moment, out of sync with ourselves.

I have come to observe that depression or resistance to life sets in when I have misplaced a focus on the past for the present moment. I have also come to observe that anxiety or overexertion of my energy occurs when I misidentify the future for the present moment.

At this point in time, I cyclically check in and allow myself to release any judgment I have formed when it comes to these experiences, simply because I can. Simply because it helps.

At the time of creating this work, my nervous system was depleted and I was running on low reserves of my own vital energy simply due to the lack of awareness that I deserved to hold on to my energy for myself. 

As I photographed myself, in “Yes, I accept taking smaller steps”, I was in the process of letting myself sleep for as long as I needed. I was in the process of choosing more restorative yogic practices to support and restore my body, mind and spirit. I was in the process of altering my definition of well-being to one that upholds and fortifies my personal reserves of essential energy.