Two slideshows of Shivananda’s most recent paintings (best if viewed fullscreen)
As a child I loved painting and drawing. I used to show the results to my mother and she always expressed appreciation and joy. She also kept all my paintings, stored in boxes.
This gave me the feeling that everything I was painting had value. This feeling has never left me. It’s not a matter of being good, but of being appreciated. In German we have the word ‘Wertschätzung’. It means: to appreciate the value of something. Only lately have I realized what a gift my mother gave to me.
With my father it was different. He would look at the paintings and say, “Nice,” but I could feel from the tone in his voice that the ‘Wertschätzung’ was missing. For him there was actually no real value in them, and I could sense that he would have liked me to spend my time rather with activities that would later turn into a useful, solid profession.
Another gift from my mother was singing. Singing brought us together as a family, and it was laughter, joy and love. It is still my favorite way of spending time together with people. When, in the family, I was playing the guitar and singing I was loved and appreciated. It still feels the same now.
Also in my family we loved to play games.
Playing was an intrinsic part of our lives. It was also mainly my mother who would encourage us to play.
Only now I can see what great gifts I have received and that I can say:
- Everything that I paint is valuable.
- Singing together is valuable and needed in this world.
- Playing is valuable and is helpful in every part of my life.
Thank you beloved mother.
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