Life Sin Electricity

Our first and last art project was assigned last week to challenge us to go from dusk to dawn without electricity of any kind. Living in a world where everything is powered by electricity this seemed much more daunting than it actually was. I got all of my studying, texting, facebooking, and driving out of the way before the sun set. I stayed so busy and went on a long run to ensure that it would be easy to fall asleep. To be safe I lit a few candles I found around the house to give me some light to draw and read. Not only was my cozy room filled with the scent of autumn harvest and vanilla orchids, the romatically dim area inspired to draw freely. Sitting in such beautiful silence allowed me to doodle whatever images or thoughts popped into my head without the scrutiny of bright lights. I am all about some alone time but with the use of so much electricity this was really alone time. Time to be completely submerged in my own feelings, ideas and imagination. I had a great time and was shocked that I didn't just sleep for 12 hours. This project made me feel inspired enough to consider doing this more often with changing variables and posting the artwork, writings, etc. that I come up with during that time. I might have to use electricity just for music though because that would create a whole other experience that I feel would be incredibly healing and fruitful. For anyone who just slept the entire time I would really recommend trying to meditate or draw by candle light in the silence. You will be surprised what comes up when you silence everything around you.