Author Archives: JV

Daily Drawing / Meditation

I’m doing my “daily-drawing-practice-until-I-die” project. Up to No. 16 (my 16th day). I’ve decided that every time I get to 100, I will reward Self with an extremely yummy cookie. I know my friend Joan (who passed on recently and inspired this project) would approve. One nice perk is that these little drawings are providingContinue reading “Daily Drawing / Meditation”

Daily Drawings & Buson 100

On January 19, my good friend Joan passed away. She had terminal cancer and chose a medically assisted death. She had done a lot of hospice volunteer work, so she was well-prepared. On that day, I started a new daily drawing practice partly inspired by John F. Simon Jr.’s Drawing Meditation practice, and partly byContinue reading “Daily Drawings & Buson 100”

From Tony Robles: “A Monk’s Invisible Footprints”

I’ve been keeping track of the Theravada #Buddhist monks’ “Peace Walk,” their journey by foot from Texas, through the Bible Belt, to DC. It has been a hard slog (and some of the monks are barefoot), but as they walk, the crowds that welcome them are getting larger and larger. Filipino American author Tony RoblesContinue reading “From Tony Robles: “A Monk’s Invisible Footprints””

Blogging Over Mass Social Media

I’ve been blogging regularly every since I created my first blog on Geocities around 2001. Later I switched to WordPress. Blogging brought me to a community of writers and artists, some of whom I have met in person, collaborated with on books, and remain friends with to this day. I’ve also been on social mediaContinue reading “Blogging Over Mass Social Media”

“Drawing Your Own Path”: Art & Meditation

A few years back (before the Covid-19 pandemic began) I subscribed to receive daily drawings from John F. Simon, Jr. This was back when I was still feeling connected with the old days of blogging (more on that later). This was also before I knew that he had a book on drawing as meditation, calledContinue reading ““Drawing Your Own Path”: Art & Meditation”