Fishy Fun

It’s been a while since me and the boys did a painted project together. But we all love fishies, so when I saw Harmony Art Mom’s post on Paul Klee-inspired fish art, I roped the boys in to join me in having a go at it.

First of all, we wrote some fishy words with wax crayons. Gman went for an excerpt from an Edward Lear verse:

Waif went for some bedtime fishy phrases. These are a bit of a tradition in our house. I have no idea why! We say “Night night. Cod bless. Sweet breams. Haddock good night’s sleep. See you in the prawning”. Just like all normal families . Suggestions for fishy related night time puns are always welcome btw.

My choice was a tribute to my wonderful and much loved late granddad, who used to sing to us kids. “You shall have a fishy on a little dishy” was a perennial favourite.

For the benefit of those of you who may not have had a singing Geordie grandfather, here’s the song. Take careful note of the proper pronunciation of boat

After writing our words, we added a watercolour wash in dark colours. While that was drying, we got out the Sharpies to create some fishies:

And finally, we stuck the fishies in plaice (boom boom)

Altogether now: you shall have a fishy on a little dishy, you shall have a fishy when the boat comes in.

Tribute to a Krautrock Earworm

Thanks to my husband’s recent acquisition of Can’s Lost Tapes, we have been “enjoying” listening to some Krautrock this weekend. This track in particular is proving to be something of an earworm:

It was only natural, then, that today’s ICAD should reflect this:

Mind you, when I first heard the song, I thought the lyrics were “are you waiting for the streaker?” which could have produced quite a different picture

How Do You Do It?

A church is not for praying
It’s for celebrating the light that bleeds through the panes (or is it pains?)

The lyric is from a Hot Chip song. I love love love it. Hope you do too

Cause & Effect

Continuing on the Four Reminders exercises (see my thoughts on impermance here), this week I have been reflecting on karma, or as Vajragupta puts it “actions have consequences”. As usual, I found it helpful to journal my thoughts:

Cause & Effect

All actions have consequences. No exceptions.
Every moment is a karma making moment. No exceptions.
The things that I do, say or even just think have consequences. No exceptions.
All my actions are significant because, at the very least, they affect the kind of person I become.
No exceptions.

Knowing this, I can try to act in ways that are kind & loving.
Every single moment is a karma-making moment. That means every single moment is an opportunity to make a difference.
It matters.
It all matters.

I am the owner of my karma.
I inherit my karma.
I am born of my karma.
I live supported by my karma.
Whatever karma I create, whether good or evil, that I shall inherit.

(The Buddha, Anguttara Nikaya V.57 – Upajjhatthana Sutta )

My karma is the only thing I truly own. I can take nothing else with me. Everything else is just borrowed.

The (extremely ropey) sketch of a starfish is to remind me of a story that Vajragupta mentions in his book about a man who is walking along a beach on which thousands of starfish had been washed up by a storm.  He starts throwing the starfish back in the water, one by one.  Someone came along and asked him why he was bothering when there were so many starfish stranded.  “Well,” says the man, carrying on throwing the fish, “It makes a difference to this one…and this one…and this one…”  A great story to remember when you start to feel that your individual actions make no difference.  They do.

Ever since writing the last line in my journal about everything else just being borrowed, I can’t get this Streets song out of my head – check it out if you’ve never heard it:

I came to this world with nothing
and I leave with nothing but love
everything else is just borrowed

Beautiful song.

By the way, for a great article on karma, I recommend checking out Mike’s post “Karma for Dummies“.

Next reminder for contemplation:  suffering.  Watch this space.