My Rock Painting Hobby

Rock painting has been such a fun and joy-filled activity for me these past several days and I’m having a blast with it. It’s not only been therapeutic but just enormous amount of fun. I haven’t had so many colors in front of me in so long and it just makes me so ecstatic!!! This summer I started getting more into gardening and this goes so hand-in-hand with that hobby of mine. I’m still learning both of them, but both of these activities bring me so much joy! Here are the photos of some of the rocks I have painted: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17864036462577357/.

My colleague, Claire, inspired me to start this hobby. She shared rocks she and her son painted and I instantly fell in love with this art. I inquired about it and then started reading blogs and other websites for it and also watched several YouTube videos before I started painting my own rocks. I’m going to link all of these things below in case you’d also like to start rock painting. I’ve been getting this question quite a lot so thought I’d just put the info in a blog post and share. 

First and foremost, be safe while doing everything and enjoy it and share with others around you! 💗😁

Here’s what I do for my rock painting:

1. Get the rocks. Select the kinds you’d like to paint. They could be any shape or color. I have quite a few in my backyard / garden that I purchased long while ago so I just go pick some out from there. My suggestion is to buy some from local stores. I got some of mine at TriCity Rock here: http://www.tricityrock.com. There are many other places that sell rocks. 
2. Wash and prep the rocks. I wash the rocks with soapy water and brush in sink, making sure the bits from rocks don’t go in sink / garbage disposal. You can also wash them in two buckets - one with soapy water and other with clean water. Make sure to remove the dirt and other things from them. This video has been very helpful to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD_v8zg26VU.
3. Let the rocks dry completely before you start painting them. I let them air dry on towel or plate in the yard and go flip them after a few min to let the other side try.
4. Get acrylic painting pens or colors and brushes, whichever you prefer. I use the Artistro acrylic painting pens. Here are the links to purchase them:
1. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07485T22B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NS381GK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NSP573D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 
5. Paint the rocks. This is the most fun part!! Enjoy it!! Let your imaginations run wild and also get inspired by everything around you (several links with ideas below).
6. Let the rocks dry completely.
7. Seal your rocks. If you plan to place your rocks outdoors or near water, make sure to seal them before you do that. You can spray them or paint them with sealant. See this page on how to: https://rockpainting101.com/how-to-seal-painted-rocks/. I haven’t sealed any of my rocks yet. Waiting for my Krylon spray paint to arrive. I have ordered this one and it’s on the way: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004O7HTDQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Once I have used it, I’ll share how I like it.
8. Let the rocks dry completely.
9. Use your painted & sealed rocks in your home, garden, desk, anywhere you like and gift them to loved ones. You can also hide them in open public places for strangers to find them and spread kindness and positivity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindness_Rock_Project I didn’t know this was a big thing until recently! Check out here for more on that: https://www.google.com/search?q=best+places+to+hide+painted+rocks&sxsrf=ALeKk03U40trOU1l96ECfDo3zE_vMmjlRw%3A1627928377056&source=hp&ei=OTcIYfQF6M7Q8Q_rhBg&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYQhFSWigbd3pOQDn1qiQFl5oNHpU6CA2&oq=hide+painted+rocks.  

Here are some more links to check out:

My favorite rock painting blog / resource: https://rockpainting101.com/

Rock painting ideas: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rock+painting+ideas

More Rock painting ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=rock%20painting%20%20markers&rs=rs&eq=&etslf=3585&term_meta[]=rock%7Crecentsearch%7C4&term_meta[]=painting%7Crecentsearch%7C4&term_meta[]=markers%7Crecentsearch%7C4

More Rock painting ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=rock%20painting%20ideas&eq=rock%20painting&etslf=2101&term_meta[]=rock%7Cautocomplete%7C0&term_meta[]=painting%7Cautocomplete%7C0&term_meta[]=ideas%7Cautocomplete%7C0

More rock painting ideas: https://www.google.com/search?q=rock+painting+ideas 

Hope these are of help!! If you do start rock painting, please share your work. I'd love to see it! 💖👍😃

Kanan

Life is happening for us, for me

Until very recently, I thought human life was a sentence. As in a jail time and we have to endure it until the end of the life, whenever that might be. Waiting for the end to arrive while we suffer. We are brought here to go through all of our past and present accounts to pay off as many of the debts as possible. That was the mindset I had. It wasn’t all my life but since my challenging college/university days, that’s what I believed. 

Earlier this year, I got a cancer diagnosis and I realized things needed to change in the way my mind worked, in the way I thought. I started to seek all kinds of help from everywhere possible. A few amazing books, more readings, a lot of different types of therapies, some meditation and tons of affirmation cards (more on all those soon) later, I have realized that life is the most beautiful thing ever and I’m truly blessed to have gotten a chance to experience it and to be living it right now. 

A meditation session at work yesterday also confirmed the same. The meditation teacher said “Life is not happening at us. Life is happening for us. Life is on our side. It is not a trap. We are not helpless. We are in charge.” His session went on to describe life as our personal movie and we are the star as well as the director of that movie. Despite of all the struggles, conflicts, challenges, and uncertainty it brings, it is our ability to experience all those and feel the emotions and act with our most authentic selves is what makes it a beautiful movie, which would be quite boring otherwise. And that we have complete control over it about how to experience it. It is that movie that brings us opportunities, teachings and lessons that we wouldn’t have gotten if it were only a happy-go-lucky kind of "boring" movie. This philosophy resonates with me so deeply. I’m realizing how wrong I was in thinking about it as a punishment. With the new experiences I have had in last couple of months, I’m experiencing first hand that this life is truly my friend, my companion, a miraculous thing and so full of excitement! I just have to take time to experience it all and see it and feel it myself. I’m truly grateful to be alive!!!

The hardest question

2021-03-25

Have you ever faced the hardest question of your life? She asked me if the visitors were coming at home to send her off because she’s going to die soon. 

She could see it coming I am guessing. Five days before, when our cousin was going to visit us for two days from out of town, she asked me if she was coming over to say final goodbye. I answered her with a smile and a gentle touch on her arm (I couldn’t hug her because that was too painful for her) as I choked, with an extra large lump in my throat, trying very hard not to cry in front of her: “She is coming to see you, to see us. It’s been a while since she came by so she’s just visiting. We are going to have fun!” Four days later, she left. 

Life is like that. You think the hardest things are painful experiences, but the hardest is to keep living those experiences after your loved one leaves you, because you can’t forget it. You can’t release it. You can’t get it out of your system. Some day, I hope to let it all go. Hoping it’s soon. 

That lump is back in my throat and vision hazy that I can’t see clearly. So I pause for now.