Enough! Switching Channels... - Dominique Hurley

(Keep scrolling down if you’re only into photos – over 75 in this post…)

By noon today, cabin fever had set in. Apart from walking to school, where I spent a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday, I had been glued to my computer since last Thursday. I didn’t mind when it was cold and rainy. It’s what I wanted. I spent a few hours doing drawing lessons on YouTube, kept looking for a place to live in St. John’s, wrote blogs, and did some of my barter tasks for the Academy. Way too many of those hours, however, were spent watching movies. Grant it, I learned a lot from them – always do. Most of them were based on true stories and most of those were about the lives of artists. Although dramatic and depressing – as were the lives of most artists who are featured in movies – these films also inspired me in some ways. I especially liked the French film on Séraphine, a painter I had never heard from a town I lived in during a high school exchange. I really resonated with both her art and her simple love of nature and God. Like many others, however, she spent the last years of her life in an asylum.

In my search for more inspiring movies, though, I ended up on a website that reminded me of David Hawkin’s findings (on his map of Consciousness/Energy Grid): “Most movies will weaken people who watch them by bringing their energy levels down below the 200 level of consciousness.” (on a scale of 1000). I knew that. I can feel it. Still, when I get on a roll, it’s hard to stop. I may not do drugs or drink anything but water, really, but I certainly use movies for escapism. (I’ve been good on leaving the chips out of that equation lately though…)

Anyway, this morning, as I stood there for an hour covered in a thick dark stinky oil (part of my daily Ayurvedic skin treatment for eczema for 2-3 weeks) I decided to switch channels and watch inspirational videos by my favourite channeler, Esther Hicks channeling Abraham. Their material has inspired me for years. I was still on the computer, but it was a whole lot better for me. It’s not like I can sit down, do yoga, type, or much of anything with this coat of oil on…. and standing meditation for an hour would drive me mad. Instead, I watch, listen, and do a few basic stretches. At least I’ve switched channels and its main message was loud and clear: “Life is supposed to be fun” and everything you want is downstream, so stop paddling upstream. I can hear some of you now… but in context it all makes sense! By getting into a state of joy, abundance, gratitude – it will put me in the vibrational realm to attract more of the same. I’ve proven it to myself and others before, yet I constantly have to remind myself.

So instead or worrying about getting my life back in Canada figured out immediately or working on projects that didn’t inspire me today, I let the bright warm sunshine draw me out. It took a lot. One voice inside me kept saying “but it’s a workday!”(something that’s only true on my schedule if I decide it to be so. Plus, as an artist/photographer/writer – my work is anywhere and everywhere). I’m not a slacker by nature. I used to be a workaholic. I knew, however, that I had to do something to put me back in good state of body, mind, and spirit. So I looked up a great self-guided tour of Vienna website and started making a wishlist of place in and out of town. It was too late for one of my nature hikes, but I finally dragged myself out the door. Once out, I had an amazing afternoon. I walked around for 3.5 hours before life drawing class. I used my Google Maps on my iPhone for general directions, but wasn’t shy about wandering off course when something called me.

It was great. Here are some highlights:

weather was perfect – sleeveless with sunscreen, but not too hot
love cobblestone and the sound of horse wagons clopping by
there are so many churches in Vienna!
there are so many chocolate and pastry shops in Vienna!
I found 2 “beaches” along the Danube, right downtown, minutes from school. One is really just a terrace with sand (where 2 of my classmates were taking their lunch break!), but the other gives the impression of a real beach (minus the swimming).
there are artist studios along the Danube. Cool!
great window displays on the ground floor and looking up is always amazing – such great architecture!

I’m so glad I got myself out there. Tomorrow is the last sunny day in the forecast before I leave for Italy, so I’m either going on Vienna City Hike #7 or going to visit Top Day Trip #4 (having been to 1-3) – Kreuzenstein Castle, just half an hour out of town.

It really hit me when I talked to my parents on Skype yesterday and said “see you in 1 month and 6 days”… My time in Europe is running out! I’m in Vienna now! How can I not take more advantage of that?! Trying too hard to manufacture my return to “the real world” or losing myself in movies isn’t helping. I’m glad I switched channels.