Colors

I don't know if others have issues about noises in their head, but I certainly do.  My mind seems louder than it should be, and I have to figure out some ways to make it stay at the right place.  It sounds a little bit freak but no it certainly not.  I just think I'm fully aware about what happen inside and outside my mind.

  
I've been trying many things to turning down the noises a little bit.  Running, writing, swimming, and recently, coloring.  Coloring used to be a childhood activities, but lucky me, this year became the best seller year of adult coloring book.  The difference between children and adult coloring book is the details of the picture drawn.  In adult coloring book you'll find intricate details of things all over the pages.  

It will be stressful to color it all if you do it unwillingly, but if you like it, it will be a peaceful and pretty addictive to spend your time with.  If with reading we'll gain something from the book, and with writing we create something from ideas, then coloring always make me feel like I'm straightening the haywire inside my head and then transferring energy into colors.  And it turns out beautiful. 

From many choices of adult coloring books in the bookstores, I bought the Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford, with beautiful patterns and details that I can't wait to color all the picture inside.  But I think to make it into beautiful colors, you have to do it in the right mood, not in order to achieve a target to finish the book.  

It's a great way to relaxing your mind and playing with colors even if you can't draw or paint.  I always love the feeling when I completed one page: it's like finding a way to Wonderland, and I don't mind to get my self lost in it.  

Ah, and one last quote from Leonardo da Vinci

"For those colors which you wish to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white ground."

World, stories, mind, heart,  For everything you wish to be beautiful, always set a pure heart first, 

then you can show your true colors. 

Lumineux!

I got this enchanting crystal flower as my birthday gift from one of my best friend last year.  This beautiful crystal is something we have to work on before it “grows”, and it will be a chemistry experiment that absolutely easy and simple.  Inside the box, we will find an empty bottle, a crystal powder, a crystal growing tablet, a wood stick, a cork, LED lamp, batteries, and an instruction leaflet.

To grow the crystal powder, simply follow the instructions on the box or we can find it on the instruction leaflet too.  To start the experiment, prepare all the items from the box and follow the instruction.

1.       First, we prepare boiling water and pour it into the empty bottle, there’s a line on the wood stick as a marker for how much you should pour the water.  Add the crystal powder and stir it until the powder dissolve.

2.       Place the crystal growing tablet into the solution.

3.       Close the bottle with the cork lid and let it be for 24 hours.

4.       The next 24 hours, open the cork, you can see the crystal slowly grow on the tablet.

5.       Continue to open the cork for the next 12-15 days or until you get the crystal form you want (for mine, I waited for 3 weeks).

6.       Dry out the remaining solution, and clean up the bottle, but be careful not to drop water into the crystal, just use a wet towel or tissue to clean the bottle.

7.       Place the batteries inside the cork lid and close the bottle.  Now you can see the colorful light reflects on the crystal flower and it will shine more brilliantly on a dark place.

I really love to see the lights on the crystal before I go to bed.  It’s somehow relaxing and gives a new hope for a better day tomorrow.  Ah, you can find this enchanting Lumineux on Gramedia bookstore everywhere.  Trust me, you’ll love it!

Ps. The crystal flower comes with 12 beautiful words, and mine is "Happines", as if it's a reminder that even when we can't find happiness, we can always create them, with simple things or a complicated chemistry reaction like this one. J