From Burnout to Inner Peace: How One Doctor Healed Through Art (And How You Can Too)

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Art of Life podcast.

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I am so glad for you, my dear listeners, to be tuning in for another show, because

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it is your love that keeps us going

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and

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the

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it allows me to bring all these beautiful conversations for you.

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Of

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And today I have an awesome guest.

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just

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name is Vasu.

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No

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She is joining us from Michigan in the USA,

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to

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she is a physician who's turned into an artist.

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So she really explores how art can go really deep into our emotions

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and then connect us with some of the hidden parts of ourselves, some of

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the parts that we are not wanting to say hello to, some of the things

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that we're wanting to run away from.

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Um, and she will talk more about that.

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So welcome, Vasu.

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So glad to have you on the show.

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Thank you, Kanika.

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I'm so excited and honored to be on your show.

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Alright, so you are a physician and then you turn into an artist.

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Now, tell me about the before and the after.

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So how was your life before that?

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Like, just give us a snippet.

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And then afterwards, how is your life now?

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Like, how does it look today?

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So that people understand what happens with that transformation.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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certain changes happened in administration and I wasn't liking the way.

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were making my career turn, so I decided to look at options.

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So I tried private practice for a while.

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Although I was able to do research while seeing patients, even as a

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private practitioner in pediatric gastroenterology, just wasn't that happy

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because you know, the academic setting, teaching, mentoring, everything I missed.

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So then I decided that if I'm not happy doing what I'm doing,

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I don't want to do it by force.

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it's, uh, it's not for sale, it's a public documentary, and it's not for sale, it's

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a private series of secret films and it's, uh, it's a, it's an independent series

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on a specific topic and it's a musical, and it's, uh, it is a content film,

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it's a, it's a, it's a What's going on?

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Uh, you can go to the website and you find it.

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Um, if you want to go you can find it.

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very much.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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and feel a lot of calm.

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That is really, really good.

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And one of the reasons I'm so excited to have you on the show

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is because often art is talked about as a healing modality, right?

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But then there is a scientific mind that comes into it.

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We are all conditioned to sort of look for why and we are conditioned to look for

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studies, we're conditioned to look for, well, I don't know if this is true or not.

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And it's as if science And I laugh at this because we want science to prove

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things to us and what we forget is science is actually just telling us

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that, okay, this thing we, like, for example, if we look at gravity and when

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Newton discovered gravity, it isn't that gravity did not exist before that.

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Science just merely said that, okay, this exists and now I have

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proof that, okay, this exists.

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So it's kind of asking the wrong question, but it's good to have a physician here to

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help us with, why does art really help us?

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Like what do you think happens when we dabble with art, when we

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go with colors, like what happens?

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Um, I just want to emphasize, Kanika, this is a great question

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and it deserves explanation.

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that art is not limited to just visual art.

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It can be any kind of art.

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It can be just watching art, not always making it, but it can be other art

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forms like Knitting, sewing, ceramics, sculpting, music, dancing, performance

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art, and so many, there must be a few quite other forms, and also activities

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like sports, like you know, some people like to run or exercise and all.

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dabbled into what we call art, but all those kinds of activities where your

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focus goes away from your other thoughts and you just focus on something else.

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Um, it creates good endorphins in the brain and these

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neurotransmitters like dopamine create a sense of calm and cortisol.

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So our stress level goes down and overall we feel very enriched and happy.

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Satisfied and, uh, it quietens down our mind, um, in

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Yes.

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ways that you can perform better in future if you continue

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to do it on a regular basis.

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Totally.

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And I think what you're talking around in terms of the quietness, that is

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so important because you know, in all the hustle bustle, we are running, we

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are running from one step to the next.

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Like we run in the morning to drop our kids or to get to work.

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And then we run from there to finish the work, to do some deadline.

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Then we run from there.

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That ends, we run again.

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Like everybody knows the story, right?

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The whole time we get up, we're even running to go to bed and then

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running to get up in the morning.

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Like there's a constant run happening.

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But when we have the quiet space, like when we are seeking

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inspiration, when we are seeking, okay, what do I need to do next?

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How do I do this?

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There has to be space for that to flow in, right?

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So when we When we quieten our mind, that's able to come in.

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Yes, and that's where you will discover the therapeutic

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power of creative expression.

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You know, like my system revolves around the idea that art is not just for artists.

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Anybody can do it.

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You know, you don't have to create a masterpiece every day.

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You don't even have to complete something, you know, every day if you start it.

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You can just dabble with it and even that kind of activity will quieten

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the mind and make one feel better.

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Totally, totally.

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And I'm so on board with you that everybody needs to

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create rather than consume.

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We all really need to shift to creating.

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And even if it is not great, even if I feel like I cannot even draw a face,

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even if it's just scribbles, that's okay.

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But here's still the thing, right?

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Like we are conditioned to go, like, Well, if I did this, what is the result?

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So if I created a master, well, I created a painting, let's say

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I spent two hours creating it.

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And to me, in my eyes, it doesn't look good.

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How would you talk to those people?

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Because there's a lot of us, when we are starting, that is what we are feeling.

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Instead of it motivating us, it might motivate us or make

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us feel good in the moment.

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But then I look at the painting and I might feel like, uh

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uh, didn't do a good job.

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But the fact that you persevered and kept at it for two hours,

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had you engrossed and involved.

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that was the part that, that is what you need to focus on, the journey

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of creation, than the end result.

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You know, you are comparing your art or what you created with somebody who

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is writing 50th chapter in their life, you know, not the first chapter, like

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for beginners and things like that.

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So if you don't want to create resemblance, you know, just dabble into

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shapes and lines and colors and, or even just doodle or write down words that

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appeal to me that make you, that appeal to you, that make you feel calm and try to

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think of a word like say, I want to run.

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So what does run mean to you?

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Maybe you want to make lines that go round and round or just go straight and

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just do whatever you feel like, whatever color or shape or that you want to do

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and just that focus of thinking about how should I represent that word might just

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This is, this is so frustrating.

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that, you know, you will feel great about.

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And it helps you go deeper into that.

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So let's say I want to run and as you start doing that, then it gets

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more about, okay, this is how I feel when I'm running or why am I running

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and what are you running away from?

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What is it that you're running through?

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What is it that you're running away from?

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So talk to us a little bit around that process because if even if people,

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let's say, decide today to go out, just explore with colors and just draw.

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How can they use that to go, okay, now I really want to go into some deep emotion.

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Let's say they've had a trauma, just as an example, during their

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childhood, they've had some trauma and they want to talk about it.

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They want to explore that.

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What is it that they can do in their homes in their own comfortable time?

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Well, um, I just want to say something outright that if that kind of trauma

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or emotions one is feeling, if it is interfering with a normal life,

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they should really Seek professional help, you know, in whatever form.

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So I will just talk about general things that, you know, thoughts come across you

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and sometimes you feel sad and or, you know, and then you do something or think

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about something and makes you feel better.

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So just like as doctors listen to symptoms, we must listen to our emotions.

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You

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And yeah,

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comes out of your hand will

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it's a it's it's it's it's it's Um, so why is it so important to have a

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I'm going to show you how to do it.

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Okay.

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This is a statement.

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It's very simple.

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Right.

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think about how great you are going to feel at the end of it.

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And whatever you have created will be good.

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Next time you can make it better you keep at it, or you may not want

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to do it that way and you may have some other avenue or some other

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form of art that will appeal to you.

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So you have to try out a few different things, but flowing painting,

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journaling, or mixed media techniques and all, we can bypass the mental

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resistance gradually and embrace creativity as an emotional release.

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Great.

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I'll go back to something that you mentioned in that you talked about

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that, you know, you would start, let's say, with a feeling of joy and

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then you'd go to amusement, right?

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And how I explain that as an energy coach is that we might be feeling

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something, let's say, I'm feeling sad.

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And, but beneath that are a lot of emotions, like it's not just one

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emotion, just like you said, and so there's other things, right?

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So talk to us through the process, like even as you were drawing, and

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let's say you start with joy, and you start painting, and then you

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just start going with it, and then in the end you experience joy.

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you say that, okay, this is where it rests at.

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Now this is called confusion, let's say.

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So

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yes,

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talk to us about that process.

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How does it happen for you?

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How can our audience feel that for themselves, understand

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that for themselves as well?

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well, when you are creating abstract art, you don't have a point or end

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point, like no fixed outcome in mind.

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So I start by jotting down some lines and some shapes and things like that.

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And then I and see how I can create some energy into it, depending what.

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How I'm feeling at that point, like for this particular solo show, I had made

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a list of certain emotions, but as I was going through the study of those

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emotions, I found that just like the color wheel, there is an emotional wheel.

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It's called flute chick's wheel.

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And

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Yeah.

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Amazing.

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The.

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Yep.

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Noted.

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Uh, yeah.

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an amazing discovery.

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So, if I that day, I felt like, for joy, I would think I would

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Use some pastel and bright colors.

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But somehow that day and and I don't finish a painting a

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day or something like that.

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It takes me several days times to reach the ultimate outcome.

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So as it was evolving I found there were more and more dark colors and

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there were more lines crisscrossing each other as if I was going through

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a maze and so eventually when I finished it, I kept on working at it.

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There was a

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Uh, um,

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painting confusion.

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Yep.

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And that's a very good way of looking at it.

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It's not that anything is right or wrong.

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You know, we tend to say, Oh, joy is good.

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Like if you're feeling happy as good, but it's just impossible.

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And it's so much pressure on someone to feel happy all the time.

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It takes energy as well.

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It's very human to go up and down and simply by just saying hello to

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these emotions, expressing them or writing them out, whatever your way

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of creativity is, when we do that, we've just let that emotion come out.

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And here's the good thing that when you've let the stuff come

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out, new things can come in.

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A new magic can come in because you're allowing flow to happen.

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That

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Yes.

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it's a, art is a tool for rewiring our mindset as to not be, you know, just

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bothered with a fixed outcome, just work freely with a stroke and texture and.

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color or anything that you feel like handling.

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So usually, know, we have the whole wheel set up so you can pick up

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any color you want, you know, on the palette and with it and then go

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from there to wherever you want to.

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But as you're creating, you know, every 15, 20 minutes, I have to

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get up and sit back and look at it and see what am I creating?

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Where am I going?

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And that makes me gain insight into my inner self as to this is what

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I'm doing and how this is evolving.

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And, and that experience for me is meditative healing.

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is beautiful and that is how it has to be because what you are doing is you're going

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there, you're expressing your emotions, you're taking a little step back and then

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you're coming and creating again, right?

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Now the very reason, like as an energy coach, why I feel we feel

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disconnected is because we are running and running in the cycle of life.

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We are running and running and we're not taking that time to pause and

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reconnect with ourselves what we want.

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So we are actually trying to control so much.

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Even when we are painting or however we are expressing our

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emotions, we try and control.

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Like so many pages I have to write today.

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Okay, it has to come from creativity, but I want to control my creativity

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also, but how will that happen?

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So

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This, this process of pausing, you know, and reflecting and all that what

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is called neuroplasticity in the brain.

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That means the neurons form more new connections and they are able to

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communicate with each other better.

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So it's, that helps with the healing and more release of the dopamine.

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yes, yes, and I'm so glad that you pointed that out because we tend

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to grow up thinking that okay, now my brain's got fixed or beyond a

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certain age now it cannot be healed.

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You know, this is how I am, but when you take the pause, like you pointed

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out with neuroplasticity or however we're doing our creativity, however

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we are allowing that, we are rewiring.

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When you bring that, then you rewire more.

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Now, one thing was very beautiful in what you mentioned.

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You talked around mirroring.

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You talked that, oh, when I draw, or when we draw, there are emotions

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that come out and you look at them and you think, okay, how are they

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mirroring what's going on inside?

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Talk about that a little bit more.

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Mm

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this series of paintings for my symphony of sentiments where I painted emotions.

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so some days I didn't start with kind of Like I didn't start with a title.

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You know, that today I want to create this particular painting.

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And as I was doing it, I was working with light colors, and then to put some

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yellow, and then I said, no, I need some darks, and I took very deep green,

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permanent green, and like, almost like black, and I created something, and it,

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you know, in the end, when I finished it, it looked like a metal, or a, you

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know, something that you would covet and So then I called it confidence,

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hmm.

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And, and, and so depending on how I'm feeling that day, like, you know,

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Hello, everyone.

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and all that there are days when nothing seems right and Those days

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I may work on two or three different paintings and see if one is not

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Gelling with what I want to say.

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I will put it aside and do something else if I have time.

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Um, so it's, it's such a fluid process and I have to let it, uh, happen freely

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without tying myself down to an outcome.

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Um, so it's, that's where, you know, I'm connecting

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I think it'd be helpful to hear from you folks about what you'd like to see.

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Bye.

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Good to see ya.

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Okay.

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Bye.

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Bye.

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Bye.

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Um, uh, um, Okay.

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What I cannot express in words, I do write some poetry from time to time

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and all, but what I can't express in words I probably put down on canvas.

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Yes.

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and it is so beautifully said, uh, because it is expressing your soul,

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it is letting the deepest part of you come out that sometimes even

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you and the body are unaware of.

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And there was a lovely thing that you also mentioned, which was just around.

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using the dark colors, because you know, we tend to run away from that.

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There's a perception that dark is like bad.

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Okay.

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And so we don't even want to look at it, but guess what?

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We all have it.

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So I loved that.

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You actually bought out the darker shades of green and you started with that and

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you'll let them flow because after that it moved for you and then the dial moved.

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And then you actually ended up calling it confidence because who would think that

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confidence comes from that supposedly darker colors or darker shades.

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Yes.

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And you know, there are, there are rules of composition and things like that.

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So like, like you must have a balance between light and dark

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and the tones and everything.

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But I haven't learned art the formal way.

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Like I haven't gone to an art school.

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I call myself mainly self taught.

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So sometimes I just Don't follow any rules and just create what seems right to me.

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So, if somebody was to analyze it, may find it not quite typical

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of what an artwork should be.

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But it's what my creation is and that gives me a lot of joy.

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And I

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I think

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yeah, and it's conveying what I want to say.

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totally.

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And I think that is like your truth.

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And it is beautiful because you say it that way.

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And it is, I wish in the world more of us were saying our truth.

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Now, what I like around your confidence piece is that, you know,

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it starts from the darker layers.

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If you actually mimic it.

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back with our lives.

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A lot of the times when we are confident, it starts first with doubt.

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It starts first with fear.

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Hey, can I stand on a stage?

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Can I speak in front of 10 people?

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Can I do this?

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We're afraid it actually starts with the darker places.

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Then we go and then we find light.

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And then, you know, that's how your process is.

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So I think it's a beautiful way when we are authentic.

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That's how we are looking at.

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it.

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So it's really beautiful that you did that.

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thank you.

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Yeah, and I'm so happy that you were able to You know, actually get what I'm trying

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to say and express it back eloquently.

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Thank you.

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I think because it's all connected with the subconscious, we're both

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doing works in, well, I'm an energy coach, so I think I'm in tune with

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that in a little different manner.

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This is how you're looking at it.

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But basically we're both looking at a soul's journey.

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Right.

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So I think that comes with very easily.

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Um, for our listeners, I would just like to add, and perhaps you can put

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in your thoughts as well there, Vasu, that it doesn't matter where you're

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at, how, if you've never, never done art or never done, you know, any other

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form, any other form of going out or so on, it's never too late to start.

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What age were you?

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When did you start?

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And, you know, like you must have, as you say that you are self taught,

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but your life was so different then.

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Um, and how was that experience for you, especially as you come from a so

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called, uh, such a different society, which is very much around science and,

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you know, papers and publishing, that's it's very, very different to how you did.

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How was that journey and what is the message you would give to our audience

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who are trying to connect with themselves, but sort of in that place where they're

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not really sure if they are ready yet?

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It was very challenging.

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Let me tell you, it just didn't flow smoothly from one career into another.

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The challenges, you know, there were dark days and, uh, the first four to five years

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were frustrating in the sense that, like I was telling you about being on my first

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chapter of a book and compared to somebody on the chapter of the book, you know,

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and if I keep comparing myself to that level of refinement and things like that,

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obviously I wasn't going to get it then.

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But slowly and steadily as I kept on creating, but like they say, practice

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makes perfect and art is not perfect, you know, but at least I was getting

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better from representational art to, and even in representational art, I

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started experimenting and making it more semi abstract and things like that.

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But from the, the fixed protocols of medicine.

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Um, go to this total fluidity and openness and

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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ultimate

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It's been a pleasure.

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Um, Okay.

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And this is what I'm trying to do is I'm going to do is I'm

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going to do is I'm going to go

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and, uh, um, just make it easier for you to continue to work in that direction.

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Totally.

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And congratulations, by the way, on your achievements, because that's so well done.

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And it is so good to go from that real dip, um, let's say in self

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confidence, sometimes even doubting yourself and then climbing back up.

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Now, if you could just talk to us around that time and not outward

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focused, like not what the world is seeing, but what changed?

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Like, how was Vasu, then, you know, as you were grappling and as you were

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going and discovering art or dance or journaling, as you were in that discovery

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process, and when you felt that, okay, you know, now I can even talk with my

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colleagues in medicine and science.

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or academia, and I can tell them that this is what I do, because I think it

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takes us all time to, there is a shedding that we do inside, and that's when we

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start getting brighter on the outside.

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So what happened?

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Just talk to us about that, giving our audience a little snippet of

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what that transformation looks like.

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What happened for you internally?

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What beliefs shifted for you?

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Not anyone else telling you, but just you.

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What shifted for you?

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From, uh, from moments of self doubt and imposter syndrome, like whether

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I was really good enough and I should be doing this at all, or I should have

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just continued with medicine, which I knew I was good at and stuff like that.

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this kind of shifted.

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And boosted my confidence yes, you know, I was moving in the right direction

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and I was enjoying it so much and feeling so much better about making

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art that I just decided to pursue it.

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And it's now become a passion, you know, in the sense that I

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feel I create art for healing.

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I. I do research into NeuroArts and what all is going on.

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I give talks about that.

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on the podcast, like, am joining the Department of NeuroArts at

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the University of Michigan, uh, to be a part of their program.

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And right now they have an exhibit going on called Path to Precision.

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Um, And I have five paintings in that show, um, and, and, and it's,

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it's really a revelation to me that I could be something like this and

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have a successful second career.

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And, um, what started, you know, um, a book came out in January called Mastery

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Right.

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Okay.

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and, um, happy.

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Wow, and what a blessing that is, isn't it?

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And what came first?

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Did your achievements outside with the paintings come first?

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Or did your shift inside come first?

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Like what were you creating for?

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Were you creating to have an exhibition?

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Were you creating for yourself?

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Initially, I was creating for myself and to be honest with you, even

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when I create themes exhibitions and make art, it's still for myself.

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it is to present, because it's the interaction of the viewer, what

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you have created is what is art.

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And that is great.

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Yes,

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I wanted to drive home for everyone that we sometimes see the

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outside and we go like, Oh, you know, this is what I want to be.

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This is what I want to do.

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And then we go, Oh, why is this not coming to me?

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And we bring this on ourselves that we start feeling bad

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because I shifted a career.

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Now my career should look like this and it's not coming so quickly.

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So this is wrong.

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But I think your story is very inspirational because you stay true,

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you stay true to yourself and you keep more and more of your light.

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You bring that out more and more.

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And so it's great that even as now you create, it's more a representation of

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yourself because outside light will follow when the inside light is there.

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Like when you light the candle, it is going to light up, but you've

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just got to believe in yourself.

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Great.

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So, sorry, go on.

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Um, is there any advice that you would want to leave for our audience?

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Anything that you feel we haven't covered and you would want to leave them with?

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I would, um, I would like to invite them to join me on a

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journey of mindful art for renewal.

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Um, I have this downloadable, um, um, PDF they can look at.

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It's all in color and it gives you a second seven day program for doing

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different type of artful exercises.

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And just need to give it, you know, 10, 15 minutes a day.

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And see how you feel about doing it and whichever part of those you like

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to do or enjoy doing, you should.

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You can practice more and more of it and work with a different kind of

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approach using the same of exercises but create something different and

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it will really make you feel better.

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I really envision that the way we go to gym for exercise are learning to take

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care of ourselves through healthy eating and healthy lifestyle and all that.

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Some of these artful, mindful exercises in whatever form of art

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we choose to practice are going to become part of our mainstream,

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um, kind of well being protocol.

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So I, I think it would be extremely important to think about it and and if

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Transcripts provided by Transcription Outsourcing, LLC.

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feel more empowered to be able to do that.

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Thank you so much.

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Yes, Vasu, that is lovely.

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That is absolutely lovely.

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We definitely need more people like you in the world.

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So listeners, please check out the course that Vasu is suggesting.

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We will have the links in the show notes as well.

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And where can people find you if they want to reach out to you?

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Is there a website or an Instagram handle, I suppose,

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where they can reach out to you?

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Yeah.

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They can reach out to me and.

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My website www.

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vasutolia.

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art and I will give you a link for this downloadable, um, mindful

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exercise protocol and they can download it and work at it.

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It will be you go to my website www.

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vasutolia.

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art slash mindful art for renewal and it will take you to the link.

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All right.

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Thank you so much.

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Thanks a lot Vasu.

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It was lovely to have you on the show.

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Thanks for teaching our listeners just how to bring more color into our life because

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more color just means a lot more joy, a lot more experiences, a lot more lived.

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life, I suppose.

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So thanks a lot, dear listeners.

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If you have enjoyed this show, please feel free to share this episode

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with some of your friends because I think this is a fabulous podcast.

Speaker: 00:37:38

And feel free to subscribe to us as well to have more of

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these amazing conversations.

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And I will see you next time with another episode.

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Lots of love.

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Keep shining.

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You deserve it.

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Bye bye.