On Saturday we met to meditate and draw, from the cold of Curitiba to the heat of Belém, passing through various neighborhoods of São Paulo. This possibility that the pandemic brought us to connect from different places.

By alternating periods of Zazen with drawings, everyone could experience the body and the looking, the connection of the hand with the way of looking. There were some right-brain exercises, like drawing upside down and blind drawing, when you don’t look at the drawing, which allowed you to go beyond “I like it” or “I don’t like it”. And also, how we deal with the mistake, how we move on. This is true for design, it is true for life. How do we let go of the ideal of perfection and enjoy what we have?

Here drawings and testimonials from those who participated:

“I like how the lines and details turned out, but the most interesting thing of all was the process, the pleasure of drawing, feeling, observing, and exchanging perceptions. It gives an internal shake when we change our attention while drawing, and alternating with zazen I feel I have accessed another layer where the senses happen simultaneously but have their own space of existence, focus. Drawing is about observing and thinking, but it’s also about feeling with the whole body.” Marcela Müller

“Today we had ZAZENHOS. An online meeting conducted with lightness by @entre_zen. A little zazen and a little drawing to practice stillness and the act of looking, looking some more and doodling without shame. It was worth it too much!” José Bueno

Notes from our conversation made by André Genzo