life and death experiences

Ok bad pun for the title:

- Mon nite went to the 'Near death experiences' JAAL thing at church w/ Dave. It's hard to say really what it was like bcoz some of it's hard to put into words, but it was really good. Jan Dear (who used to be a grief counsellor) talked about her experiences in a hospice, and was saying how the thing that people most often regret at the end of their lives, or need to resolve, is to do with their relationships, not missed money opportunities and stuff. Frank Grauso also talked about a couple of near death experiences he had which was pretty full on, and Kerryn Cameron spoke about her 'berry' anyeurism she had a couple of years ago- she didn't know whether she was going to live or die, and felt this amazing peace about committing that to God, and just felt His presence really strongly.

- Tonite went to the life drawing classes Lisa was talking about in her blog, and it was really good! I've been wanting to do them for ages- you just draw, and it's not as much about the end product but the process. It was great to be in a room (it doesn't really seem like a class bcoz there's no teacher) with all these older artists who have stacks of experience under their belt, and who work in such a huge variety of different styles. There was no pressure, and like Lisa was saying, all the tips they give are so helpful and you just want to do more! I've been focussing a lot on portraiture so it felt great to break out of that and just express myself, no need to be super fiddly, just go with instinct! And for all those ppl wondering, it's really not awkward (can take u a second to get used to it when u first walk into the room!) - everyone's so comfortable with the nude thing- it's not embarassing, it's just art (lol that sounds so affected and arty, but it's true!)

In keeping with Em, I gots ta bounce y'all ;)