Welcome Week:
An Introduction to Life Art!
Hello there! This is a guide for you to begin your life art journey. Please read through the following. There is an overview listed below of the schedule day by day and then another one with more details about each day. Follow along at your own pace and begin on any day you like!
Day One (Life Art is Human, Too)
Meet Jon
https://www.jonkeppel.com/meet-jon
Day Two (The History, the Present, the Future)
A Proposition for Life Art
https://www.jonkeppel.com/propositions-for-life-art-parts-1-thru-3
Day Three (Core Curriculum)
Life Art Training
https://www.jonkeppel.com/life-art-training
Day Four (Calm the Body, Calm the Mind)
Meditations and Talks
https://www.jonkeppel.com/art-life-meditation
Day Five (Learn Something New)
The Life Art Podcast
https://www.jonkeppel.com/life-art-podcast-1
Day Six (Meet and Greet, Have Fun)
The Life Art Institute
https://the-art-fire.mn.co/spaces/11203944/feed
Day Seven (Enter Through the Gift Shop)
The Jon Keppel Store
https://www.jonkeppel.com/new-products-1
Introduction and preparation for a great week ahead!
This weeklong journey is meant to introduce you to the themes and messages of life art and the basic practices of its teachings as a way of being. You can start it on any day that you wish. You will need access to the internet, preferably in a quiet undisturbed location where you can concentrate, focus and enjoy. There are audio and video components to this week’s offerings as well as some meditational exercises and reading. You may want to get a pen and notepad for journaling all the insights and epiphanies that you have while going through this material. It is very powerful and has been formulated to produce an enjoyable and positively impactful experience for you! Take your time through the materials this week. Everyone is busy and so the material here should all take under a half hour to complete each day with optional extra time for journaling and contemplation. You may want to grab a coffee, tea, water, juice or whatever you prefer to imbibe and really lean into this opportunity to learn about and become a part of a growing movement and practice of our times.
Here's this week’s schedule, day by day (and please keep in mind that of course this all is just the beginning of what could be a lifelong journey for you if you feel attuned and enlivened by this content) …
Day One (Life Art is Human, Too)
Meet Jon
https://www.jonkeppel.com/meet-jon
Our first day in is all about getting to know the man with the plan, Jon Keppel himself! But really this is all in the belief of and communing with our fractalized nature. The part resembles the whole and vice versa. We inter-are as Thich Nhat Hahn said. There are parts of everything in everything and everyone in everyone. See which parts of Jon’s story you connect with and begin to get inklings about how this thing life art might fit into your life.
This brief introduction to the self-acclaimed Father of Life Art will take you on a journey through many of the resources available on the Jon Keppel site. Feel free to explore and learn about what all is available to you here! Jon is a guide on the side. The ultimate teacher is life art itself.
For today, just click on the link above and have a good read.
Day Two (The History, the Present, the Future)
A Proposition for Life Art
https://www.jonkeppel.com/propositions-for-life-art-parts-1-thru-3
Day two, we jump into what is about a half hour long presentation on the development of art as life and how it is arising in the world. Life art’s origins in the world of Western fine art are explored along with more recent influences like the mindfulness movement going mainstream and the expansion of the self-help movement into the growing diverse and inclusive spiritual community that is thriving today. Life art and the life art movement share in this and are perhaps hints into what the next step on the path of humanity is beyond the concept of the spiritual.
For today, just go ahead and click on the link above and listen to and watch the video. You may want to journal about what you learn in this video and begin to draw connections that relate to your own life. Grab your pen and notebook and see where they take you!
Day Three (Core Curriculum)
Life Art Training
https://www.jonkeppel.com/life-art-training
Third time’s the charm! This is the core teaching of the life art modality. It is a writing that unpacks what life art is like when incorporated into life and what its aspects and dimensions are. There is of course, endless information that one could cover with this lifestyle and practice that results from implementing life art into your life, as your life. This is just a brief overview of its main attributes and visionary qualities. As earlier in the week, have a good read here and then take some time to reflect on what you are learning by journaling about it. You never know what kinds of epiphanies you will have once you take the plunge to place pen to paper and really make it real. There will be time ahead for further in-depth practice. Give yourself a pat on the back for making it this far and enjoy learning about this good, magical gift. It really is life-changing-for-the-better when you get it. Continue exploring the website if you feel so called.
Day Four (Calm the Body, Calm the Mind)
Meditations and Talks
https://www.jonkeppel.com/art-life-meditation
A big part of life art is meditational practice. Life art has deep roots in mindfulness and awareness studies and practices. Loving kindness meditation is a big part of it and as we have covered already this week channeling Love with a capital “L” is what life art is all about. There are countless styles and approaches to meditational practice. The ones that are offered here are based in mindfulness body scanning, breathwork and open awareness. I suggest that you start with the first installment of the Life Art Meditations to get started which is the sixth meditation listed. Alternatively go to wherever your intuition takes you and explore. The practice is completely guided. Find a comfortable place to sit and where you will not be disturbed and join in for the first step of what might become a lifelong journey as a life artist. You can write in your journal if you feel like it, but it is not always necessary. The raising of awareness will have a healthy impact on your experience of life itself. Not everything needs to be conceptualized. Go with your heart.
Day Five (Learn Something New)
The Life Art Podcast
https://www.jonkeppel.com/life-art-podcast-1
Today on day five, we will just simply tune into the Life Art Podcast. Start with the trailer to set the tone and then begin the journey wherever you feel called. Listen to as few or as many episodes as you like. There is immense strength and informative power in this diary-style openly shared, captains log for you to be able to enter the thought patterns that were floating around at the beginning and developing years of this practice. Eventually you might want to explore the blog as well. Themes will develop and emerge as you listen in to the podcast. Take notes of what you find helpful and explore your own feelings about it all. Is life art starting to find a home in your heart? Write your heart out as we travel into the weekend and really delight in your achievements so far in this process.
Day Six (Meet and Greet, Have Fun)
The Life Art Institute
https://the-art-fire.mn.co/spaces/11203944/feed
Today is for all of us to celebrate having gone through this process together and be able to share about what we have learned and how life art is starting to take off in our lives. Click on the link here and join The Life Art Institute if you have not done so already. You can chat with others, add some of your own posts to the mix or read through all the wonderful contributions that have already been shared there. Remember that all these resources that we have shared will be available to you going forward if you would like to revisit them. Explore all there is to see and read at The Life Art Institute. Create a profile for yourself and remember to check back often for updates and opportunities to share about your own experience with life art. There is also a place for conventional artwork as well to be shared so get your pieces ready and post in the appropriate spot. Remember this is a nurturing and supportive place for learning and growing as life artists. Kindness is key. And authentic loving care is the way.
Day Seven (Enter Through the Gift Shop)
The Jon Keppel Store
https://www.jonkeppel.com/new-products-1
This ends the Welcome Week but is just the beginning of your adventure as a life artist! Congratulations for making it through! Today is a day of rest indeed for you to take in all that you have learned and to process in due time. The play on words here of entering through the gift shop is a way of saying you are going into life itself as a life artist. You can grab some offerings in the store if you feel ready and inspired. Totally optional of course. More to come with that so stay tuned. I hope you have received some majorly good energy from all of this and are feeling the tremendous impact and potential of life art as an ongoing modality of healing and way of being for brighter days and an even brighter future. I would like to thank you for participating in this journey and hope very much that you will continue to check back on the website for future updates, attend lectures whether online or in person, pursue future life art trainings and utilize the knowledge shared there to enhance the quality of the experience of your own life, make frequent use of the meditations and talks that are available on the life art themes, cue into the podcast for future and past episodes that you connect with, participate as a member of The Life Art Institute and invite your friends to join, there is also a Facebook group for The Life Art Movement that you can join by clicking on the Facebook link at the bottom of any of the website pages, contact Jon at jonkkeppel@gmail.com for more in-depth coaching options or to book him as a speaker. Enjoy the full possibilities of life art in your own life and see how you can be a leader of the movement by upholding its main value of Love. To life art!