The other day I went on a scavenger hunt with my 7 year old nephew. Together we explored viewing our surroundings with an artistic eye.

In Nia, one of our 13 White Belt Principles teaches about the practice of viewing “Life as Art”. Put simply, this concept reminds us that art is everywhere that we are.

Art doesn’t live only in museum or art galleries or hang on your wall at home. Art is ubiquitous. It’s up to us to notice it, to perhaps adjust our perception and find the pleasure and beauty of what lives all around us.  I used to believe that “artists” were people who sold their work for money. Now I realize that we are all artists, each creating in our own ways. By practicing “Life as Art” we bring rich experiences and deep inspiration to our souls. We become more connected to our surroundings, and invite moments of meditation into our busy lives.

Before we set out for our scavenger hunt, I asked my nephew what his favourite colour was.

“Red”, he answered.

“What’s yours, aunty Jenn?”

“Purple.”

Instead of finding a list required objects on our scavenger hunt, we used our favourite colours as our guides. He was looking for red objects, I was looking for purple ones. If I found a red object, he could trade me for a purple one and vice versa. We agreed that once we were finished, we’d each make a sculpture out of our found objects , creating our own art gallery.

Apparently "purple" is not a popular colour for castaways...

What fun to wander along the beach being drawn in by colour!  There were a ton of red objects, but hardly any purple ones, so I had to go for orange items after all.

With bottle caps, straws and bits of ribbon, we created masterpieces, engaging our inner artists to see the world of colour in a brand new way.

I need to do that kind of thing more often. Maybe next time I’ll create a symphony with my found objects, or draw pictures with found objects, or collect words to make a poem out of. Hmm…