In this informal "Thinkling" video, Jason Nicholas reflects on how art serves as a personal connection in today’s fast‑paced, on‑demand society. He describes feeling lost and disconnected, recounts a health crisis (a stent placement) that sparked an awakening about self‑care, and introduces his practice called "med‑ink‑tation" – a brief, sketch‑based meditation. He walks viewers through the simple steps: grab any drawing tool, find a quiet moment, breathe, and let the pen move freely to externalise emotions. Jason emphasizes that artistic skill isn’t required; the goal is inner calm and self‑reconnection. He invites the audience to try the practice daily, share feedback, and join his online community via his website and social media, positioning art as a tool for personal and communal positivity.
Chapters
Hi everybody, I'm Jason Nicholas Nicholas with today's Thinkling. Thinklings are my spur-of-the-moment, off-the-cuff, non-prepared things I just want to talk about, or ideas I want to share, or things that have enlightened me or inspired me. So today I think I want to talk to you about A little bit about art and how art is a connection for me. When I say art, I'm talking about, for me personally, it could be drawing or sketching or painting. But for you, it could be music, it could be pottery, it could be dancing. It could be anything that gets your inner expressions and brings them to the outside or to the outer world, right? So, um, yeah, I think so. I want to talk about art as connection, but I think I want to focus on art as a, as personal interconnection. Um, I don't know about you guys, but oftentimes in today's on-demand society where we're constantly being bombarded by emails and texts and demands and requests of people that want things immediately, we get lost and frazzled in that chaos. And, you know, in that process of getting frazzled and lost, we're not only, you know, feeling the overwhelmingness— overwhelmingness, if that's a word— but we're losing sense or connection with our own personal selves. You know, I don't know about you, but I don't want to become a mindless zombie that's just roaming around aimlessly with the hordes and the masses that have become slaves to this on-demand society. I mean, I love technology and it has its place, of course, but it's more than that. It's just, you know, I think when we lose that, our own personal inner connections, you know, with who we are, things become depressing and sad and lonely. I mean, you know, I found myself last summer, I had an awakening. Where I had to go in and have a stent put in my artery because I wasn't really aware of how my health had become pretty poor and my mental attitude had become poor because I lost sense of being who I was. And this bad eating and, you know, everything, it just caught up to me and that was my awakening. And I'm so blessed and happy to be here. And blessed for those, the doctors and the technology that saved me. I'm getting a little off tangent, but I guess we all have a certain limit that we reach, or, you know, where it kicks in that, hey, you know, I don't know who I am anymore. And it's scary. And not only is it scary, but it's not fair to yourself, and it's not fair to those in your life. We need to be vibrant and there and present with each other. You can't do that unless you take care of yourself first. I know that sounds selfish, but it's true. Right? I mean, you have to be the best that you can be before you could impact any positive impacts. I said that twice, but sorry. Before you can have a positive impact on those around you, you know, and for good changes. I'm a little riled up because this excites me, this topic, and I just want to share maybe a quick tip with you, a way that I've learned to take a few minutes out of every day to make time for myself and to get in touch with myself and kind of just, you know, get in touch with myself and get that energy back that you need, that I need to get through the day and to be the best me that I can be. And what I call this is I call it my med-ink-tation time. You know, it— obviously it's a play on the word meditation, but the ink part comes in for me, it's drawing or sketching. And I think everybody can do this. Medic med-ink-tation time, it's really easy. I mean, all you need is a pen or a pencil or crayon, a marker. It doesn't matter, and you don't have to be an artist. You don't know how to— you do not know how— you don't know— oh my gosh, I can't get this out. You don't have to be an artist. It's okay. It's not about creating a beautiful picture. It's just about getting what's inside and crazy and grrr, makes you feel really just really errr, just getting that out and breathing and feeling peaceful and relaxed and calm. Now this practice, you know, you can do this in the morning when you first wake up. You can do it at night before you go to bed to clear your brain. You could do it during the day if things are going chaotic and you just need a moment to breathe. You know, it's really easy. So, you know, grab a pen or pencil. All you need is a piece of paper. A sketchbook is helpful. You know, I like to carry a sketchbook around with me, you know, and sketch on there. And all I want you to do is— it's really easy— just sit there for a minute, close your eyes, Preferably it's quiet around where you are, or maybe there's some music going on. But really, I just want you to kind of just be there with yourself for a minute. Just breathe in, breathe out, and just feel relaxed. Just take your pen or pencil and whatever comes to mind— and you can keep your eyes closed, sometimes I do that. Or you can keep your eyes open and sketch. But sometimes if your eyes are closed, you're not committed to trying to draw something specific. And that's not the purpose here. So put your pen down and just kind of— just let it move. Just feel the way the pen is in your hand and the way it touches the paper. You know, make some scribble marks, make some dots, lines, it doesn't matter. If you wanna write words, you can write words, you know, if you want, whatever. If you wanna write something positive, you wanna write joy or happy, I don't know, make a smiley face, it doesn't matter. The point is really just to get those feelings, that frustration, that entanglement that's in here and in here, just to get it out, right? So the act of just kind of doing this is really just clearing a path. It's clearing your brain. It's preparing you with a blank slate to go out there and, you know, remember who you are, be you, face the world. It works. It really works for me. I've been doing this for a while now, and I don't do it every day, and I should do it every day. Give it a try. Try this meditation time and see how it goes. I really would love some feedback from you. Go to my website, JasonJNicholas.com. And what I'd love for you to do is, you know, I have a link on there where you can subscribe to an email list which will have a newsletter for you and I can send you updates about information and tips like this, online courses I'm going to be doing, some drawing and painting lessons as well. I really want to create a real positive community because for me art is about connection. Connection with ourselves, with our spirits, with community, you know, with each other. Um, it's, it's an amazing, powerful tool in embracing our creative selves. Even if you don't think you are creative or you, you have no, you know, a fear of drawing or, or painting or sketching, it's okay. Because I really want to just build positive, uh, to send out some positivity and encouragement to get in touch. First of all, the first level is with yourself. So try this practice, send me an email, go to my Facebook page. I will have links up on this video and leave some comments. Let's get the conversation going. If you have any tips or advice, some ways that you feel like you can escape the on-demand society and just get in touch with your being, share them. I'd love to hear those tips. We're not in this alone. We're in this together. This thing we call life is an adventure. It's even more fun and adventurous if we all share a little bit of who we are, our individuality, our originality, and put it out there. Yeah, and just kind of feed off each other, okay? So that's my think link for today. Unprepared, unrehearsed, sorry if I stumbled on my words, but this is who you get. I'm just being myself here. And yeah, so just remember, I always like to leave these Thinkling videos with, uh, with two things: peace and live creatively. I will be seeing you soon, and, uh, have a fantastic day. Thanks for watching this video. You guys are awesome. I'll talk to you real soon. Hi, it's me again. If you like this video and you want to see more, be sure to click the subscribe button in the upper right-hand corner, or it might be a little icon or a picture of me. Click on that, click on subscribe, and I'll keep you up to date with the latest Thinklings and other awesome information on creativity and art. Thank you, peace, and live creatively.
