(Minghui.org) A fellow practitioner asked me to make an e-greeting card for Master during my first year of practicing Falun Gong. He suggested that I browse through a list of cards that had been previously published on Minghui.org.
I took his suggestion and found that only a few cards were well designed. I then spent a half a day designing my own card.
I showed my finished card to the practitioners in my area, thinking that they would like it and praise me for it. To my surprise, they didn't like it. I thought, “Do I have to design an old-fashioned card just to get your approval?”
So, I re-did the card—based on their suggestions—and everyone liked it, even though I thought it wasn't that aesthetically pleasing.
The card was submitted to Minghui.org and posted in a prominent position on the site. I was told that Master was encouraging me, and that I should try to do even better next time.
Since I have an arts background, I can easily design these greeting cards, and most of them get posted on Minghui.org.
One day, I noticed that the Minghui.org editors had cropped one of my greeting cards. This struck me and I thought it over.
When I began to look inward, I noticed that I was making the cards using a lot of everyday peoples' notions.
I thought the cards that were published on Minghui.org were too simple or too old-fashioned, and lacked a contemporary feel to them.
I also knew that many practitioners did not have the requisite art or drawing skills that I had. Nonetheless, they put a lot of heart and sincerity into their work.
I then spent some more time browsing through the greeting cards section on Minghui.org. However, this time I did it calmly and without any human notions. To my surprise, I found a lot of beautiful, heartfelt cards.
The overall effect of the cards was very moving, even though I felt there was room for improvement.
Looking back, I realize that my first card lacked the pure heart that the other practitioners' cards had. Now, I know why no one liked it!
I often look inward to see if my intention in creating greeting cards is to show off my artistic talent. I enlightened to the fact that it's extremely important to prepare greeting cards with a pure heart and solemn mind.
However, sometimes human notions still surface while I'm preparing the cards. I'm working very hard on letting these notions go. I keep reminding myself that my skills were bestowed upon me by Master, and thus, I'm now able to put my whole heart into my card designs.
Each greeting card I make is an opportunity for me to eliminate some of my attachments and improve my character.
As long as we have an attachment to self while doing Dafa-related projects, we are being disrespectful towards Master and Dafa.
When I make a card with a pure heart, with a sense of reverence and without any human notions mixed in, I feel happy and incredibly fortunate!
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Category: Improving Oneself
