Ashwin Chacko: Little Optimist

Little Optimist is a “pocket full of joy” from Dublin-based illustrator Ashwin Chacko. In our current climate, feelings of cabin fever, isolation from our support systems, and a sense of entrapment are prevalent. How do we stay optimistic, when we are faced with such opposition? Ashwin’s answer to this question is creative meditation.

“I always struggled with the idea of meditation,” says Ashwin. Growing up in India, he heard a lot about meditation, where it was taught that you empty your mind to get rid of your negative thoughts. However, Ashwin never found this helpful, as it instead made him think about all of the things he was trying not to think about; “You see when you empty yourself of one thing, you open yourself up for something else to come and fill that space”.

His ability to meditate drastically changed when he switched to a Jewish worldview of it, where they believe meditation is a consistent considered thought on a subject, much like a cow who regurgitates cud to chew on it. Ashwin explains; “A cow has four stomachs. It first takes in as much grass as it can, filling one or more of its stomachs. This grass has not been chewed but swallowed whole and thus is not digestible. Once the cow has consumed enough grass, it regurgitates the semi consumed grass know as the cud. It will now continuously chew this cud. The cud needs to be turned it into smaller digestible bite size chunks”. Although this is a somewhat graphic illustration, for Ashwin it makes for a good visual metaphor of what he believes we must do with our thoughts. Thus, through meditation one takes in a positive idea, quote, or story, and breaks it down into smaller bite sized chunks and considers it from different angles. This new take shifted Ashwin’s position; “Rather than spending all my time trying to empty myself of negative thoughts, I focused on a positive thought or quote or phrase“.

To help others through this process he has written Little Optimist; an A6, fine bound, paperback book that contains 30 days of creative meditation. Each day has an idea to meditate on, with a positive story, encouragement, or quote to consider throughout the day alongside a corresponding illustration that is characteristic of Ashwin’s playful style using bold lines and shapes.

You can grab a copy here.

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