8 minute read
Self-Express your Way to Discovery
Self-Express
your Way to Discovery
by Blake Herzog
Life is never exactly predictable so setting your goals and intentions is an effective way to start steering your future in a way that works for you. If you don’t know what you want, it may be time to do a little self-exploration.
The answers to the questions you have about what direction your journey should take are often most accessible when you use your creativity.
Much of the insight comes from observing how you approach a project. The way you approach painting, drawing, writing, creating music or any other artistic pursuit teaches you about how you begin a project and decide when it’s finished, how you handle mistakes and accidents and how to be yourself, not what you think society expects you to be.
If you’re not sure how you want to start your journey of self-discovery, here are a few art therapyinspired activities to try out:
FUTURE VISION
Collect images that resonate with you as you think about what you want for the future, regardless of whether you know why you’re drawn to them. Create a collage with them and study what they mean to you, both individually and the context of their placement within the collage.
MANDALA JOURNAL
This is as simple as drawing circles on a piece of paper and as complex as examining the intricacies of your mind. Google finds more than 1 million hits for “how to draw a mandala freehand,” with instructions as detailed or simple as you like. Draw one each day and see how their structure, complexity and content change as the days go on.
DRAW FROM MEDITATION
Meditate on your own or listen to a guided meditation and notice the thoughts, images and feelings that arise. Afterward you can draw or write what you saw and felt, then reflect on what you have created from it.
UNMASKING YOURSELF
Create a mask for yourself, either on a piece of paper, costume mask or disposable face mask. On the inside, list or draw the qualities that you show only to yourself and maybe those closest to you, and on the outside of the masks put the traits that you do present to the outside world. Compare the lists and see how they relate to each other, whether they’re two sides of the same coin or polar opposites.
PAINT A MOUNTAIN AND A VALLEY
One can represent times you were happy, the other for times you were sad or struggling. Draw images that represent what you were experiencing during the happy and sad times and notice whether you’re adding them in chronological order or on a scale of best to worst or in some other pattern.
TAKE PHOTOS OF THINGS OR PEOPLE YOU THINK ARE BEAUTIFUL
They don’t have to be photos you would show anyone else or post online, just something to document what appeals to you. Look at your pictures and find common themes and threads in their subject matter and your composition.
Photo Blushing Cactus Photography
The Pinal Regional Transport Authority (PRTA) is pursuing a revised countywide transportation sales tax measure on the November ballot, following the state Supreme Court’s rejection of the tax approved by voters in 2017.
The court’s ruling was released March 8. On March 21 the PRTA board for the authority, made up of elected municipal, tribal and county officials, voted to direct its staff and legal counsel to research the cost of putting the measure on the Nov. 8 ballot and other information, which was expected to be provided in mid-April, said Andrea Robles, executive director of Central Arizona Governments.
“There are a lot of moving parts with all of the different dates, so we’re trying to get things done as quickly as possible,” she said.
The narrowly voter-approved levy added an additional 0.5 cents to every transaction under $10,000 since it took effect in April 2018. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the two-tiered structure is illegal under state statutes, capping a lengthy court battle during which the county collected more than $70 million on behalf of the Pinal Regional Transport Authority (PRTA), but the funds could not be used.
Writing for the majority, Justice Kathryn King said counties and other government subdivisions have only the taxation powers granted to them by the state Legislature and did not have the right to charge different rates within one tax.
“The Legislature could have used other terms that would have expressly delegated to counties the authority to establish two different fixed rates within a single (sales tax) classification,” King said, but there was no such explicit language included in statute. The court ruled 4-3 against the levy, with three justices agreeing in part and dissenting in part with the majority.
Timothy Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute argued the case on behalf of Harold Vangilder and other Pinal County residents suing the county over the tax and called the two-tiered structure “bizarre” after the ruling.
“To allow that would make Arizona inhospitable for business, because it would transform the state into a crazy quilt of different tax rules in each locality. That’s why the Arizona Department of Revenue — in an unusual move — sided with taxpayers in this case,” Sandefur added.
The tax was to be the funding mechanism for the Pinal County Regional Transportation Plan, approved by voters in the same November 2017 election, which the court let stand. Projects within that plan include widening state Route 347, building the Sonoran Desert Parkway between southern Maricopa and Interstate 10 and a new interchange on I-10 and Kortsen Road.
“Though the taxing structure of the Regional Transportation Plan has failed by the narrowest of margins, we will work to build on this effort, retain that collaboration and find solutions and a new strategy to fund these highly impactful and needed projects across Pinal County,” county officials said in a statement following the ruling.
The PRTA’s revised ballot measure, if is put forth to voters this fall, will apply to all taxable sales within the county and could raise significantly more money for the road projects than the $640 million over 20 years projected for the 2017 ballot measure.
Elections Director, David Frisk
Stories by Blake Herzog The Pinal County Press
Frisk Named Elections Director
Pinal County officials have tapped David Frisk, an elections official from the Northwest, to spearhead voting and tabulation efforts in one of Arizona’s fastest-growing counties.
Frisk started on the job in early March, saying, “My family and I have been looking to relocate to Arizona for some time, so I am thrilled to have this opportunity to join Pinal County and to serve all of the citizens of Pinal as the elections director.
He leads a team of five responsible for planning elections and ensuring they are secure and accessible to every voter within the jurisdiction.
Frisk worked in the banking sector for 25 years before being hired by Kitsap County, Washington, which has about 278,000 residents, as administrative manager for the county’s Licensing and Recording Division in 2015. He became the program manager for the Elections Division in March 2018.
“David’s leadership and extensive election-related experience aligned very well with the county’s needs. I look forward to David’s leadership of and contribution to our Elections Department, which provides critical services for the citizens of Pinal County,” said Deputy County Manager Himanshu Patel, who will be Frisk’s boss.
Frisk replaces former director Michele Forney, who left at the end of 2020 for a job with the state of Nevada.
Transit Continued from page 45
same-day service may be possible if seats are available.
“This is a shared-ride service, with many origins and many destinations,” Brunner said.
She added the service area will be roughly the area bounded by Cottonwood Drive on the north, Henness Road on the east, Schultz Street to the west, and Peters Road and Doan Street to the south.
Vans also will travel north to the Community Recreation Center via Peart Road and east to the Promenade Mall on Florence Boulevard.
The service is being launched with $2.6 million of CARES Act funding allocated for public transportation in Casa Grande, which is expected to fully fund the program’s first two or three years.
Once this money has been spent, the City’s share of operating costs may be 20% or 30% of the total, depending on what other grants are available. The city also is planning to submit a request for proposals to develop a unified name, logo and marketing campaign.
Brunner said the key indicators officials will be looking at to measure the service’s success will include the ones typically considered for public transit, including ridership, on-time performance, fare revenue, service complaints, missed trips, ADA access and vehicle maintenance. It could be discontinued if the data doesn’t show it is succeeding.
Several stops in the City are included on Coolidge Area Regional Transit’s (CART) route linking Casa Grande with Coolidge, Florence and the Central Arizona College Signal Peak campus, while the City of Maricopa has offered van shuttle service connecting that community to Banner Casa Grande Regional Medical Center and the CART route.
