Welcoming in the solstice

Today I gathered with others and we welcomed the turning of the season. We gathered together and shared time and space and thankful mentioning. It was a creative act to leave the day behind and go to the space of no time and now time. So as we finish the celebrations of 2008 may we all shed the skins of stories that are done so we can free ourselves to be who we really are and not our old business.

The spiced cider we sipped was delicious. The visions and knowledge we were gifted with - priceless. It was good to witness the end of a cycle and usher in the baby potentials that are waiting for the room to grow.

Enjoy the Season

May your spirit be bright.

Independence Day

Running free - this mustang reminds me of the freedom of the choices we make in our life. When I painted this I named it "She Loves to Run" and thought of the joy it brings when we do what we are naturally positioned to do. Painting is such a healing, timeless doing. When I step back, I too feel as if I have been on a good run and covered a lot of territory. It is a great feeling.

The choices we make are everything. How we think, what we think, what we think that is true that is not true, which thoughts are based on imagination or biased memories, which emotions are born from thoughts that aren't true and what is really true - are all up for examination. Sometimes as in painting, I find myself on a course that I believed was true, only to find out the thoughts that formed the course were not the best. It is then that the wonderful freedom to choose the better thought, the better action presents - like fireworks.

It is then that the old thinking can be recognized and ignored when it tries to stop me from my run. The run for freedom and independence day.

Do or Not Do

Today it is hot in the desert. Before the sun sets it will be over 105°. Why is it so easy to avoid art on hot days? I find my self craving the healing the creating brings yet avoiding the very thing that heals me. So, after I post this I am going to go run my fingers through some beautiful beads which wait for jewelry to contain them, pick up my notebook and draw some designs and see if the concerns with the heat dissipate.

It is always better to try to do than to defeat oneself before the effort has been made.

Excellent or Perfect?

This photo was taken in a small town in the highlands of Guatemala. I didn't have to do a thing but point and shoot. The bowl existed in a small area between an artist's studio/gallery and his living area. I looked out of a window in the gallery and there was the bowl in such beautiful light. It made me think of an instructor I had who would talk about painting and process.

One of the things he used to stress was that it was excellence we were after in our work, not perfection. Excellence is obtained by making and learning from mistakes, like life. So it is only by jumping in and making the effort that we will find out where our excellence exists. Those in his classes learned to never be afraid of making mistakes during the struggles of creating. What a great gift that was.

I will forever be greatful to that teacher for giving me the freedom and the wisdom to not hang on to the pain of expansion and to look for the answers, the indications towards excellence mistakes provide.

Thought Life

Sometimes my mind gets the better of me. Feeling uncreative, from experience I realize that it is only how I am thinking. If I can think of what I am doing in a different way, or take a different approach, then I change how I feel and how my body feels. So, working through the resistance to creating, ignoring all the snarky little thoughts like "no time" or "really should do this or that" or "maybe some other time" it seems all the chatter disappears and the making, the creating takes over.

It keeps me in the timeless present and makes a present of timelessness.

Cycles

Everything in life changes and it may also recycle to present a similar learning opportunity again unless I learn from my journey. During times of stress when the changing causes a little chaos in my thoughts and I don't find my way to the art supplies - it is good to do some form of self nurturing to care and keep my spirit well. I think I will make a good cup of tea and while enjoying that tea, I will ponder the things I am grateful for instead of feeling adrift.

Gratitude lists seem to be so healing. Perhaps gratitude attitudes and lists are a creative act in themselves. Those actions towards gratitude for the abundance of life (rather than it's more obvious difficulties) help to ammend how one is feeling. Gratitude promotes well being.