Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Perceptions - Who's stopping you?

Percepciōn has great insight and intuition. She can look at both sides of anything and come away with a clear understanding. We call on her to help us sort through what something appears to be on the surface, but actually is something very different. The really big life lessons are sometimes contained in seeming innocent or small occurrences that have an impact far beyond their original intent.

One of these situations happened to me yesterday. I was making the morning trek to my favorite blogs when I came upon DJ Pettit's post entitled Large Painting. I had a flash of insight so powerful, it shook me to the core. I have been attempting/struggling to paint on the exact same size canvas (23' X 30" and larger) and 'perceiving' it to be small. I realized how everything in this world is really only our perception of it. What she sees as large, I see as small. My perspective changed in that instant and it freed me to stop using the size of the surface as a block to my creativity. Thank you DJ!!!

I did not know, at least not consciously, what looking at the canvas as small was actually doing to me. Perception itself became the stumbling block. My 'naive realism' was limiting me. It is a complex head/heart problem.

DJ's comment made possible a shift of my perception that has freed me to create without limits. The stumbling block that this removes is the 'self-imagined' impossibility of painting with tiny brushes on what I had perceived as small canvas. She may never understand the immense gift she has given me, but I will always be grateful.



I actually sailed into my studio yesterday morning and had the most productive day I have had since I began this life transition. I felt comfortable sitting down before this canvas and the paint flowed from my brush. I had amazing results. At left is DJ's angel entitled "Fly Forth, O Gentle Dove."

Today's aMUSEment - Who knows what lurks below our perceptions? I am intrigued by what other perceptions I have that may be causing me to act counter productively. So I ask you to look at your perceptions, real or imagined, that may be limiting you at this moment. They may even be preventing you from doing what you were put on this planet, at this exact moment in time, to do.

A Buddhist friend of mine once asked me, "Who is stopping you?" Try to understand. See if you can see. You think you are asking a simple question. You are not. The answer is: "Who's stopping you?"

U Be Creative Today!

3 comments:

Sharon Tomlinson said...

Hi Rebecca, I too am so inspired by dj. I just sit and stare at her ladies all the time.

Your angel is very beautiful.

I like all that you said about perception and I too had such a moment this weekend when I was following Misty Mawn's directions in the Somerset Studio mag. I realized that I had been having such a hard time with layering in collage because I preceived that I was covering up something that I already liked, loved, thought was good and if I layered on top of it, I would loose it. I learned, to just do it and it would get better.
Thanks for stoping over at norah'S place and letting me know you came.
Sharon

kelly barton art + design said...

amen sista...so true. i am my own worse enemy. that nasty voice in the back of my mind telling me i won't be accepted! i hate that voice.

this post is such a great message!

DJ said...

Rebecca, thank you so much for your thougtfulness. I love your wise words on perception! You are so right, and it's amazing how that perception can create such stumbling blocks if we allow it.
I'm tickled and honored to have been a small part in that journey!
Love your angel... you have both made me smile.