thank you kelly rae...i am soaring

i wrote this to kelly rae roberts this morning in response to her inspirational e-course Flying Lessons

you have so inspired me to soar above the clouds...i have been in a giant reinvention process over the past two years...i wrote the following on my blog 1/13/2010

During this past 26 months, God forced me to slow down by removing ALL obstacles (a job and income) and presenting me with TIME! Time to reflect. Time to mourn. Time to refresh. Time to repurpose. Time to realign. Time to reframe. Time to release. During this gift of time, I found #1-ME and #2-crystal clarity of purpose and #3-this is the time for me to soar...

"To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders" -Chuang Tzu

It has been a Two Year Retreat, mostly silent. I had no choice but to reconnect with myself…find strength to look at what brought me to this place, find fortitude to survive, find courage to move forward, find hope to rebuild, find bits of my soul that had been scattered about the universe over the years and bring them home.

there is more on my blog here: http://cre8tiva.blogspot.com/2010/01/reflective.html

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." -Vernon Sanders Law, 1960 Cy Young Award Winner

this class has finally allowed me to move on with the soaring...as i was ready, just afraid to jump into the air. i jumped somewhere in the second week, it was uncomfortable and i was afraid to open my eyes at first...when i finally did, i saw my one blessed beautiful precious life before me and felt the wind beneath my wings lifting me to new heights that i never even allowed myself to dream of before...and it feels amazing.

i have made some subtle and some not so subtle changes to my blogs...i have written some really inspired posts...i have sold some of my purses to a boutique using your wholesale advice...and i have almost finished my new book for people who color outside the lines!!!

i am waving at you from the heights because i cannot seem to get enough of this soaring!!

In Search of Self Love...

every artist should watch this 35 minute movie about life as a creative soul...enjoy

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

In Search of Self Love : 

A simple yet healing short feature video narrated by artist Rita Loyd. In this video, Rita, as an artist, tells how the creative process taught her to love herself. She also speaks about the true meaning of self-love and what she has learned in order to incorporate self-love into all areas of her life. Rita makes it clear in this video that true self-love comes from the spirit rather than from the ego. As she tells her story, the visual of the video is of her painting the image "Embrace all that you are with love." Be inspired by her simple yet powerful message.

3 strategies to breakthrough self-sabotage...

“Problems cannot be solved at the level of awareness that created them.” –Albert Einstein

as a mentor and coach, i facilitate breakthroughs...this is really ALL i do for my clients...

i walk with them as they breakthrough and claim their soul-based authentic power and passion...

i find that there are basically two types of clients:

• one who does the same things with the same mindset with the same routine day by day, month by month, even year by year...and
• one who accepts challenges, embraces change, and adapts their plans accordingly...

i often find that clients are their own worst friends...why do i say this? being your own best friend can propel you into your wildest dreams while self-sabotage can keep you stuck, blocked, or even paralyzed from moving forward and claiming your best life and career!

you cannot walk the same path every day and expect to end up somewhere else -me

you cannot keep doing the same things that brought you here and expect a different outcome...you have to find new strategies and, this is the biggie, actually implement them...

how do we get to the place where my client experiences and even expects breakthroughs?

3 key strategies to breakthrough self-sabotage...

1. Be quiet and listen to your authentic inner voice...not the inner critic, but the true voice that knows exactly what you need to do to achieve your goals. Stop listening to others or worse, buying into their well-intentioned suggestions or ideas. Accept and understand that they are on their own journey and are looking through their personal filters. It is easy to confuse their path with yours. Take time every day to quiet your soul and connect with your inner guidance system that is always 100% correct. Trust that you know what is best for you.
2. Learn that fear, doubt, and chaos are the signs of a breakthrough...if you reflect on your past you can probably find several examples of this. When you experience any tightness or painful feeling, practice connecting with it deeply and allow it to lead you to the opportunity it births. It is almost always a occasion for growth...personally, professionally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, etc. The more chaotic, painful, and frustrating the circumstance...the bigger the breakthrough.
   
3. Stop chasing perfect...perfect is impossible period! You know the drill. You must know everything...have every possibility covered...have every duck in a row...have every i dotted and t crossed...it must be just so...I am just picky! Face it...all of this is just a delay tactic, procrastination, self-sabotage at its finest...and the single biggest stumbling block for many. When you allow yourself to embrace the 'done is better than perfect' attitude of most highly-successful people, you are well on your way to fulfillment and achievement.
   

Trust your intuition, embrace fear, and let go of perfect...these steps will lead you to more authentic power, more fulfillment, more balance, and more profit.

Take Debbie Ford's self- sabotage quiz to see how you rank.

the contrast that gave birth to this desire...

There will be a time, not so far from now, that you will look back on this phase of your life and instead of condemning it or beating up on it...Instead of blaming or guilting, you will feel appreciation for it, because you will understand that a renewed desire for life was born out of this time period that will bring you to physical heights that you could not have achieved without the contrast that gave birth to this desire. -Abraham

Cre8Tiva is my muse as well as my alter ego...she waits patiently for me to return...as i have neglected her of late...and i miss her...i miss creating on a daily basis...i have let the circumstances of my life overwhelm my creativity...i have even quit my daily journaling which i have done faithfully since i was a child...

"Little Blue Boy"

my mother used to sing this to me...and i would cry and cry...

The little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and staunch he stands;
The little tin soldier is red with rust,
And the musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new,
And the soldier was passing fair;
And that was the time when our little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.

“‘Now, don’t you go till I come,’ he said,
‘And don’t you make any noise.’
So toddling off to his trundle-bed
He dreamt of his pretty toys;
And as he was dreaming, an angel song
Awakened our little Boy Blue–
Oh! the years are many, the years are long,
But the little toy friends are true.

“Aye, faithful to little Boy Blue they stand,
Each in the same old place–
Awaiting the touch of a little hand,
The smile of a little face;
And they wonder as waiting the long years through
In the dust of that little chair,
What has become of our little Boy Blue,
Since he kissed them and put them there.”

energy of incomplete work...

i invite you to follow this blog...just click at top right...

here are some paintings that are incomplete..or so i thought when i started this post...but the more i look at this top image the more sure that i am it is finished...so it is...

'a single tear' - 2009 acrylic, plaster on canvas

back to the topic...do you know the energy of incomplete work...

how many incomplete, half finished, or unstarted works are stealing your energy?

everything has energy...and things undone are thieves of creativity...they steal little bits of your energy by remaining in a state of limbo..subtly leaking energy...and the more little bits of energy that are being taken from you, the less creative energy you have to devote to the present works begging to be born...

i took a walk around my studio yesterday...i noticed several pieces that i have begun, with great intentions, yet abandoned somewhere along the way...they call to me every time i enter the space..."remember me?"..."help me" ..."finish me"...

if you have left some things unfinished in your life or your studio, perhaps they are using energy that could be better used in your present...for the present IS your life...

how to spot your energy stealers...attune your senses, mentally take orientations, be alert to negativity and energy stealers in your personal space...

then neutralize them by taking an action toward finalizing them or repurposing them or omitting them..undertake a mental and physical spring energy cleaning...

sometimes i even pick these unfinished works up and remember the moment that image came to me...the need to create it...other times i actually take it to my table and work at it...then put it away again...

i have come to understand that, if i did not stick with it until it was finished, perhaps it should be abandoned entirely...repurposed, reconditioned, reinvented...the materials used in another way...and when i do this i often find a remarkable work that developed out of fragments of other work from other times in my life...

so i am starting a series called 'fragments' that will use these old, unfinished works...in a different way, a new way...with new energy...i am also clearing away, simplifying my life...starting tomorrow i will begin selling my collection of art making supplies...please bookmark the blog or favorite it so you can see when new thing are added...it could be just what you need to finish a work...

Today's Intention...uncover the unfinished work in my life that is leaking energy...and finish or repurpose it...

don't wait for perfect...

'home work' - 2009  natural objects, beads, string, found objects, and acrylics on paper

this is a piece i dreamed up years ago (2001 to be exact) but never brought it to completion until i joined facebook, found an old friend who makes similar pieces, and sells them...DUH!!!

for those among us trying to figure out what we should be doing at this point in our lives...i offer this:

"If you're waiting to have a good idea before you have any ideas, you won't have many ideas." - David Allen, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.


my school teachers were right...i do have an over active imagination...i have thousands of ideas...i am a great brain stormer, problem solver, idea woman...


i am a master of idea generation...but i suck at implementation...


i dug out my old journal/sketchbooks last week and began flipping through the pages...there, among the decades of sketches and musings was the idea for this piece...




i even wrote "i can't wait to create one of my own."


but wait i did...almost 8 years...as with this piece...

i find it is not so much procrastination and laziness (although those can be mitigating factors in my nonperformance)...it seems to be that little voice in my head that says:


do you have self-sabotaging voices? do you let ideas flounder in procrastination? are you doing what you were born to do?

if NO is the answer to any of these...i will share a secret that has made me a success in my business life...

DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT

and

MARKETING TRUMPS MASTERY

don't wait for it to be a perfect idea before you implement...don't wait for the perfect beginning before you start...don't wait to draw the perfect sketch before you paint..

DON'T WAIT FOR PERFECT

perfection is an illusion...conditions are rarely aligned perfectly...you may never have ALL the money, ALL the time, or ALL the knowledge you desire to begin...the naysayers and critics will always be around...become a recovering perfectionist...

JUST START SOMEWHERE AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW

BIG NEWS COMING SOON...

i will begin selling a lifetime of art supplies for mixed media in the next few days...i am simplifying my life...please check back for more details...