It's All About the Process

When I was 19, I lived in NYC. Therefore art and culture were right in my front yard! On one of those down days, I was able to take myself to the Museum of Modern Art to get my spark back. The first piece of art I saw when I entered the museum exhibit was a HUGE canvas painted totally white. So what do you think my reaction was? "How did that make it into a museum! I could get a four year old to make a totally white painting. I don't "get" how that piece was considered museum-worthy."

It wasn't until later on in life, while I was coaching, that I "got" that painting. And this is true of art of all types, from writing to any form of creation. It's all about the process more than the result.

Think about that. What if? What if the artist who painted that white painting created it while hanging upside down in a pit of snakes, trying to believe in the light of their painting? What if they painted that painting with a special paint of recycled sock lint saved from their dryer for the last 30 years? What if they used one of their body parts or a bottle of kaopectate as the brush for the paint? It's all about the process of how it was done over the result. How more than what.

I once heard a knitter complain that the project offered in a workshop I was giving wasn't worth the price of the workshop. Interesting how that was perceived. The workshop was about learning the process of knitting enough to take the skills with you through life, not about the project. Sure, you could buy a similar item in Walmart for a few bucks, but you wouldn't learn the process and skills you'd learn to make endless projects.

So, in this crazy multi-task era I encourage contemplation on enjoying and being totally present during the process...really involving every cell in each detail of the creative process. Let go of the results.

This may be a metaphor of honoring the process of a creative endeavor, but how can you apply it to all you do in life? How would focusing on being passionate about the process and letting go of the outcome change how we live life?

Any thoughts or stories to share?

Can Humans Really Do That?

Did you have a stressful day today? Well, you could be doing this for a living!

An Unfinished Song

Our lives speak loudly about our beliefs. We're all walking belief systems. Our belief system is exposed in how we express to and in the world, how we choose to appear in public and be in private. Our beliefs show in our choices of what to put in the collage of people, situations, and items we accept in our environment. Beliefs show in how we spend our days and live our lives, how we treat others and how we treat ourselves, what we want people to know or not know about us. The energy each and every one of us gives off (whether we're aware of it or not) is our calling card. It can attract or repel like either side of a magnet.

As the layers of MJs life keep unfolding and a few of the many secrets he took with him to the grave reveal themselves, I am not only honoring the King of Pop who had a painful life, yet gave and gave and gave the exact thing he needed most...but I am recognizing what a teacher he was and continues to be even moreso in his passing!

When I look at Michael Jackson, the teacher, I learn that a great teacher inspires others to keep learning and trying new things. A great teacher innovates and reframes old ways of doing things that keeps them fresh and new. An excellent teacher raises their own bar and never stops learning. I can't leave out that the best teachers will expose their mistakes, so others will learn from them too.

I understand Neverland Ranch has too many bad feelings connected to it to be the location of a museum to honor the legend, but is there another place symbolic of MJ to resurrect a museum called Forever and Everland? Could there be a new theatre with a museum attached dedicated to the greatest entertainer ever? Maybe even rename the Staples Center? Maybe that's a layer still waiting to unfurl.

It's so sad that his song ended right in the middle before the much awaited crescendo, but because this song went unfinished I hope it inspires us to look at and perhaps rewrite our own songs and put more feeling into the composition and each note we still have left.

From Heart to Hands

I am teaching an art jouraling workshop that combines mixed media skills with Dream Coaching. I love how the images, colors, textures and materials tell us what they want to be! If we let them speak, they will tell us what we most need to hear.

Here is my page on our coaching focus of "Integrity." The main character of this page shows us how when we embrace something that is not true to our heart and purpose, it will hurt us...and we may not even know it because it's too close to us.

I hope the words in this entry don't sound too preachy. They are what my Inner Guide (or Inner Therapist---great to have in a recession) tells me about the subject of Integrity. The mail order catalog pictures that begged to be cut out came together to tell me:
"Don't embrace things that aren't true to who you are. Be true to yourself. Be discerning."

Then from the Integrity experiences I had that week, Inner Wisdom told me,
"Don't sell out or settle for less than you deserve. When you know what you want you gain clarity. Clarity brings results. If you put your creative expressions "out there" accept that judgment is part of the process. Just don't let outer world judgment stifle your dreams."

I remember a coaching instructor once told us, "Experiences don't happen TO us....they happen FOR us." It's an easy thing to forget during an experience, but let some time go by and it holds true every time. Do you have any being true to yourself integrity stories to share? Please do.

The Gift That Speaks Beyond Words

One afternoon, the UPS man brought a package to my door. It was unexpected. When I opened the package at first I laughed....then I cried! One of my very gifted coaching clients and dear friends, Carolyn, without a word, went into her art studio and created this personal painting for me. With her busy life, this is the highest of compliments!

The reason I laughed when I saw the painting was because we had done a Shamanistic meditation and we both came up with personal symbols from this meditation. These are my symbols! Carolyn captured them perfectly! The reason I cried was that she did it in such a clever visual and surprising way...and without a word, sent it my way and let it tell me visually what words can't even express.

The unicorn represents my inner child who wants me to support others in expressing their creative selves. The gift the unicorn brought me was magical cheese that glitters. This represents what we nurture ourselves with. The inspirational food/fuel that keeps us living our purpose. The glitter is the magic that happens when those who have been stifled in some way are allowed to express. I am currently teaching a year long workshop that combines Dream Coaching with art journaling. The expression I witness coming out of those involved is touching and more magical than a glittery cheese gift from a unicorn!

I cringe when I hear $ucce$$-oriented marketers on telecalls dropping numbers of how many figure incomes they make or how many zeros are at the end of the price tag for hiring them, which is usually followed by "you can do it, too, if you buy my this and that." Is that what serving people is about? Eckhart Tolle says that success isn't out there in the future. It's how we are being right NOW.

I consider this painting and the message it sends to me, in its touching, creative, stillness and originality to make me the richest woman on the planet. Thank you, Carolyn! I hope this is just the beginning of tapping into the miraculous way your heart speaks through your art!

Where There's Action...There's Manifestation

The opposite of victim is action.

The opposite of stagnation is action.

The opposite of boredom is action.

The opposite of complaining is action.

None of these feelings/behaviors are wrong...they are getting our attention, so we move to action.

Action is a powerful 6-letter word.

I once heard a coaching instructor tell us, "Dreams without action are just dreams."

Action is the behavior that moves us forward.

Now that Tax Day is over...we can get back into action.

How many of you can admit you remember the TV show, "Where the Action Is?"

Explore action this month.

Tell me what happens.

Running on Life's Treadmill

I remember hearing a fellow coaching student on a telecall mentioning she felt like a head with her chicken chopped off! I truly believe she intended to mix up the usual cliche phrase to give it a fresher perspective of chaos. It was my intention to capture that head with our chicken chopped off feeling in this collage. Do you know this feeling? You may well know it if your day is loaded with endless errands and chores and to dos. It's an acceptable part of this era to be endlessly busy.

This is my collage for March. I am posting it in April because March was too busy. What this tells me is that it's time to make a point to make time each day for the things I'm passionate about...the things I'm on the planet to express. It's so easy to put our time for our passions on hold with all this era expects of us. This month I am going to MAKE time for my passions. I don't want to feel like this headless runner running to the next situation...like a pinball in a pinball machine, hitting one obstacle and bouncing to the next obstacle just to stay in the game.

What passions have you put on hold because this multi-task era lifestyle has caused us to be a head with our chicken chopped off? What passion will you re-commit to putting back into action on a consistent basis? Put your stake in the ground by writing it here. Write it down, make it happen is a magical formula that works.