Finding and Creating Our Tribe

I've been meaning to post on this blog for quite some time this month, yet I've been soooo busy getting my coaching web site together that many of my sacred rituals have taken a back seat. I have to admit, marketing is not my favorite thing to do. It sometimes can get image-y and sometimes even borders egoic to me. Yet, it is vital to keeping a business in flow. The saving grace to me are people like Seth Godin who see marketing for what it is. He always observes the creative, entertaining side of everything which keeps things fresh.

This clip is keeping me inspired to market as well as hone in on my tribe. I hope it does the same for you.

Finding Your Peeps

Having supportive friends is like Heaven on Earth. This dear, supportive friend took

me to this Artomatic Exhibit/Peeps Show in D. C. for inspiration.

When one is committed to making their dreams manifest, one of the most important steps to take is to be true to yourself about who in your life is supporting what you are doing and who is not. There may be people you have in your life who doubt your success in your endeavors or who may even be projecting their own issues on your dream. Perhaps they react to your ideas with cynicism. When you ask about their cynical response, they may respond with "Wow...can't you take a joke? You take things too personally." Accepting responses like this or even allowing unsupportive people onto your path is like watering your freshly seeded garden with poison!

Dream manifestation is a fragile process. Keeping your path clear of people and situations that don't offer 100% support is begging for doubt and sabotage.

This was my lesson for 2009. From my ARTbundance coach training, I learned to pay attention to what my body and feelings were telling me about who and what I was accepting in my environment. And usually when you take such a huge and important step like this, the universe casts its vote, by sending you signs that you made the right choice. I urge you to take inventory on who and what's on your path, check in with your body wisdom, and keep the garden clear of the weeds that are feeding on the precious energy you need to turn your dreams into reality. Find your peeps who keep the journey a pleasant one. And may I take this opportunity to thank my wonderful friends (you know who you are) who have been so supportive on my current journey!
Some further reading on this subject... I highly recommend page 85 of this book (Eliminate Sabotage):

American Express-ions

I just adore this commercial! Not only is it funny how the extraordinary can be found in the ordinary, (or the expressive in the everyday) but, to me, it shows that whatever filter we have in our mind is what we observe out in the world. In otherwords, whatever we are looking for in life is what we'll find. (I confess I have looked for expressive faces in everyday settings and items after seeing this commercial...they're not that easy to find. But possible.) If we look for expressive faces in everyday settings in life....we will find them. Perhaps we're in a crappy mood, we may notice only crappy things around us. Is life really that simple that we can choose whatever it is we observe out in the world? I'm struggling so hard not to use the term "law of attraction." How about "intentional observation filtering?"We are bombarded with so many sense-attracting stimuli out there that the mind has to choose which perspective to allow in, while filtering the rest out. That's why I love this commercial. It reminds us how simple it is to find entertainment and humor right under our nose! Comedians and creatives are masters at this! Have you found what you're looking for out there...or does it start inside?

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.