I’ve been wondering about this recently. Where do ideas come from?
There are times when ideas seem to dry up. At other times, they flow so fast and thick that you wonder when and how you will execute them all!
#MicroBlogMondays: A little bit of crystal magic
I’ve been working closely with crystals recently.
After a recent workshop on crystal therapy, I decided to purchase a pendulum. As I rifled through all the crystals available – sun stones, rose quartz, jade – I found a beautiful purple amethyst that was begging to come home with me. While I was waiting for the store manager to ask him something before completing my purchase, I continued to idly rifle through the stones.
And then, I found another one.
A beautiful green and red crystal. The moment I held it, I knew it was meant for me.Continue reading
Personal stories and the art of the reframe
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about personal stories. To be more precise, about the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. And often, these stories are whiny stories, they’re negative stories, they’re stories of lack, of doubt, of fear.
But these stories don’t serve us in any way.
They only keep us stuck and afraid and operating on a very low frequency.
#MicroBlogMondays – On choosing inner work
Sometimes you have to choose between All The Things and the Quiet Things. The outer excitement and the inner work. It can be a hard choice at times. On the one hand you have exciting events, fun shopping trips, lunch dates with friends. On the other, you have quiet contemplation, shadow work, and uncovering of old wounds. But sometimes, you have to let the quiet win. The rewards are longer lasting and beautiful. At other times, do All The Things. It’s also all about balance!
Linking up with MicroBlog Mondays.
{K} Kintsugi: Adapting the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery to your {art} journal
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold or silver. As a philosophy, the belief is that the object is more valuable and beautiful with its history revealed.
But how can you adapt a pottery repair technique to your art journal?
By adapting Kintsugi as a transformative tool in your journal.
Moving into fear
A quick face painted with acrylics
How do you deal with fear? A lot of people will tell you it’s only by moving into whatever it is that you fear that you can overcome it. But how do you move into what you fear? How do you go boldly (or not so boldly) ahead into a situation that gives you the shivers? I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t have a clue.
Then, I took up painting. And as I tried and experimented and failed and tried again, I realized – this is how you move into fear!
You move into fear by sticking with something even when you’re scared and have no idea what the hell you’re doing. It means taking a piece you don’t like and working it until you do. And if you still don’t like it, chalking it up to experimenting and experience, and then cutting it up to use as the base of another piece, so you can reframe and redo.Continue reading
Intention setting: The impact that one word can have on your year
December is a month for reflection – for some quiet contemplation on the year gone by and planning for the year to come. While a lot of people set goals and New Year resolutions, I’ve learnt that this really does not work for me. What does seem to work is desire and intention. But first, we start with…
No, everything does not happen for a reason
On some level, I’ve never quite believed that everything happens for a reason. I’ve never believed that tragedy is necessary for or a precursor to transformation. Tragedy may or may not transform you. But there is never a “reason” for tragedy.
There are a huge number of empty platitudes floating around the interwebs, supposed inspiration that actually is a pill to ignore the grief. To get up and move on, to treat grief and loss like an illness or disease that must be cured.
On following your passion and quitting your day job
I always thought that if you’ve got the talent, creativity should provide. Well, apparently not! And this quote from Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic Monday post dovetails very neatly with the realization I’ve come to recently – you DO NOT need to quit your day job to pursue your passions! When you do that, you’re forcing your passion to provide for you, and then you run the risk of making your passion your day job – with all the associated frustrations of a day job!
Returning to a place you’ve never been to before
Have you ever felt an intense longing to return to a place you’ve never been to before? To walk along those roads again. To rest awhile in its embrace once more. To reacquaint yourself with the people and the houses, the nooks and the crannies, the roads and the twisting, winding paths that you’ve never been on before.
Like this beautiful cottage somewhere in the English countryside…
