Inspired

I woke up this morning, much too tired to function- too many things on my mind seemed to prevent the ability to really relax last night and sleep. Not just close my eyes, but indeed rest. There are people I love in pain, and enduring great difficulties, that always weighs heavily on me. These are the times I find it easiest to be discouraged, to be sad... yet- today, for whatever reason, I feel INSPIRED!

I feel like change is in the wind, that there are great possibilities everywhere and I am merely to notice them to take advantage of them. I suppose they are always there, but today in my foggy state, I have to say I feel pretty blessed to have noticed. It's there! I am telling you... whatever you want to do, whatever you want to be- I know it is there for you- here's the trick- YOU have to NOTICE- YOU have to RISK- YOU have to DARE to be whatever you were meant to be. Find inspiration from everything around you- even it if it is "woah.... I don't EVER want to be THERE!"

In the darkest times, the light is the brightest- I promise you it's true. So if it is dark right now, where you are? Seek the light- you might have to put on sunglasses- but it IS there! Seek the light, follow the dream and make it happen.
Don’t just be.... Be INSPIRED!

one leaf

It seems that the things in life that matter most are the simple things. Recently I have begun to take a very critical eye of the possessions I am willing to hold onto for dear life. Suddenly things don’t seem to mean all that much to me. I used to blame my packratness on being sentimental. I don’t think that is fair, I think to be brutally honest it has more to do with my insecurities or need to validate. The older I get though, the more I understand that keeping up with the Jones (even though I fooled myself into thinking that I would NEVER do that) is slowly killing me. So it’s that concept that makes me want to take a new turn.

The things I treasure most have always been surrounded in simplicity. I remember a few years ago taking hundreds of pictures while hiking through a park with my husband on a crisp autumn morning. My prize for that day was a photo of a red leaf decorated with diamonds of ice crystals lying on the beach, glistening in the sun. That single image was the gift of the day- it culminated the hours we spent in the park, it was the glory of the hundreds of photos I had taken. That single simple leaf was a gift of beauty.

This lesson, I apparently need to keep relearning that for me, and I’d suggest for most of us, it is about that solitary leaf, NOT the entire forest. It is the deeper meaning, not the keeping so busy or having so many things that we completely miss that gift.

So again- today, my goal is to slow down- and maybe get rid of the “stuff” that is preventing me from embracing how blessed I am- breathe and find the simplicity.

Creative

Creative


When you t-y-p-e in the word “creative” Google blesses you with Four-hundred twenty-seven million results. (that isn’t just a LITTLE overwhelming, is it?)
Webster lists creativity as crea•tive (krē āt′iv)

Adjective

1. creating or able to create
2. having or showing imagination and artistic or intellectual inventiveness: creative writing
3. stimulating the imagination and inventive powers: creative toys
4. imaginatively or inventively deceptive: creative accounting

I suggest that creative/creativity is much more. Creativity is an invitation to each of us. To explore in any mode possible, regardless of how you express yourself- you have the opportunity; indeed the charge to be creative; to think about how to break the bonds of the “box” that we all seem far too willing to dwell in and really live fully. You do NOT need to be a professional or “profound” artist. You need to be a human being. (and no cracks about not being able to draw a straight line- psst- That is why they make rulers!) Creativity isn’t just a gift; it is a way of life.

Creativity breathes when you carefully create dinner out of two days of leftovers and your family thinks you have been cooking for hours, creativity allows you to see opportunity to take that dirt pile and make it into a flowering garden gifting the neighborhood. Creativity is the doodle that your father always makes on the paper table cloth in child friendly restaurants. You know the one that connects your present day to memories of the thirty five years ago when you were a little human- it’s not just a duck, it’s a connection, a bond… part of your life. Creativity is the bow you tie in your daughter’s hair, or the sculpture that is created out of found objects. It is in the pocket of a negotiator as he encourages two sides to create a more peaceful relationship, or the stylist who discovers her client’s new identity by shedding some of the hair once hid beneath. Creativity is everywhere, in every one.

The thing about creativity is that we allow and perhaps even invite too many other things to get in the way. We THINK we want all this "stuff" and then find it usually just gets in the way. I am not certain if this is out of fear (of success or failure) or perhaps it is just we do not see the direct connection between living the fullest and hiding safely beneath the clutter of life. My studio at the present moment in time is well, let’s just admit it, a total disaster! I dream of having the neat and tidy studio, with a labeled place for everything and everything in its place. You know beautiful working surfaces, and lots of opportunities to do nearly any kind of work I could ever dream of, with art supplies that are arranged like a piece of installation art.

Instead my studio is a metaphor for where I am in life, cluttered yet hopeful with countless possibilities! (if I would allow myself to take just one step at a time) So, this week is about creating a space where the ideas that have been swimming in my head can grow and bloom. One step at a time- I aim to purge, donate, and organize! I will NOT allow the clutter in my dedicated space to become an excuse to not live fully! I am excited and a little nervous about the possibility, but I know, fully know that this will allow ME to bloom and whatever comes next, will be perhaps unfamiliar, but an exciting part of the journey.

So consider this an invitation- what can YOU do to inspire more creativity in your precious life and those around you-

I’ll let you know how things go-
Be well, do good work & keep in touch
Susan

Good Morning, World!

I say this, not at all because the time of day I happen to be writing this is in fact, morning, but because I feel like this is the morning of a new life for me. In my forty-eight years of living I have walked many paths, seen and learned many things. Each one of those experiences regardless if they have been negative or positive has made me who I am today. Now the interesting thing is, assembling each of those experiences and creating a new path, an new venture.... so... here goes!

I am many things in life; spouse, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, friend, artist, …more- each relationship has affected me profoundly regardless if it is a personal relationship, professional or a relationship with the world around me. The exciting thing is that the culmination of these things flow through my veins to create the person I have become, and definitely influences the artist I am. Art- and all facets of art are what this blog will become about.

I invite you to share the journey with me….let's see where we go from here!

Good morning!