Soul Coaching Day 3
November 4th, 2008, 9 Comments
Suddenly I'm a bundle of emotions. My neck hurts, my head hurts, and my eyes are teary. My day, up til this point was fabulous. I took a long walk to the polls, cast my vote, walked to the post office, and then ate my lunch outside. The weather was simply gorgeous. I picked up some leaves on my way home, I breathed in the air, and relished this lovely November day. I got home and did my homework for the Soul Coaching group which involved doing some de-cluttering. I de-cluttered the bathroom hung up a new shower curtain liner while I was at it. It felt good to this. It did seem to bring a certain clarity to both the physical and mental space I hold. I felt myself releasing some of that mental clutter into the trash as I carried my clutter out of my home. Sometimes sweeping away mental clutter also releases emotions that have been building too. And I made a big realization today, I said something out loud that surprised me a bit, but also felt absolutely true. I realized that I am letting go of the identity I've had of myself as being a "depressed person." I'm not saying that I haven't been depressed. I most certainly have. But someone said to me today that there's a difference between having the symptoms of depression and being a depressed person. Just like having a broken arm doesn't make you a broken arm. It's subtle (to me), but profound to grasp that difference. And I'm slowly getting that.
I'm also feeling quite emotional about the election. All this anticipation and building up. I read this post earlier and got all teary. I've held off from watching the news as it's too early to know anything, but I'll turn it on soon I'm sure. Got to remember to breathe. O.k. I'm off to rest for a bit before making some dinner. Art for the day will be posted later tonight. Toodaloo for now!
Art Every Day Month, November 4th
November 4th, 2008, 15 Comments
Today is day 4 of Art Every Day Month!
The box below is a widget that I will provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link to your post (blog post or flickr image) about that day's creation.
Please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you don't have a page you can link to and want to share, feel free to use the comments of this post to make a quick note about what you did today. If you're posting less than once a day, feel free to use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation!
If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the before you use the link widget to share your creations.
Also, don't let the widget make you nervous! Use it to share, if you have something that you want to share with others. Use it to motivate you, if you want some added motivation, but don't let it stress you out. The challenge is totally flexible and low-pressure. Perfection is getting tossed out. Do what you can and have fun with it!
If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head almost nothing. -Marc Chagall
Fall Forest Muses
November 3rd, 2008, 17 Comments
I'm so pumped up by all the wonderful creative energy around AEDM! Perhaps some of that is coming through in today's spontaneous piece of artwork. I used some paint, a bottle of sprayed water, a little container of water with a few drops of paint that had a tip (like a cake frosting tip) on it, and a bit of sparkly fabric paint while playing today on a piece of watercolor paper. I didn't have a plan in mind, just wanted to play and this is what came out. I believe I was also inspired by this podcast from Lori-Lyn in which she shares a meditation about meeting your muse. In my visualization, my muse was totally blue, go figure, so that's partly where these figures came from. I'm calling them the "Fall Forest Muses" and they seem to be having a fantabulous time. 
I've just updated the Art Every Day Month info page, to hopefully make the workings of the challenge more clear. It's tricky sometimes to make it super clear, when I want the challenge to be open to interpretation by anyone wanting to join in, but hopefully, the info page lays out the way it works as clearly as possible. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I think the widget (that little box below, where you can enter the url of your postings) is working well, so I'm planning to post a new one each day available for you to share your creations. It's not required, but it is fun and it's great for others to have an easy way to find your latest post!
As I've mentioned, I'm also doing the Soul Coaching group and today's work was around determining your values, examining what you've been putting off, and looking at your commitments. The author, Denise Linn, challenges the reader to commit to something for the next month, and well, that's quite simple since I've committed to making art for AEDM! I thought about adding something to that and then realized I might go bonkers trying to do too much, so I'm going to keep it at that. Committing to the book and the artwork and running this challenge is more than enough to keep me busy. For the part about values, I wrote out my values on a couple pieces of paper, cut them out and arranged them.
I wrote out values that came to mind, borrowing a bit from the author's list of suggestions and from Jenn's fabulous list that I've seen through her awesome value card creations that she's done for AEDM! Speaking of Jenn, you must check out her appearance on television talking about balance and her unique vision boards!! She talks about them in the context of being a busy mom, but this could easily apply to anyone. It was great making this list of my own values. Writing them out and making them into a visual statement gave me a better sense of where I'm living my values and where I could use some extra oomph.
Lastly, I looked at what I've been putting off. Oh so many things. I'm a big-time procrastinator I'm afraid. So I made a list and tackled one of them. I backed up my computer! Woohoo! It does feel good to do the things you've been putting off. I've got a whole lot more to tackle and hopefully, I'll be able to tick them off or at least get started on them all over the next month.
I'm getting very excited for the election tomorrow. I had to stop watching the coverage for awhile because I realized it was making me an anxious mess and that wasn't helping anything or anyone. I've avoided talking about politics directly on my blog as I want this space to be about creativity. But I want to encourage everyone (if you live in the U.S. or are a U.S. citizen) to vote tomorrow.
I am voting for Barack Obama. I think this post from Lori-Lyn describes much of my feelings behind the election. She says it in eloquent words that I haven't been able to find. I don't expect or want everyone who visits or participates in challenges here to agree with me or vote the same as I do. I want this space to be open to anyone without judgement. I mention that I'm voting for Obama because I'm proud to say that I am and I'm feeling oh so hopeful. O.k., now that I got that off my chest, I hope you all have a wonderfully creative evening. Sweet dreams!
AEDM – November 3rd
November 3rd, 2008, No Comments
Today is day 3 of Art Every Day Month!
Below is a linking widget that I will provide each day where you can link to a blog post or image of what you've created that day.
Please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you don't have a page you can link to and want to share, feel free to use the comments to make a quick note about what you did today.
If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the before you use the link widget to share your creations.
Also, don't let the widget spook you! (Halloween is over!) Use it to share, if you have something that you want to share with others. Use it to motivate you, if you want some added motivation, but don't let it stress you out. Perfection is getting tossed out for this challenge. Do what you can and have fun with it!
The creative process is a process of surrender, not control. -Julia Cameron
AEDM – November 3rd
November 3rd, 2008, 22 Comments
Today is day 3 of Art Every Day Month!
Below is a linking widget that I will provide each day where you can link to a blog post or image of what you've created that day.
Please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you don't have a page you can link to and want to share, feel free to use the comments to make a quick note about what you did today.
If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the before you use the link widget to share your creations.
Also, don't let the widget spook you! (Halloween is over!) Use it to share, if you have something that you want to share with others. Use it to motivate you, if you want some added motivation, but don't let it stress you out. Perfection is getting tossed out for this challenge. Do what you can and have fun with it!
The creative process is a process of surrender, not control. -Julia Cameron
Creative Every Day: November 3rd – November 9th, 2008
November 3rd, 2008, 7 Comments
CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 11/3/08 - 11/9/08.
Happy creating!
Trust
November 2nd, 2008, 20 Comments
I'm glad the widget (in the last post) is working!! I'll post one of them each day, so that you can post a link directly to the page or image of what you created that day if you have something that you want to share. Here's what I created today, a mixed-media painting called "Trust." It's 6"x12" on canvas and was inspired by reading "Soul Coaching" and responding to the questions posed in today's passage in the book. Each week in the book has an element theme and this week is wind. I went for a walk today through the loads of fall leaves scattered around and breathed in the crisp, cool air. I also answered the questions in from the book in a journal that I'm keeping separate. I may blog about it when I've had some time to reflect or may be not, but I'm appreciating the thoughtful questions and the time spent writing out the answers. Something about writing things down can be powerful, just like showing up and creating each day can be powerful. I'm going to keep on moving and trusting. It feels good.
Shnazzy New Link Widget for AEDM
November 2nd, 2008, 21 Comments
Fun! I saw this great linking widget in action on Jamie's Soul Coaching blog and decided to put it into action for Art Every Day Month. So, if you'd like, use the widget below to enter your name and the url of the blog page (or flickr page) of that day's creation. I'm going to give this widget a try and see how it goes.
As before, please continue to email or comment if you'd like to sign up for AEDM, so that I can put you in the sidebar. Posting a link every day isn't required, but feel free to use this tool to share your creation from today or yesterday. Enjoy!
p.s. Please link to a specific post on your blog instead of your main page. Also, please don't let this stress you out. It's just another tool to connect us. It's not required that you use it!
Singing Her Own Song
November 1st, 2008, 24 Comments
I didn't start this piece today, but I worked on and finished it up today. It's come a long way since the beginnings where I started with some intuitive strokes, then brought out what I saw in it, and now here it is today. Right now, it's called "The Song", but I'm not settled on the title. As it developed, I felt that it was about singing your own song, listening to that still small voice and acting from your essential self. The birds are singing songs or stories that can blur the woman's song or can be part of a harmony. In this case, they don't seem to be interfering or stopping her from singing her song at the same time.
The painting is about 16"x20" on canvas, with acrylic and some collage layered in there that didn't end up showing much except as texture in the final piece. I had fun playing with this piece. At one point, it was stopped dead and I was considering starting over completely. But then I used my favorite method of getting going and gave myself permission to completely ruin the piece. The simple act of giving permission to "fail" is so freeing to me and I was able to let go, get playful and connect with my intuition once again.
I'm so thrilled with the excitement and energy around AEDM this year! There is a fantabulous group of creative people participating and I'm looking forward to sharing this month of creating with you!
I also want to add that I'm participating in Jamie's Soul Coaching group this month. It's already had an impact on me. The other day, I was inspired to clean the window next to my office desk, a small thing, but it let more light into my room. The clarity seemed symbolic on many levels. I was also inspired to organize my paint, selecting some that I'm going to give to my bff (who has begun art journaling). It seemed like it might be too much to do AEDM and the Soul Coaching book at one time, but I think they'll go hand in hand. I feel like I'm transitioning and as with most of my artwork, this painting tells a story of where I'm at. As I go through the process of tapering off anti-depressants, clarifying what is next in my career, and thinking about starting a family, I am excited to clean and clear my space while also creating from that authentic place inside of me. As someone told me this week, I want to "keep moving my feet and trust." So that is my intention for the month, to keep moving forward while trusting my core to know the next best step.
Happy Art Every Day Month!!!
November 1st, 2008, 15 Comments
November has arrived! Time to get your art on! I'll be posting my art later today. I've updated the AEDM info page, so if you need more details, check it out. Happy creating!
