Latest in my Exploration of those Deep interior spaces that sustain my practice.
Does Gaia dream? I think she does. In fact, I am convinced. She does. And we are her dream- contained in her wildest places, our own deeply enchanting interior landscapes – – as full of wanderings, adventure, love, leavings and comings home as they ever were…
And hey!
This will be available as a limited edition print along with the other Forests in this series.
There’s a place every creator knows — that weightless space where time folds, thought dissolves, and something larger begins to move through us. We call it flow, inspiration, communion, consciousness. Whatever name we give it, it is the same ancient current — the one that turns imagination into form, and chaos into beauty.
We talk about the flow state — that peak experience where artists, athletes, dancers, poets, and dreamers lose themselves in the act of creation.
Michael Jordan on the court. Billy Elliot in his dance.
You, me, anyone who’s ever forgotten themselves inside the moment of doing.
In that space, limits dissolve. Doing and being become one.
As Billy Elliot says, “It’s like ’lectricity.”
Something else becomes present in us — a current that soothes the edges of our limitations.
A new form begins to shimmer into being, and we are lighter for it.
There is joy. Participation. Communion.
It feels like a meeting — between what we call the ego, the form-maker,
and what mystics have called God, Spirit, or now simply Consciousness.
An invisible intelligence, a shared awareness,
an elegance threading through all things.
Evolution itself may not be the blind mechanism we once imagined.
Even Darwin suspected a purposefulness,
a trajectory bending toward meaning
Sri Aurobindo, Thomas Merton — mystics across centuries —
speak not of an absence but a presence:
an intelligence that whispers through form,
inviting us to collaborate in its unfolding.
So I search for form.
A structure that can hold what I perceive in my imagination —
a container for the vastness that wants to speak
Without form, imagination is a flood.
With form, it becomes a river.
For me, that form is often a portrait.
A face. Eyes, nose, mouth — the shared agreements of human recognition.
Style, medium, skill — these are my tools, my chosen banks.
Within that boundary, I wander freely.
The imagination roams the open field —
and when I begin to draw, it is as if something taps me on the shoulder.
A nudge, a whisper, not always words —
more often a feeling, a texture,
like the sense of coarse cloth suggesting how a shirt should feel.
I listen.
Dark here. Light there.
And slowly, the formless takes form.
The ego chooses the shape — based on what feels true,
what I’ve learned, what I love.
But what in-forms the form is not me.
It moves through me.
This is why I prefer the word consciousness to unconscious.
It shifts the image from something hidden below
to something vast — all around —
the field of potential made visible.
Physicist Amit Goswami calls it quantum thinking:
two levels of mind —
the conscious mind of actuality
and the unconscious (or quantum) mind of possibility.
This is the creative dance.
This is evolution made personal.
Today, when the world feels uncertain,
when the old music no longer fits the steps we’ve memorized,
we reach for old structures — familiar hooks to hang our hats.
But that won’t work anymore
What we need is not more problem-solving.
We need transcendence.
Transcendence lives in pure potentiality —
the space where creators walk, barefoot and brave,
to bring something new into being.
Creative acts are born of limitation.
A hard-won truth: I have resisted limits all my life.
Yet I’ve learned —
a river without banks is only a flood.
The creation process is not separate from you.
It is not outside you.
It is your body, mind, heart, hands, and soul.
You are the form-maker and the field,
the river and the banks,
the current and the course.
You are it.
You have IT.
IT is…in you.
So paint and sip…
A demo is done on a huge easel in front of the group- the whole process is led, step by step- and an example of finished Art Work is on display to the group as well. All the tools you need are on the table in front of you. Name tags get you on a First Name Basis… with the whole room pretty much. 🤣
(So, You come in, sit down, chill, order a 🍷glass of something, get to know the peeps around you, listen to the 🎵 live music, settle in.
The venue helps:🐍Lou’s Lounge -after Eliza ‘Lou’ Ringling – snake-charming Ringling Sister to 🎪Ringling Brothers. The Ringlings are entagled with this place; The Dole – a historic mansion in Crystal Lake.
The idea: a bit of Surrender upfront to the process/flow of creating an art work. Something unknown and as yet unrealized by you. You see an end result – but yours may or may not come out like it. Certainly not exactly like it.
There is room for experimenting, augmenting, and making different choices.
The Follow Along orients you nicely to the work at hand, and also opens up a group flow, a group dynamic, and a level of connection with The Room.
After enough time, determined by you, the artist, you will Get the Hang of It = some confidence in your hand and the tools it holds. You /It becomes rhythmic, understandable, and now, you begin to add your own embellishments, touches, wonderings.
Tonight is not about practice, but execution; the making of some thing….encompassing a jazz band, friends old and new, lively chatter, and *doing* something creative, some thing tangible, using your hands, your body, all your senses -surrounded by others sharing the same experience.
🔥That’s the magic for me. It’s not often we express ourselves creatively in large groups together. Yet this is a very human, very ancient, very nurturing experience to have.
So yes, ‘Paint and Sip’… but really so much more, so much more potential to be had with this model. So much good can be done by creating together for ‘fun’. For Joy.
It’s who we are.
We were made to create-
and doing it together is a luxury.
#artist #paintandsip #thedole
#creativeartsclasses #community #artforhealing #sacredspace #nurturingself
late 14c., curacioun, “curing of disease, restoration to health,” from Old French curacion “treatment of illness,” from Latin curationem, “a taking care, attention, management,”
I happened across Bruce Liptons’ video on healing yesterday, and he’s made me wonder about the ultimate flexibility of my emotional attachments to my early behavioral patterns and beliefs. The very elements and images that compose the stories I whisper to myself.
It’s made me play around more deeply with the concept that my internal narration story is not all mine, never could have been all mine… and better yet, how I might be able to actually use this intel to reset my narrative to one that’s far kinder for me personally and for the world at large.
I tend to entertain the idea that my personal narrative expresses as “who-i-am-what-surrounds-me”.
Or, my self/world is a reflection. A very reciprocal arrangement.
In this sense, I’m already years deep into an effort to create a story that suits this “grown-up” (debatable) me, reflects how I feel now, with my adult size intellect, body, and emotions- all aligned in a healthy relationship.
So back to Bruce.
IF we are influenced by our mothers’ emotional state in utero, if she’s afraid or jubilant – or anywhere in between – she shares the chemical signature of that emotion with us through our shared blood. We learn the chemical signature of the emotion. According to Bruce, our brain is in a receptive theta brain wave state until the ripe old age of age 7. In utero and out, we simply absorb, without thinking, emotional feeling states and patterns of behavior. Little sponges.
As kids, we repeat what we are exposed to, so voila – here are my habits laid out before me. I suspect these habits are all nicely aligned with my beliefs at levels seen and unseen…and I can change them.
I add to all this intrigue Michael Egnors‘ observation on ‘free won’t’-
‘…it isn’t so much that you have free will but you have free won’t. That is, you have the ability to decide whether or not you are going to comply with what your brain is urging you to do.‘
So I wonder:
1) IF I am able to decide NOT to act on a brain urge (one of my ‘subconscious’ impulses) for example, a pattern/habit that I have inherited; let’s say fruitless worrying- it seems that by
2) noticing the urge/pattern as it arises and changing my behavior in response,
I would begin to effectively change/disrupt the ‘set’ habitual story/pattern I que up unconsciously and thus create a new experience for myself/world.
So my real-life experiment looks like this: I catch myself in my habitual act of fruitless worrying and consciously decide to NOT run this pattern/narrative, choosing to tend to a *new* non-conditioned version of myself. I stop and curate my experience with these questions:
What am I intending? Where am I directing my thoughts? Past? Present? Future? Here or There?
What vibe am I emitting? What is my chemical signature? More toward fear or love? Open or Closed?
I reason that if I can get clarity on my thoughts and emotions, I can choose a new pattern of behavior that will with practice, become the new me.
Re-writing my programming. Telling a new story. Forming new habits…
-and the kicker is I have no exactly no idea how this change will reflect back to me except in kind- if I am open and present, I will be pleasantly surprised.
If I’m closed and not present, it will be a different story altogether.
A little project of mine since forever.
In the cycle of the moon, it is the First Quarter Moon.
half light half dark
Balanced
Poised…
a choice point.
Tomorrow, I will walk out into my world under a Gibbous Moon, ideally, with a sense of wonder, delight, desire and adventure.
The word commitment is often paired with the1st Quarter Moon and for me it’s becoming a conscious commitment to the practice of ‘getting my heart in the right place’ – opening up and out to the World.
I’m making a deal with myself today, that I will try to pull back on my knee-jerk fears when they come up, and exchange fear for blessing- seeing what is in front of me, the situation, the person, the thing, each event, as it IS. I bless what is; unconditionally.
In theory, this attention will help attend to my shadow, in the moment, as it presents itself. My shadow side doesn’t respond well to the bright light of day, analysis, or reason.
I’m practicing this unconditional self love, figuring that this too is a skill that can be learned. So, the practice. Swap fear for love. And the deal is, it’s just for a lunar week.
And, the picture is Telephoros. An important symbol for this half and half day. He’s Part of my Anam Cara picture- from ages ago. He’s speaking to me again, bringing a soft glow to all the hidden bits.
Link to my post about telephoros: https://janetbalboa.com/2014/09/11/dwarfs-illumination-and-knowing-that-everything-matters/
Work in progress…
Expression.
Say 1) you’re open hearted, ready, in a ‘place’ or state of being where you feel so ready to give- but not sure exactly what to give…
or conversely,
2) you have an idea of what you must do, but waver on exactly how to go about doing it…
heart open
-OR-
head full of ideas
Either way, Expression is THE answer; the movement that initiates a new beginning for either of these modern stalemate positions.
…….and this is exactly the post modern, blockage point- our Voice. Our own individual expression. Our song. Our contribution to the expansion of humanity.
It’s also our voice, with a small ‘v’. We’re so tethered by the words we say to ourselves, the words in our heads.
Our hearts and minds are ready…
It’s our own inner voices that need our attention, our kindness, our compassionate listening:
‘Sit still and be quiet.
Who told you you could do that?
Put that down.
Who do you think you are?’
Replacing these old voices with updated expressions that better serve -who I am now- reseeds the ready compost of the past.
Start with the small voices.
Kindness here initiates the eventual blooming of the metaphorical blue lotus of self expression, located precisely at your throat chakra- the meeting ground of heart and head.
The only way I have found to get myself unfreaked about the future, is to have a hand in its creation.
I know I can’t control for the future, I know overthinking is going to kill me. I know worrying is not the answer. So I have practices.
I practice meditating every day. I sleep better. I process this crazy world better. It tips me away from all the fear – allowing me to find solutions instead of invent problems. I practice for an open mind.
I exercise to stay flexible and feel good in my skin. I practice for a future where flexibility and strength might be needed.
Then there is my third type of practice; I intentionally set the stage for my craft. I make my art every day, practicing for the days when it doesn’t come easy, when I feel like giving up.
My practices hold space for the reception of my future. It’s in the small, often uncomfortable moments of practice that I meet myself, that I can say with some clarity ‘This is what makes me tick, this is what I’m made of, ‘who I am.’
So when the future waltzes in, it may be completely unknown, but I, in myself, am able to greet it with presence and anticipation. The future, like everything else, deserves to be greeted with wonder and curiosity.
Hello. I hope this finds you well. This is an unusual time and place to be, and I am grateful we can share this virtual space and create a community together. Thanks technology, thanks open- hearted humans!
In my 100 mandala’s journey, and I’m on #10…I’m discovering that my artwork has become a tool for me, an actual practice in the same way as meditation.
As my consciousness is shifting and I’m deep diving in my hour+ a day meditation, I’m able to regard my work in a very different light.
I see it very much as coming thru me, not in a woo woo way, although that’s not a wrong way to describe it- a better way might be the feeling that the whole design is complete and my job is to fill it in as best I can. Which makes sense intellectually, idk- I’ve never conceived of it in this way.
The difference is in my approach. Now, when I sit down it’s as if I’m meeting up with something. Not *just* sitting down to draw. I carefully now arrange my tools, give myself enough time and space, clear my mind…and wait.
I also sense a shift in my understanding of intention setting- the intention creates a net, a filter maybe- a vibration? A field of sorts – but I FEEL it now as a resonance that I am IN when I am drawing. Very whole/holy space.
So this is what Joseph Campbell meant when he says it’s imperative that we each cultivate a sacred space…
Its real. I can feel it. So wow. It’s such a subtle thing. And I guess my point is; this works. When you are consciously paying attention to yourself, holding loving space, something beautiful begins to stir. And it IS magic!!!
Much love to you beautiful souls today!!
Creative Arts is really a special place. And it’s not just for kids.
here’s a promo piece featuring some of our adult artists! more to come…
Susan, our Fearless Director has kept our ship afloat and leakproof during the pandemic. Now that people are re-emerging, we’re putting together a fabulous Art Event, partnering with The Dole to host over 140 individual artworks from our youth and adult classes. We have the great sound of Bourbon Country Music, a cash bar, and the beautiful old mansion itself.
We’ve been working so hard on this!!!!
Really really looking forward to this. It’s every artists secret joy- to attend a big deal art show. Thanks to all the wonderful people who are making this happen once again….still looking for table volunteers, and the National Honor Society is a wonderful thing, as kids needs community hours- and what is better than putting in your time at an art event???
The list of ‘events’ was this:
We would love volunteers for:
The Water Color Table
The Make a Picasso Face Table
The Rainbow/ Leprechaun Wall
The Mona Lisa Photo Booth
Scavenger Hunt Hint Giver
I’m trying to be open, to be allowing, to be more about showing up experientially instead of intellectually or emotionally. Receiving and responding rather than judging and reacting.
I want to have tessellating, radiating thoughts that fill the world around me with joy, not add to despair. I think this is who I’m supposed to be. The essential me.
How’s that working for me? well? Ups and downs. Lots of days become hard; I get ground down into my past, longing for the ‘comfort’ of the way things were… I focus on experiences already spent; last year’s harvest; historical data… I keep dragging my past into the present moment, perpetuating my personal groundhog day of fear and disconnection. Wtf.
I flat-line; I rot in the stagnant waters of same old same old, I see that I am dying for something new, something real, some experience of being alive, addicted to the habits of my daily life, repeating the same choices, insanely hoping that something really BIG will grab me from the outside and make all the difference…
I ask myself, why I limit my potential, close off new possibilities, keep the magic at bay? I intellectually know better. But what is here, now, is far more subtle than intellect, here I am approaching the Soul. I don’t fully grasp my true creative super power, which is my being itself, me, being present, allows an opening between past and future – the stage upon which the Quantum Music of Life can flow into my divinely individualized consciousness.
I hold the tension between the past and future – I be in the only place I can ever be, here; now. The present moment, my precise location in space/time, the only space or time in which I can ever be located. I get this and I don’t get it. Cognitive dissonance… I know that this is a belief worth having, and I know the the cost is all my old beliefs. And they’re having a bit of a fuss to say the least. So there’s that.
This is what I’m working on. Not art per se, or classes or shows, but expansion of my consciousness. Getting my head wrapped around an understanding; a realization that is so gorgeously, deliciously, tantalizingly brand spanking new to me. This is the Source of those tessellating radiating energies. As old as the ancient of days, but so new to me in the sense that I resonate with it in a way that I never have before. Experientially.
and that’s new.
and that’s exciting.
That shit makes me want to get up in the morning… excited and ready for what will show up. That’s looking forward, not being in the future. That’s being fully grounded here; now, IN MY BODY. I know IT happens in the bodytemple of my localized consciousness. My feet on the ground, participating in my life, working on being present, fully participating in my life.
I want to experience the extraordinary, so I must become open to the extraordinary. I must be present to this moment, willing to expand beyond all that I am and welcome the unknown as the beautiful, mysterious lover who gathers me with wide arms full of comfort and receives my open breaking heart in exchange for the security of grace.
The willingness to experience grace, is the willingness to embrace the unknown, the willingness to create space for the radiance of pure potential to surge thru us with all the unicorn radiant beauty and exuberance of a newly formed universe. This is the power that longs to dance with us. The power of creation. Expression. What will my experience be when I am fully open to this way of experiencing belonging? idk. That’s what makes it scary AND exciting…idk. Yet setting my sails into the wind.
The Journey 