What is deciding your future right now? Often it’s an unfortunate combination of pure chance, not- so- enlightened reactions to circumstances combined with frustration and monotony. Welcome to the world of quiet desperation…
Escape from the daily grind means reclaiming and using your power to consciously create a life that sustains you. Your future is not determined by the economy, your income level, your parents or your best friend. There is one person at cause, making all your decisions, who determines all the effects of your life, and that’s you. Take ownership of your actions and the consequences. When you say things like “It’s not my fault” and blame another person or the situation, you surrender the power you have to change ‘what Is’ into ‘what Can Be’’.
If no one is at fault, then no one is responsible. It’s a temporarily safe position. You can pass the buck and not have to do anything yourself. However, it is an ultimately weak position. Every time you blame, judge or accuse someone or something else, you are in effect saying “This person/ thing/situation is responsible for me. I cannot be responsible for myself. By making this choice, I allow it/them to decide the outcome of my life.” Then you get mad and resentful because you feel so powerless. It’s a vicious cycle.
When you choose to accept your ability to create in your own life, then you accept the power to change your own life. Take responsibility whenever you can. When you take responsibility you reclaim your power as a co-creation your life. You have the power to change course and choose a different outcome. Don’t blame yourself for how you’ve been in the past, just accept your power to choose different actions now, therefore different outcomes, in the present. All things change when you do.
Learn to use your power to create what you desire . The adage ‘energy flows where attention goes’ is true. Your ability to co-create means you can and should be directing the flow of your energy consciously. You already do it, mainly unconsciously, sending energy to everyone and everything you put your attention on. If your attention is focused on people and things ‘out there’, that is exactly where your energy is going, out there, feeding other people, circumstances, and situations. When you take responsibility just for you, you stop energetically feeding the externals. More and more of your energy will stay with you. When you are in possession of your energy, you are full. When you are full; energized, you can give. How can you give if you’re constantly running on empty? Begin to take care of yourself. Pay attention to where you put your attention. Learn to keep yourself full and consequently in the best position to give.
When you blame, judge or accuse, your powerlessness keeps you tossed about by circumstances– you react to everything, put out fires everywhere. It’s crisis management. When you begin to consciously take responsibility for where you put your energy, you will build a firm foundation from which to respond. Intentionally directing your energy allows you to be on top of situations and circumstances, not controlled by them.
Just like the blame game, getting caught up in the drama of everyone else’s life will distract you from your life’s purpose. In stead of focusing on what you can change, you focus on the never ending parade of ‘who said what’, –which you have no control over. Getting stuck here is a recipe for ineffectiveness and despair. Focusing on outer drama creates inner drama in your own life– resulting in incessant whining and wheel-spinning. Your unfocused energy, with no defined purpose, leaks away into people and situations that keep you busy and dissatisfied. Powerless.
In order to begin taking charge, it’s important to get a few things straight. Taking charge is not being in control. Taking charge is knowing who you are and where you are going. It is not about controlling what happens to you along the way. Bad things, unexpected things can happen. These things have the potential to throw you off course for awhile, maybe a long while. The important thing is to have a course to get back to. If you firmly know where you are coming from and what you’d like to accomplish along the way, you will watch your dreams turn into your reality.
Don’t assume that anyone else can make your decisions for you or is better equipped to run your life. When you start intentionally investing your energy into things and outcomes that serve you, your life will change. By consciously choosing and holding the image of what you want to see next in your life, you determine where your energy will go. When you decide what you want, a way to achieve it will present itself . In all instances, when we take charge of our own lives, and get to know ourselves and what we desire, our manifested dreams become natural extensions of our power to create.
I create.
3 Jun
Full Moon : the phases/faces of a woman’s life
25 May

prismacolour – markers and pencils. a few copic markers too. pen and ink outline. on my favorite- marker paper. it always amazes me how flimsy, yet strong this paper is! finished size is 12 x 17
Maiden, Mother,Crone!!
My celebration of the wise women on this planet who are entering the full flowering of their being.(In plain old english, those of us turning 50 and beyond) It’s a full moon today too, and I have just finished. How’s that for a little synchronicity? Have a inspiring, creative and fruitful day…
the face of a mermaid
16 May
And it worked…. again. Thank God. So now I can heave a sigh of relief, and lay off the coffee a little, because if I mess up the fish, only their momma’s gonna know. You mess up a human face-well, that’s a little more problematic. I ended up using a different photo reference, rather than my daughter, because the picture I wanted to use was hard to see enough detail. This picture is for an Odyssey of the Mind fund-raiser. One of my students, Olivia, suggested it. Once it’s finished, I’ll scan it into Photoshop and ultimately it will go into a poster via InDesign. I’ll add words to it…etc.
My mom, Sharon to you, stopped by this morning, observed my progress and just said “she looks so sad…”
Yeah…
Sad or introspective? I would imagine modern mermaids theoretically get pretty introspective/angry as we systematically overfish and otherwise destroy their habitat. I just read COD, a biography of the fish that changed the world, by Mark Kurlansky, so I’m a bit touchy about this subject. It’s worth reading. I hear his other books are just as good.
COD is a delightful read, quirky, interesting and unbelievable in the portrayal of how shortsighted yet optimistic we humans can be. Not knocking anyone- it’s just overwhelming to consider what we are doing to our planet.
Self love. The only solution. So easy to say, so hard to do.
More on that another day. Costco calls. And daughter #2’s final term paper…
Inspiration.
4 May
I am always looking around for inspiration- color, a bit of fabric, a flower, a poem. I even have this great little book The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood. It’s many pages of short ideas, quotes and images to jumpstart the right brain – great for those times when I’ve become too reasonable. Stuff like this:
‘There comes a point in any long piece of writing(or any project really) – and even in some short ones- where the writer loses faith in her ability to unwind the ball of yarn that has taken so long to tangle up in just the right way. Don’t quit on yourself. You might need a few weeks away from the piece to gain greater perspective, but the solution exists somewhere in your subconscious. Faith is exactly the right word for what you need right now. Keep going.’
And I wonder -really? Not every one else knows exactly what they are doing? They don’t always know the next step? Just like me. The poet David Whyte said that if you know the next step that you are going to take- you’re living someone else’s life. If you have absolutely no idea what your next step will be, you can be fully confident that you are firmly settled in your path. That’s nice -I’m right on track.
Anyway- inspiration. I find this absolutely amazing – this, Tangerine Tango – is the Pantone color of the year. Released every year, a new color is revealed, eagerly awaited by the fashion, design and many other industries. Google ‘ Tangerine tango’ or ‘pantone color of the year’ and see what I mean. Talk about inspiration! Always fresh, and in this case uplifting- orange, color of change (appropriate for supposed ending of world), sacral chakra, creative expression. Who gets to pick this color of the year? I’m just glad someone does.