Tag Archives: #janetbalboa

Embracing Life and Death: A Journey of Surrender

23 Aug

As its most elegant expression, our Moon Cycling facilitates a way to understand/experience ‘being with’.
Being with… the span of our lives, long or short, birth to death- and the beauty and terror we are capable of holding/encompassing as human beings.

Being with our Experience, our lived experience of the events of our life as they occur to us…present, before thought, before our concept of :how: things ‘should’ be in order to maintain our often narrowly conditioned narratives and labels.

I am learning again and again to surrender into a darkness that holds not terror, but healing, a darkness that is ultimately the bearer of light-

It’s a surrender to the depths, in the depths, to that which is, that which holds me regardless of who I am, what I’ve achieved, how i am or the choices I make…unconditional….. ultimately, of course, we name it love. It is not romantic. It is a rough passage. A dark night.The descent is not for the faint of heart.Religious? Goddess? Spiritual? Christ? Pieta? Yes, yet just more labels.

Experientially, for me, IT is what is, and it holds with such grace and partnership that slowly I am unfurling. Allowing -this- IT – mysterious darkness bearing light- to be the Maypole I find myself joyously dancing around as my life is woven into such rich beauty around me.

Witnessing my moms passing is the wildest, scariest inconceivable leap into the unknown yet. (She is still here, but hanging by an ever more worn thread.) No one ever really prepared me for this one, this particular event. This is my Death Doulaness, the Death Cafe – allowing/creating an opening so I (which has become a WE) can be present with the darkness and learn to seed into it vastly- relying on the immanent- and eminent possibility -of life- to continue uninterrupted in its daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, rounds.Talking helps. Soothes. Normalizes. Allows the hard to be easy(er). Community. We do better together.

To me- every religious teaching hints at the embodied expereince of this leap of ‘faith’- The ancient Mysteries, Bohm’s implicate and explication order, every Labyrinth, Newgrange Spiral, Tarot Fool, Eschers’ discontinuity, Geb’s flip, Minoan Bull Leapers-, YingYang, the Resurrections – a whole world of countless motifs call to us across all humanity- all singing the same ancient song…dancing, because well, IT all ends and begins with Love- which is a passage. A movement. A twist, a leap. It allows us the womb and the tomb, the Pieta, who holds birth and death in her arms and says a vehement yes to both, not knowing how the hell it will unfold- but knowing it will, and she will be shaken, not stirred —– more powerful and present for the holding of opposites as they resolve themselves again and again in her arms.

🙏❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Understanding Validation: A Journey to Self-Acceptance

5 Aug validation is a feeling state. and it's a lovely one to have.

Validation is the act of giving validity. And what’s valid here are the concepts of dominion, ability, effectiveness, strength, and worthiness. Real world attributes.

In its bones, validation is not a compliment or approval. It is a recognition of my reality. Who I already am if I would just allow that I’m actually here. I have happened. My life actually is happening. I’m not crazy; I’m valid. I can acknowledge my existence without the feeling of having to continually prove it by performing, doing, achieving, yada, yada…

The moment of being validated feels like this:

  • A slight pause, a deep inhale – like someone finally sees what’s been heavy inside me.
  • A dropping of armor. Shoulders soften.
  • Maybe a hot, quiet ache in my chest, or a tingling in my eyes – the kind that precedes tears, not from sadness, but from relief.
  • A spark of uprightness in my spine, not puffed-up ego, but a real sense of embodied wholeness.
  • The knowing that I no longer have to fight to be ‘real’.

Well, how about them apples?

Validation is a mirror that doesn’t distort, doesn’t add, doesn’t subtract. It simply says:

‘Yes. That happened. You felt that. That’s real. You are real.’

Validation really, truly then is a feeling state, one that will bloom beautifully – from the inside out.

It is a breaking forth of my own inherent reality –   the pressure of ‘not being seen’ has finally found release. It is an exhale after holding my breath – it’s not approval, see? It’s me finally unclenching. Allowing my own personal treasure trove of dominion, ability, effectiveness, strength, and worthiness to be revealed; made visible. Perceived as already present. Like Michelangelo looking deep into that marble and seeing what was already there.

Validation returns me to myself, you to yourself. It doesn’t add anything – it simply stops the hemorrhage of energy spent proving you exist.

I imagine a hand placed lightly over my heart. Or a nod – slow, deliberate…

“I am here.”

Or even an intentional silence that holds space rather than fills it.

Relax. Ground down deeply into your own presence. Simply be.

New beginnings..from endings

26 Jun

Why don’t I do what I want to do? Why am I afraid? This New Moon, I’m planting seeds of desire. Because who really wants to plant seeds of discord that will reflect back the same? No thanks.

So, by posting this video (below), which may be bad, or good- the point for me was to post it. To post a video for new moon. On the new moon. Not about the moon per se, but the cycle it represents, that of preparation for the understanding that Life is very much inclusive of this thing we call Death.

If you’ve watched it, the absolute clincher for me in actually sucking it up and deciding to post it was that my intended length was 11 minutes. Voila, the video clocks in at 11:08. oy.

This for sure today, was the thing that scared me most. A done deal, no justifications necessary for my intellect, terrifying to my emotions. What if I suck…I’m not an expert…Oh fer feks sek. Get over it.

That said, my mom’s dementia scares me, and the fact that on her discharge papers from the hospital yesterday, it clearly states she was admitted with DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in pregnancy.

WTliteralF.

I’m gonna have a sibling! Matt’s gonna be a middle child! Dear God. She’s 87.

Anyway, it gave us a laugh in an otherwise fraught two weeks. Oliver if it’s a boy, Bethany for a girl…

So that thing you want to do? The Thing that is so clearly your next step? The thing that only you know how to do? The thing you cannot do? Just Do It. (no diggety)

Find that person who will gently nudge you in the right direction. That person that when you look them directly in the eyes will tell you: Yes. It may be scary, may require laying down a burden of past beliefs, probably requires a whole new outlook. But yes, you are indeed the only one suited for the job. No one else can ‘do’ your next step. Likewise, this time, no one else (but you) can look you square in the eyes and say ‘It’s go time.’ 

my podcast beginning… Notes fron the Edge.

Embracing Risk in Watercolor Art

1 Jan

So – I couldn’t wait- wanting to SEEEEEEE how this was gonna look IN COLOR. I just started watercoloring before this picture is even finished.  (I have never watercolored over graphite on such a big piece. (16 x 20) Yikes.)

I always find new approaches inherently risky. And that’s why I opt for it, artistically, anyway.  It pulls the rug out and makes me think on my feet. Use what I’ve got: Paint that’s lying around. Relying on my extremely rusty watercolor skill -set. Possibly ruining a picture that doesn’t really need any paint at all…

  i also think- God knows that as I’ve been Arting around since forever,  I’ve got a vague idea of the way forward, yet do not feel confident about my skills, this new thing I’m trying, and so I am finding myself disoriented.

(The fact that I have this gorgeous compilation of DANIEL SMITH watercolors just languishing is a huge motivator. The colors are so amazing. I got them 2 years ago, courtesy of a much appreciated Christmas gift certificate. I’ve decided to use them for this picture.)

Anyway, as I’m painting, my picture goes through my typical arc-  The it sucks or crappy phase-  which for me, I’ve learned, is often the most productive part of the creative act. It actually makes the risk more of an adventure as both my right and left brain come online together.

I know why I don’t feel right about it:

I dislike it because it doesn’t look like what it feels like in my mind. I don’t know what to do next. I’ve lost the plot.

What to do?  I mentally refresh all the feels by re-visiting these 5 questions, the exact same ones I asked myself as I was composing this picture several months ago;

Which way is it?

Where will things be placed- and why?

What are the most basic shapes?

Where is it?

Are there any?

Wondering about the basic premises I started with allows for a kind of hyper- focusing, and I can ‘see’ a way forward, a technique, a process. In other words, I know exactly what to do next.

I’m mighty glad I sucked it up and went out on the proverbial limb and was able to catch the next neural branching. Growth, learning, and expansion become possible mainly at the boundaries. The ecotones between what I know and what I don’t know. The fertile ground of possibilities.

Which is leading to a type of  NEW YEARS. 

RESOLUTION.

How about this: To make it a habit of mine to dwell here among possibilities, the unknown – and then choose the courageous thing.  If it’s true in art, is it true in life?!☘️

Happy New Year

May you be merry and bright🩷🥂💃🎂🙏🤣🐈‍⬛❄️❤️🐖🖍🤪😜🤣🧸☔️🔥🔥🦄

The foundation of my teaching! A cute little infographic❤️

Capturing Hidden Moments in Art

29 Dec

Work in Progress:

Work in progress

I am working on another large contemplative piece- 12 x 16 inch Fluid hot press watercolor paper.

🌚☔️The mood is suiting the grey reflective December day. Funny, I started this in the late summer, and all those colorful zinnias were my models. Now, I’m compelled to add the many small hidden things that lurk around in the background, only venturing out when it’s safe to be seen,   and that’s not usually in the bright light of day, summer or reason…
It’s lovely out in the woods today- 🧸🐻🧸🐻

(Haven’t counted them yet, knowing there are more on the way. Dr. Sue- you’re counting I bet.)

🖍👩‍🎨My intention for this is a full color, water-color, and colored pencil extravaganza. That’s my style/technique challenge for myself to improve my skills set.
❤️My other intention, the one that eternally motivates me, is the creation of a space that can quietly open a door. A space that can lead to wonder, ponderings, curiosity, and maybe a little healthy lostness. That’s my experience anyway. Entertaining  new possibilities in whatever form they may take verges on the adventurous.

Exploring Roger Pilkington’s Spellbinding Books

24 Oct

Ok. Roger Pilkington (related to Karl?!)
Now, to be serious
Regarding really excellent books that catch me up — hook, line and sinker. Books that really move me experientially–
Roger Pilkington:
This writing is so very spell-binding for me. His style, humor,  knowledge…he captivates me. I’ve learned so much while “aboard” his boat, the Thames Commodore.
Driftless– my new read, promises this already…Rhodes dives right into the deep geology of the Driftless Region, starting with the story of the Land itself.

I’m just moving back here to my blog. It needs help- I’m working on it after much neglect. I’ve been mainly on FB and IG these past few years. Hello again(!), as I begin sweeping out the cobwebs…

G

Embrace the Last Quarter Moon for Reflection

23 Oct
Last Quarter Moon

My silly little way to say hello and to let you know that tomorrow is the last 1/4 moon.

In terms of the cycle, it’s that time of the month for reflection and anticipation – likened to the caterpillar now in the chrysalis or the seed buried deep in the ground.  An excellent time for some quiet interior work, as a natural balance to our rather blustery out-in-the-worldness.

My questions:  What’s working? What’s not.
What am I keeping? What might I be willing to exchange for something else?
What have I outgrown? What do I seem to be growing into?

Nothing is for certain, here in the metaphorical darkness — the caterpillar and the seed are in flux — becoming something other than what they had been. Same for me… Another opportunity to participate in my own evolution. Or at least, witness it.

                  “And when I looked,
                                         the moon
                                    had turned to gold.”
                             
                                          ~Billie Holiday

Fierce Mother Love: A Meditation on Presence

11 Dec

That’s my working title anyway.

I saw/received/ had the idea for this drawing last week and sketched it out in the margin of some notes I was taking. I originally saw a bat in the central spot where the face is now. An upside down bat, like a gargoyle – I was thinking Gothic Cathedral, Notre Dame style gargoyles.

And now…a presence. This Presence. Oh my.

Certainly she’s been called a bat, a crone, a hag, an old lady. Probably worse. Most definitely worse.

All I know is that from where I sit, those word concepts do not jive with this Lady. This is fierce Mother Love. A uncompromising Love for Our Planet and Every Thing that dwells there upon. All encompassing. All devouring. All embracing. The prevailing wind.

That’s what this place, this cathedral forest seeks. Lovers of change, of motion, of life in the tumultuous moment. Those still centers that can witness Life in its endless cycling; unafraid.

Nurturing, holding, keeping, supporting, restoring, preparing, sustaining, soothing, reflecting: being with.

I am held. My new mantra.

I’ve finished two more forests and will post them soon-ish. These Forests are meditations, I think. Guides coming through? Hands/help reaching/piercing the veil. There are better metaphors maybe, but these work for now. For me, this drawing feels/confirms that I/we are not alone. And today, that is a very kind and welcome thought.

🙏❤️

Transform Your Inner Narrative for Personal Growth

18 Aug

curation (n.)

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.

Unlocking Creative Potential: A Teacher’s Perspective

15 Sep Tools of the Trade
Tools of the Trade

When my student is beyond excited. When they have that look in their eyes. When I know that something clicked, an alignment occurred with their soul. We are together for an instant in this blissed out moment that feels like the entire universe exhaled an immense and satisfied ‘YES!’

Last week, Jim asked if he could take his picture home to work on. He was so excited to show his parents his work in progress. He’s been in class close to 16 weeks, developing his style; drawing, painting, penciling what he loves- reptiles, lizards and snakes. He is a walking encyclopedia on everything reptile. He is also a connoisseur of morning glories. His enthusiasm is contagious.

Recently, he’s adopted a new tool- Derwent Inktense Ink pencils. He uses an easel, inventing his style of working as he goes- experimenting with different papers, pencils, techniques…and last Thursday- BOOM! Lightning struck and he was hooked. The muse had him by the tail and it was just the coolest thing to witness. He grew exponentially, expanded beyond his old story of his ability and I was able to see THAT MOMENT.

‘Oh wow’ he said to himself, looking at his picture, his hands full of pencils and paintbrushes, ‘I love this. I love this.’

When class was over, as he’s walking out the door, I saw that he also had the case of the studio’s Derwent pencils. Around $150 worth of these amazing things, cradled to his chest.

So I’m like, ‘Er…you’re taking the pencils too?’ A bit hesitant to let these things walk out the door.

His face was absolutely shining, as he said so seriously – “Yes! I promise I’ll be careful with them. I promise! Is it ok if I borrow them, since no one else is using them?’

In that moment, I could see the monetary value of those pencils was absolutely nothing compared to the value that they had to him, this gifted 13-year-old artist who had just discovered an entire world of wonder and awe in a case of pencils. We had discussed the price of him buying the exact set earlier in class that day, so he knew what he was asking.

‘Yes.’ I said.

He didn’t even say thank you or goodbye, (which he does every time, because he’s a polite and gracious kid) he instead just turned and floated toward his mom, clutching the pencils and his drawing.

Is that not connection we’re all longing for? A direct pipeline to joy? This is what is sustainable. Find the things that expand you, that inspire you to become more of who you are. It’s not about ‘Am I ‘good’ at this or any other external marker. It’s about what fulfills you. And that is always an inside job. How do you find a way to let the radiance out? What is it that tickles your fancy, that you do just for the sheer delight of exploration and creativity?

‘Oh wow’ (you overhear your soul say), ‘I love this. I love this.’

And honestly, it feels exactly like the entire universe is exhaling an immense and satisfied ‘YES!’ -through you.

Art Inspiration from Puerto Vallarta Tapestry Scarves

23 Mar

I think she’s here. Have another layer of white pencil to do- that’s it for her face, I think. It for now anyway.

Excited for background- purples, fuschias, lime greens…

Have these gorgeous tapestry scarves- I photographed them in the airport in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. So some inspiration for the foliage on black background.