An epidemic is occurring in our country; creativity is on the decline and battling for its survival. Cuts in funding for the arts, standardization in schools, and modifications in our national priorities have caused creativity to be at an all-time low. Europe saw this decline and made immediate amends to try and improve the situation, but the U.S. is not addressing the problem on a national level. If the deterioration of creative thinking is not a priority, what is? Standardized testing? Homogenization? Personally, I am not in favor of a compliant drone-like society. We need audiences who can handle complexity, and artists who challenge us on a deep level if we want to advance our national culture.

Since I don’t have kids, I cannot comment on changes in education or in the home.  However, this national crisis reaches far beyond our schools. There is a general decline in the ability to think creatively, deeply, and for oneself. As the Shift progresses, we must strengthen our capacity for creative problem solving and independent reasoning. For the sake of our creative evolution, consider these ideas for breaking the habit of low-energy (non-creative, passive) thinking.

Disconnect from the hypnosis of modern practices

Turn off the TV. Seriously. Give your mind some space. Bombarding your thoughts with messages and images produced by a complex network of media and marketing corporations is the primary enemy of the mind today. So many people are out of touch with what they truly think or feel. How can you know what you truly care about, or want to create, or want to accomplish, if you regularly absorb the reality that corporations want you to experience? TV is a device which diminishes deeper thought and critical, creative thinking. Corporations can sell anything these days, from a news story to products, because so many passively accept whatever is presented without question or investigation. It’s dangerous for artists because it shapes your reality and opinions. Turn off the programming.

Limit your scanning. Notice what you feed your mind. Do you scan everything? Can you think about what you have read and make connections, associations to other information you have received? Or is it all tidbits of scanned information in your mind? When you read something online, do you ask yourself what you think about the ideas presented, or quickly make a judgment and move on to the next scan? Are you scanning this post? What is happening in your mind as you scan: are you categorizing, making assumptions, looking for the sensationalist terms that the media uses to activate fear and excitement? Creative thinking is fortified by depth, by approaching things with perspective and exploring topics with curiosity.

Limit your exposure to nonsense. You are in control of your hours. Clicking on low-energy news stories (celebrities, “shocking” headlines, filler videos) only encourages fear-based and compliant habits. If your friends on Facebook whine about silly moments of their day, complain rather than formulate solutions, or talk about TV, celebs, scandal, rumors or other low-energy topics, then log off. Or challenge them to think; ask a question that requires more complex thinking. Post something useful or deep and ask for their input. If you are embarrassed to do so, observe this reaction. Is Facebook just for adolescent exchanges? Are you engaging in passive thinking every week as you “catch up” with friends? Every day? Several times a day? Do your friends discuss things on an adult level, or post quick opinions and abandon deeper consideration? Reinforcing low-energy thought strengthens that part of your brain. It steals your time, energy and ability to think independently. We know whatever we encourage grows, and the rest withers.

Abandon time-suck traps in favor of abundant creative thinking. Allow space in your day for brilliance to get in. Filling every spare moment with cell phone chatter, email, twitter, business, blogs, Facebook, news, and social networking perpetuates a scattered mind. The plethora of marketing, business and social media advice keeps us frightened to do, do, do, less we “miss out” on an opportunity by not conforming to the standard rules of engagement. Artists need to be free of this influence in order to create unique and genuine expressions. Spend several moments of your day pondering, experimenting with your creations, journaling your ideas, feeding your higher mind. Meditate; it really helps to turn off the static of outside influence. Cook real food, walk, breathe, observe. Don’t go shopping or be around corporate messages.

With daily practice, creative thinking becomes effortless. Observe your thoughts as you disconnect from old habits. As you activate the higher energy of your creative mind, your outlook will change. The experience of life becomes richer; possibilities open wide and original ideas flow. If we want to embrace our new stereotype and be inspiring leaders, we must break the chains of bland, blind compliance. Doing what everyone else is doing won’t serve our art. Be a role model. Spread awareness of deep thinking and creative thought. We are responsible for nurturing the survival of art, and insuring our legacy of creativity.

I changed the tagline on my banner after a wake-up tweet from Hugh MacLeod about the lameness of the term “empowerment.” He was kind enough to sympathize with my struggle for the elusive all-encapsulating term. “Conscious creativity for the Shift” defines my mission; allow me to share a few details about the shift.

What is the Shift?

The Shift is the current global movement of a shift in consciousness. It includes a wide array of shifts in attitudes toward our planet and each other. Environmental concerns, sustainability efforts, world peace, health, human rights and the consciousness movement are all part of the shift taking place in our world. Our awareness is opening to the effects we have on each other and our planet. “The Shift” is a term for this passage from an ego-based existence to a unified awareness of the whole.

Why is the Shift happening now?

This can be a delicate subject, as there are endless theories and interpretations of why we are experiencing the Shift right now. The Mayan calendar, biblical and ancient texts, various ruins and predictions by societies past point to these years as active times of change. Grand astronomical events are occurring in our galaxy and solar system. The Earth is experiencing changes in its electromagnetic and gravitational fields. Global disenchantment with current systems of industry, economics, war and abuse of our ecosystem might be pushing the envelope to bring about change. All of these factors may be contributing to the shift, or perhaps it is something we cannot comprehend. Regardless of the reason, we are in a hyper-charged era of human history.

Who is involved in the Shift?

Everyone is involved, whether you are aware of it or not. The continuous (fascinating, mind-blowing) discoveries being made in quantum physics, science, and collective consciousness demonstrate a unification of our thoughts and behaviors which influence our world. Many people are awakening to their individual affect on the collective mind and our lovely planet.

The collective consciousness is a key to global change. Frustrations and fears run rampant in our societies, and unfortunately there are many corporations, leaders and groups who profit from keeping the population frightened and submissive. The Shift is about adding love to the collective consciousness in order to shift the world from fear, greed and violence to love, peace and compassion.

How can you help the Shift?

It’s very easy. Pay attention to your thoughts. When negativity arises: judgment, fear, jealousy, ego, violence, the alarm of a news story, competition, frustration or anger: take a few seconds. Breathe. Note the loss of self-control with these thoughts. Take your focus from your mind to your heart. Let the thoughts drop down to your heart center and dissolve them with thoughts of love; the radiance of the heart.

With practice, you will begin to notice a change in your thoughts. You won’t want to feed the collective fear by clicking on that inflammatory news article, making assumptions about a situation, or reacting without consideration. When we practice patience, understanding and radiating love, we shift the collective consciousness to a positive field of energy. Change can happen, but we have to participate.

What does this have to do with art?

Creation is a natural expression of love. Artists engage the energy of creation every time they perform, paint, write, dance, compose, rehearse or contemplate creative solutions. The Creator State defines a connection between being creative (ideas and the practice of making art) and being a creator (utilizing the seed of God’s creative power within us). The creative state of consciousness is a reflection of that which made everything around us ( “made in his image” is spiritual, not physical.) This is why we love our creative endeavors so deeply. It activates deep connections to the universal will to create, to share possibility, to expand and inspire.

Tap into the Shift’s peaceful plan.

By using your creative skills regularly, you add the energy of creation to the collective consciousness. Just as meditation, TM and Coherence exercises fuel the creative consciousness with peaceful energy, your creative mind adds intentions of creation to the global consciousness.

Your creations affect not only your audience, but the collective consciousness. Creativity combats the numbing influence of fear by stimulating perspective. Art sends glimmers of hope into the collective consciousness, which helps dissolve the veil of hopelessness and compliance in our cultures.

We can make vast changes in our world if enough people realize their affect on the whole and begin to change their thoughts, attitudes and reactions. Creative people have an edge because we’ve always been adding the creative vibration to the collective. We know how to influence our audiences; we know to shape an outcome. By awakening to our influence on the collective, we add the intention of awareness and assist our global society through the Shift.

Fear is an obsessive monster.

• Fear warps the mind with a sense of weakness.
• Fear sustains a feeling of powerlessness and enforces self-protection.
• Fear devours more and more of your mind, disconnecting you from perspective, compassion and higher thoughts.
• Fear keeps you in an incessant loop of righteousness to protect you from illusionary evils.
• Fear does not allow you to see reality objectively.
• Fear can lead to an inability to develop other areas of your life.

You are not your fears.

You take on fears from others; your family, friends, relationships, community, the media, leaders, teachers and anyone you encounter. It is your choice to believe in the fears of others.

Every doubt, limitation, judgment and negative action is the result of fear. We are bombarded by messages of fear every day. The media and marketing campaigns are based on creating fears and reinforcing them wherever you roam, keeping you in a perpetual state of threat and disenchantment.

Artists cannot allow fear to override the soul. We need to serve our creative mind, not a fearful one. Serve your desire to inspire, to create change, to motivate, reflect, tell the truth. Shaping your art to please or manipulate others is not serving your art. Adapting to notions of what you art should be or who it will please is preconceived judgment. Judgment is fear.

Blindly following advice or putting limitations on your work is not art, it’s re-creating what someone else has already done. This keeps your expression in the crippling endless loop of fear. It’s detrimental to your art because you give up your power. If you do what everybody tells you to do, or measure your success by comparing it to others, you will never create anything new. Then we’ll be stuck with the lowest common denominator art – whatever appeals to the most people, for the lowest price, at the lowest cost (mentally and economically) to the artist.

Fear is tested at the threshold of change. When challenged with opportunity, or genuine expression which doesn’t conform, fear will step in and fight for its survival. Fear will fight like a wildcat, disregarding reason and the bigger picture for the sake of self-preservation. You’ll be afraid to change, afraid to break the choke-hold of fear because “something bad might happen!” What would be so awful? Your hit counter stalls? Your follower count dwindles? Your stuff won’t sell? If those things concern you, observe the fear in your choices. China has already mastered recreating popular styles that sell to the masses. Disney has bought out half of Broadway and mastered producing shows that sell. The music industry gives us more of whatever the teenagers buy. We’re in a cultural paralysis of “hits.” Doing more of the same in your personal creative ventures is fear, not art. If you are so afraid, why not go into sales and market something predictable?

It is sad when people give their art a chance, then produce the same work that everyone else is selling, in the same way. That’s not really giving your creative spirit a chance at all, is it? Give us something new, something genuine. Our audiences/customers will maintain their own fear of trying anything new if all they see is the same thing. They are also influenced by fear in a huge way. We can help people wake up from their cultural coma, but we have to be authentic.

Release the fear from your creativity. Thank it for its lessons and escort it out of your studio. The future of art depends on the choices we make as artists right now. We are at the border of change. Fear is the status quo for those without vision. Let your art light the path to genuine expression.

——————————

Spontaneous gratitude giveaway!

Leave a comment on this post about how you face your creative fears, and I’ll draw a name to win a signed copy of my novel The Creator State at 9pmCT on Wednesday, August 18.

Edie Beale, 1975

In the volume of stories about unexplored dreams, Grey Gardens serves well as a cautionary tale. The public fascination with the bizarre life path of the Beales is legendary. The 1975 documentary of a mother and daughter living in their decaying East Hampton home is both curious and heartbreaking. The made for TV film (which is very entertaining) explored the women’s relationship and circumstantial evidence for their demise, but the cause of their extreme eccentricity is still unanswered. We can study the psychological framework for their choices, but the strange and tragic years at Grey Gardens continue to needle us with a deep and disturbing How did this happen?

Regardless of the answer to that question, Grey Gardens shows us lives shaped by fear and missed opportunities. Almost all of the dialogue between mother Edith and daughter Edie revolves around blame, regrets, missed chances, suitors who got away, and unrealized dreams. They constantly discuss the past with a dichotomy of romantic sentiment for their talents, and bitter choices made years ago. While these ladies are karmically entangled for reasons we’ll never know, watching them isolate themselves from the risks of life is a potent metaphor. Grey Gardens is an apt name for their home, where the color of life is drained by the past.

Daughter Edie may have been disillusioned when it came to the measure of her talents, but when an artist denies themselves the opportunity to create, it can eat away at your heart and mind. If your soul’s longing is to perform, paint, write, dance, sing, design or do anything creative, that need will not be resolved until it is satisfied or at least attempted. Art takes courage. The desire to be an artist is a passionate request of the soul. Nothing will quiet this request until it is explored, there is no sense in avoiding it or putting it off until later. The desire will always be there; it can either manifest through joyful expression or loom in the mind’s recesses of fear. You must give your art a chance to live.

Every creative adventure is fruitful in some way, every risk worth the sweat and tears. We live in a society focused on accomplishment. It may be difficult to shake the expectation of stardom, popularity or marketability. Using these shallow measurements for success can crush your creative spirit. When you’re feeling frustrated, ask yourself if you are following your creative desire, or trying to live up to an artistic ideal. There’s no point in saying, “I could have been great.” Try your best and change your idea of greatness if needed. Free yourself from those idyllic expectations and serve your creative life.

The expression of your talents may change throughout the years. Things happen in life that you may not be able to control: your voice, your body, your location, etc. Edie was stuck in a vision of herself from the past, and because she could not escape the constant replay of her choices, she didn’t allow her artistic impulses to evolve into something else-to adapt to her circumstances. As an artist, you have to learn to be flexible with your expression. Your mind may capture an idea of what your art should be and cling to it, which may prevent you from trying something else. Without a willingness to change your medium or style, you may give up on art altogether. Regrets become increasingly toxic as we grow older, and kill the joy of life.

Last week on Twitter I mentioned that I’d like my alarm clock to play Edith Piaf’s Je ne regrette rien, so I could wake up as they did in Inception. Hearing “I regret nothing” each morning would remind me to live my dreams, take the chances my soul wants me to take, and not allow my life to gather any missed opportunities.

Art is power.

You may have been taught otherwise. You may have been told you need a “fallback” career. Your creative dreams may have been sabotaged along your path by the status quo. You may have heard artists are irresponsible creatures who can barely make ends meet. Those old stereotypes are officially extinct.

The evolution of art has brought about new opportunities for creative folks. As an artist, you have a thoughtful, curious, exploring mind. This is a necessary modern commodity. Companies cannot survive without creative thinkers and artists. Social media has demanded creativity, and will continue to do so. Artists can be smart, personable, financially successful, innovative, and channel creations for the greater good. Welcome to the new stereotype.

Your art can change the world.

This is a time of transformation. You can see the rapid changes happening in the world. You owe it to yourself and the world to create the highest possible future for Earth. Sound too ambitious? Maybe for the average citizen, but you’re an artist.

Set your doubts aside and feel the change vibrating in your life. The power of transformation is contagious and cumulative. There are many artists latching onto this period of transformation and using its energy to improve their art, and improve our world.

This is a stereotype we can embrace.

———————————————————-

Need help finding your creative consciousness?

Try me free ebook How to find your Creator State or read my novel The Creator State

Each morning at sunrise, two starling birds soared through the zoo and perched near the flamingo pond to watch the elegant birds eat breakfast.

“I heard,” said the first starling, “they feed the flamingos shrimp to keep them pink.” He watched the bright birds for a while and sighed. “They attract so many people with their beauty. I would love to be admired like that.”

The second starling was struck with an idea. “Why don’t we try it? Let’s eat nothing but shrimp and maybe we’ll become gorgeous creatures to be adored!”

The starlings agreed to attempt the change. A week later they met again at the Zoo. The second starling waited and paced, disappointed in his unchanged coat of dark feathers. Suddenly his friend appeared, gliding in on sweeping pink wings. He had become a flamingo!

“Incredible!” said the second starling. “I stuffed myself with shrimp all week and nothing happened. But look at you! Beautiful!”

His friend beamed. “I am amazed myself, and it happened so quickly!” He eyed the flamingo pond, “Now, for the true test.” He flew over the fence and landed among the big pink birds. They welcomed him immediately, as if he had been a flamingo all along. The second starling looked on, stunned by his friend’s transformation.

Weeks passed as the starling-turned-flamingo enjoyed his new lifestyle. He was photographed often, even in the most mundane of moments, and people admired him all day long. He couldn’t roam about as he used to; no zooming around the park or his old haunts. He stayed safely fenced in with the other flamboyant birds. But he enjoyed the company of his new flamingo friends, and found camaraderie within the group. He could hardly believe his new life; it was a dream come true.

Meanwhile, the second starling darted about freely and began to appreciate his camouflage. He realized the flamingo life was not for him. He relished his simple day to day adventures, and took comfort in knowing he was just himself.

One sunrise, the starling went to visit his old companion at the flamingo spring. “Well, it seems we are both happy with the outcome of our experiment. I see you admired for your beauty, but I am grateful for my anonymity. I can do as I please.”

“And I,” said the new flamingo, “have found a new point of view from these tall legs.”

The starling cocked his head and looked perplexed. “There is one thing I still don’t understand, though. How come the shrimp magically turned you into a big pink bird and not me?”

The flamingo giggled and leaned in to share his secret. “The magic is in the desire, my friend … I never ate the shrimp.”

On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon in Chicago two weeks ago, there was a loud explosion behind our apartment building. BOOM! and the electricity went off. My husband and I laughed and joked about the air conditioners in the city – that they had finally done it; maxed out the ComEd power grid. For weeks it’s been in the high 80s and 90s, day after day, but we are environmental types, and refuse to buy an air conditioner. We don’t even have a fan. I work at home, so the first week of this hot summer was rough, but I acclimated well. As July wore on, we watched more and more AC units pop up in our neighbor’s windows, until everyone was running a unit at night, which makes for a noisy atmosphere when you’re sleeping with the windows open. Between the heat, some intense business shifts and self-imposed deadlines, I had been draining myself of energy. When the electricity went out, I thought, “Perfect. Now I’m literally powerless.”

The transformer which kaboomed that Sunday blew itself clear off its pole. It took 36 hours to install new poles, new transformers (2 this time) and new lines to the buildings affected in our block. Meanwhile the contents of our fridge died a slow death, despite the bags of ice we set in there. But the evenings were nice; we slept in the lakefront breezes in the living room, camped out on the floor. And it was quiet – no AC units buzzing away. Tuesday morning about 1am, the power came back on. I got back to work in the morning, but it was like walking in deep mud; everything was a struggle. Something was draining me, sucking my power. I ignored it and kept pushing forward.

Thursday night I opened our electric bill. Typically we average about 120 kwh a month, thanks to an older refrigerator. I gasped; the bill said 577 kwh for July! What the WHAT? I went down to the basement and our electric meter was spinning like crazy. Another 220 kwh had racked up since the actual reading on Monday (and the electric was out until Tuesday!) I went to bed irritated at this intrusion into my busy week. I had already lost 2 days with the blackout, and now it was going to cost me another day and hundreds of dollars if they couldn’t fix the issue fast.

Friday morning, I got on the phone with ComEd, and they snarkily tell me it’s my problem. Not their issue, we must have something in our place that is using the extra power. Damn these corporate monopolies. I explain, “We don’t even have a fan!” She is deaf to my logic, and keeps telling me it must be something in our unit, there’s nothing wrong with their meter. I’m powerless. I give up on ComEd, vow to buy more solar stocks, and start my investigation.

The search is no longer just about the electric bill. I’ve tied it to the recent drains on my personal power, and I am dead-set on discovering who (or what) is stealing my energy. My first move is to call my Dad, a retired electrician, and review the possibilities. We set up a plan and I’m on it. Our breaker panel has 6 breakers. One by one, I shut them down, run up the stairs and see what it has turned off in our apartment. The bottom three don’t work anything in our unit. Good. Off. The next one up is our fridge, just our fridge, and it doesn’t send the meter spinning. Leave that on. The last two are connected, a double 30amp, and when I turn them on the meter doesn’t spin fast. Hmm. Run upstairs and see it runs our lights and outlets. At this point, I’m dripping wet with sweat from running up and down four flights in the heat, and our building manager is helping me sleuth the situation. We deduce that it may be someone’s AC unit on our breaker, and since it is after 9am, they may have turned it off for the day while they are at work. So we’ll see what happens after 5pm. Before he goes, he reminds me they are shutting off the water for the day for repairs. I take my sweaty self to the gym and run out my frustration, happily distracted by the Tour de France. The gym is practically empty, and I have most of the amenities to myself. It’s like a private spa. I feel better and wonder why I don’t go during off hours more often.

My husband and I go to dinner, come back at 7:30pm, and find the meter spinning away. We shut the breaker off again, hoping the culprit will complain to the building manager and reveal the source of the problem. Saturday afternoon comes, and no complaints have surfaced. We’re determined now, and since the fridge is on a separate breaker and running fine, we keep the breaker off all weekend. No lights or outlets, but we just did this last weekend, it’s light until 8pm, and we enjoy the break from our computers. We realize our next door neighbors to the south are away, whom I heavily suspect because they got a new AC unit in July. We hold steady, breakers off, until they return the next day. Sunday afternoon we see our neighbor’s AC running. Damn, it’s not them! I start to feel hopeless, since the manager told me the neighbor to the north does not have an AC unit. What could be using all of this energy? Later that night, my husband runs into our north neighbor in the hall. He asks him if he’s had any trouble with his outlets. The neighbor replies, “Yeah, my AC outlet went out Friday night. I have it on an extension cord into my kitchen now.” I overhear this conversation and starting cheering silently. My husband closes the door behind him and we jump up and down, celebrating like mimes so our neighbor won’t hear us. We found our power drain.

The building manager arrives Monday with an electrician. After testing the north and south apartment breakers, we discover the offending outlet connected to our line. It is indeed our north neighbor. They pull the wires right out of the wall, so it cannot be reconnected in the future, and rewire his outlet to his own breaker. Also, our bookcase light is wired to our south neighbor, but since it is an involved job to rewire it, and we hardly use it, they leave it on his line and tell me to keep quiet about it. Apparently our building used to have ginormous 2 bedroom, 2 bath luxury apartments “back in the day” and they’ve been chopping them up since World War II into smaller and smaller units. I fantasize what it used to look like, and am grateful we got the original fireplace. I hand the manager a breakdown of what our neighbor owes us on our bill, and ask him about some other minor repairs in our unit. We end up with a new bathroom sink drain, and a brand new faucet and sprayer in our kitchen. I walk around our apartment on Wednesday after everything is fixed and feel refreshed, born anew, and proud of my diligence. I feel the power situation has been exorcised from our apartment. Later on, my husband pulls our bookcase light string and it comes off in his hand. Apparently, there will be no more power drains for anyone.

The whole experience of losing power sent a clear message to me as it paralleled my days. My living space seems to be reflecting what’s happening with my inner space. Something is draining me on occasion, and I need to find out what it is. There are activities that give me energy, even when it seems like adding something to the day is heaping on more tasks. Those things I am happy to do. But the power drains; these take some investigation. You need a focused effort to reveal what is taking your personal power. I’m committed to finding out what is sapping my strength, and I’m implementing the same strategy as we used in the electric situation. One by one, I’m testing my breakers. Day by day. What provides confidence, power, and a good energy supply, stays on. Whatever drains my power is getting cut off – or better yet- I’ll rip those connections right out so they can’t get at me in the future.

Barbara Marx Hubbard describes evolution as a spiral: an ever-expanding coil of progression. Each level of our cyclical path does not return us to the same point where we began, but loops us into the next phase of development. I like this image, and it mimics the spiral pattern found in living matter. As Nobel Prize-winner Sir Laurence Bragg said, “We are all made of right-handed corkscrews.”

The ever-expanding spiral of evolution has some interesting qualities. Many people like to use the phrase, “History repeats itself,” which is not literally true of course, but we do recognize similarities between historical events. Unfortunately the human condition allows for a good amount spiritual, behavioral and political amnesia. Lessons have been learned in a very hard way, repeatedly, for centuries, but we do seem to be wising up to the cyclical aspect of our evolution. Most of us can sense the urgency in the air right now. As with any evolution, it comes down to a version of survival of the fittest; change or become extinct.

When it comes to personal evolution, you can sometimes sense the end of one phase and the beginning of a new one. The spiral image works well when applied to the path of our lives. If we’re paying attention, and not bogged down by the confusion and frustration of a new phase (change does not come easily at times), we can see the spiral pattern at work. Often when we are beginning that next new ring of the spiral, we are reminded of the moments and events which launched us into the last phase. It’s as if the beginning and end of the loop recognize each other. As the new loop brushes by the memory of the past, it receives information from the previous starting point. The new phase is reminded of the lessons learned, and encourages it to build on the information gathered in the last loop.

Recognizing the beginning of a new phase eases the fear and doubt that accompany change. We’re creatures of habit, and new ideas or adventures can make us feel uncomfortable. But as the loop sweeps by the last starting point, we can see our choices resurfacing for another go-around. Is this where we want to be, what we want to do again? What do we have to choose in order to progress a little further, to expand that spiral a little larger this time? Do we want to repeat a similar loop, or take a leap of faith and create something different? Can we let our lives adapt to meet the demands of a higher, better path?

These choices are deeply personal, and it is best to give them careful consideration. When you see signs of something new beginning, or coincidences start popping up that remind you of the last phase, take notice. You have control over your evolution. Reevaluate your choices and see which served you and which did not. Did your actions allow for some progress in the last loop? By honoring our past choices, good and bad, we can acknowledge our progress and make clearer decisions about our future.

What is comfortable is not always best for growth. Be true to who you are and your ambitions. When you dream of your best life, is it in the present, or at least the near future? If not, why the distance? What can you do to get there in this phase? If you are living your best life to the fullest already, what can you do to enrich the lives of others? What can you build to help our world?

The opportunity of a new phase is exciting and challenging. Anything could happen! With a little contemplation, we can better our best life’s chances at survival.

I’m very excited to reveal my latest group of paintings! This series contains paintings created with intention. I often talk about the power of intention on this site, and am thrilled to reveal the inspiration behind these abstract paintings. Each piece is made with a unique purpose in mind, expressing an intention for change and a vision of hope for the future. These visions are infused with love and light to create shifts in energy toward a positive outcome.

The Vision Series: Intentions to heal the Gulf of Mexico focuses on our recovery from the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf. The recovery process is difficult, but our intentions to clean and restore our environment are heartfelt and widespread. By documenting the phases of this disaster, we honor the affected subjects and remember their plight, which is ultimately our own.

Intentions of love and healing assist all living things by adding purposeful energy to the collective consciousness. By sending loving intentions to the Gulf waters, the wildlife, and its many inhabitants, we rehabilitate our own hearts and shape a more compassionate future for mankind.

Click on the image for a pdf version of the catalogue, which provides images, details, pricing, and the intention behind each painting. Purchases can be made online via Paypal in my Etsy store. Let me know if you have any requests, I can easily send a private link for special purchases.

Thank you for taking a look at the catalogue! Feel free to share it with others.

My relationship with meditation has been a lengthy affair. I’ve experimented with styles, read books about different methods, and listened to guided recordings. Recently I had a revelation that has (finally) made meditation part of my daily routine.

When I look back at the intensely creative times of my life; when ideas, synchronicities and opportunities met me at every turn, there is a common denominator: I was meditating consistently. By taking the time to get quiet and center myself, I opened my creative flow to inspiration and possibility.

Sometimes when I am heavily involved in a project, I avoid extraneous activities because I want to focus on getting things done. By ignoring self-care, or rushing past the things that make me feel good (getting out in nature, taking that long bike ride, meditating in the morning), I slowly drain myself of creative flow until it has no choice but to give up on me. Then I have to recharge the batteries, which takes much longer when they are completely fried than if I had done some maintenance along the way.

My mind is very busy, and convincing it to be quiet and listen, rather than direct my mind, was challenging. Judging thoughts can sabotage my creativity and self-esteem. My agenda can get in the way of my concentration. When I meditate, I’m able to calm the distractions of schedule, doubt, and deadline. Irritations become insignificant. I feel centered and in control of my day. Best of all, I open myself to my true voice: the creative soul who has much to share with the world.

Meditation can be practiced with structure or without. The point is to get quiet, take your focus off of your mind-chatter, and tap into the immense inner world of consciousness. You don’t “have” to be in lotus position, or burn candles and incense; there are no “shoulds” for what feels right for you. Sitting with your eyes closed is enough; ten or twenty minutes is enough. It may take a few tries to turn off your brain-speak. Disengaging from your to-dos and social schedule requires practice. But you’ll soon find the calm place where your soul and creativity reside.

Last week in my post about the David Lynch Foundation I mentioned David’s secret for finding new ideas. In his book Catching the Big Fish, he reveals how meditation has provided him with a constant stream of images, ideas and insights which fuel his art. I have found the same wealth of inspiration when I meditate. It’s not something that always occurs during the actual meditation; often the perfect inspiration or solution pops into my head later in the day. You have to let go and let the process work for you. Freeing your mind to whatever may happen during the meditation is key to opening the creative channels; pushing for answers or trying to guide your consciousness is contrary to the process. You have to be willing to trust it, and yourself, for whatever the universe has to show you that day.

David Lynch refers to the flow of inspiration during his meditations as “money in the bank.” For professional artists who must create consistently, the ability to “fish” in the creative consciousness and restock the pond of ideas to work with is invaluable. No matter what creative medium you use, meditation provides a way to connect with your inner self, the authentic you, in an uninhibited space. By disconnecting from the often-deceptive chatter of the mind, you create a place where your creative self can interact with its larger counterpart; the collective consciousness.  When you give your inner self a dedicated time to roam freely in the collective consciousness, it always returns with gifts of purpose, light, and love.