Welcome to the art/life trail ride during the second week in April!
Our keyword for this moon/month (April 7 – May 6) is Clarity.
“Why do some people stop growing at age 30, just going from work to the couch and television, when others stay vibrant, curious, almost childlike, into their 80s and 90s?”
John Gardner
How about a 30 day challenge! It’s said that anything can be changed if we focus on it for a solid month. Change is hard and resistance is the first step in the decision to let a distraction go. Resistance isn’t meant to stop us. Resistance stands there stubbornly, increasing the real need to push on through.
This moon/month we can think positive challenge. A positive challenge generates creative stress. Creative stress is a one of the great art/life motivators.
Creative stress ignites positive tension…the oyster being stressed by grit turns the grit-stress into a pearl. Got pearls?
Clarity leads to Wisdom making super traction. Before long situations and circumstances are infused with a dynamic forward momentum…outta the gate and on the trail!!
To increase Clarity notice what puts you on the passion path. Pay attention to what supports you in getting you out of bed in the morning with your guts and gumption intact.
At the start of this new Natural Year ask yourself:
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What do I want, choose, desire to have come of this?
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What is this for?
Like a Zen koan these inquiries shake up the synapses, roll around in your mind and usher intuitive insight starting momentum for the six moon/months ahead.
‘I Run With the Reindeer’, detail, Drozda, watercolor on paper, 1979, 18 x 24”
There’s no need to turn your life upside down to discover passion…and there’s no need to get dramatic… knowing where energy is best focused lines you up with the juice, the guts and the gumption that will get you galloping down the trail.
“Whether in art, in manners, or social structure the trend to intricate elaboration often falls of its own weight, and men and women again seek a simple direct relationship to life and one another as human beings.”
John Gardner
Apply creative connection and choose deeper expressions of goodness, truth, and beauty as you find them…this is the year to go for the gold!
Here is the frame: globally, we all moved across an energy threshold and into a new Creative Decade at the beginning of 2008. In 2016, look over your shoulder to see what you’ve created since the cycle began. Notice where you’ve been sourcing energy.
‘Genius’, Drozda, Acrylic/Arches paper, 18 x 24”, 1981
Here are some prompts to get guts, gumption and juicy momentum primed…
Make lists
Create Mind Maps
Keep an Idea Jar
Light a Fire and ‘read’ the dancing flames
Look at what is working and expand it
Find an Imagination Tree; pick the fruit
Adopt an Accountability Buddy
Start a Grace Account
Listen to Your Heart Song
Below is a short list that I’ve valued for many years from Self-Renewal by John Gardner:
Traits Shared by Creative Individuals:
Openness
Independence
Flexibility
Capacity to find order in experience
Confidence, self-assertiveness, sense of destiny
The faith in one’s capacity to do the things one wants and needs to do in the area of one’s chosen work.
I’ll continue to remind throughout the year that the 2016 Lifecycle Forecast offers tools, ideas and focus points to support compassion in action. Moon/month by moon/month the trail ride expands our creativity and sanity.
April Mastery Challenge:
Hold a vision of Clarity. Conduct an experiment and trust in what you discover. Start with a clear foundation or platform for what it is you will create during the coming six moon/months (April – October). Keep in mind that the foundation can be physical, emotional and/or spiritual. Think structure for the work of your art/life. Notice, lean in and cultivate what makes your heart sing. Stand in your power being loyal to your deepest calling. Through out this cycle pay attention to the experiences that are worthy of developing. The idea is to generate momentum and ignite the spark that carries you forward.
Have fun with your 30 day challenge! Be courageous and willing to gain Clarity! This is the power stance regarding your passion and how you will commit to taking action.
WISE WOMAN OF THE WEEK
In the second week of each month I place the spotlight on a Wise Woman who has stood the test of time…renewing the world with her gifts and contributions for decades past and to come…
Welcome our Wise Woman companion on the art/life trail this week…
“We are the leaders we have been looking for.”
Grace Lee Boggs
Grace Lee Boggs cultivated guts and gumption as a visionary. She dedicated life to demonstrating power. She understood how an individual inspires others and affects evolutionary change.
Click on the link to watch the award winning documentary honoring her 100 years of blazing the trail of change in her own exceptionally clear way.
Thanks you Grace Lee Boggs for your passion in action shared with humor and compassion…grace indeed.
Bring Clarity to your art/life with Luna See and Lifecycle. These natural time management tools are designed to align with the creative rhythms of your best art/life.
TIME MASTERY IS SELF MASTERY
Discover and uncover the ecstatic thrill of ‘making life the master peace’ while traveling the art/life trail.
