Elements of Creativity

Today is Friday, March 7, 2014.

I found this piece of art on the web to illustrate the idea of creativity, and I must say it has given me some ideas.  I don't know if the artist was using symbolism on purpose or not, but I see some symbolism anyway.  

For me, the flowers are a sign of ideas blossoming, with the possibility of bearing fruit later.  The colored pencils have to do with creating color and excitement in my life, as well as with embracing the diversity of all the parts of myself.  The rainbow brings a promise of happiness and wellbeing after a storm, a sense that all is right with the world. 

The arrow is not only going up and out, but turning a corner, perhaps signifying that my life is also turning a corner.  The green/blue things in back could be leaves, or they could be water, both symbolizing new life for me.  The pink things under the arrow might be flowers, but it also looks like a pink cloud.  It reminds me that I am most creative when I have a positive attitude, when I see the world with rose colored glasses, when I see silver linings behind the clouds. 

The second face within the face reminds me that whatever appearance or qualities I may project to the outer world, I am Soul.  As Soul I am indestructible, eternal, happy and free.  I am neither male nor female, stateless, and I do not have a "personality," only qualities that combine to create a unique energy signature that is the real me.  

When I am creative, I am at my best. I am fulfilling my potential.  I am centered in God's love, and I am in the groove.  By extension, when I am not being creative, I am holding myself back, censoring myself, limiting myself  That's when I am upset, worried, and fearful.  

Each and every day, it is my job to bring myself back onto the path of creativity whenever I stray.  This is my job for the rest of my physical life, and for the rest of whatever lies beyond.

I am Soul.  I am creative.  Creative imagination is the spark of the Divine within me.  I am blooming now.  I am colorful and happy.  My bodies (physical, emotional, causal, mental, etheric, and Soul bodies) are in a process of being balanced.  I have weathered the storms and have a positive outlook on life.  I am turning a corner in my life.  I identify with life, health, and growth.  I am multi-faceted.  I am Soul. :-)

What's Hard About "Thinking Spring"

Today is Wednesday, March 5, 2014.

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.  –Anne Bradstreet

You can make yourself miserable wishing and hoping for spring, especially if you live above the 40th parallel in the Northern Hemisphere.  All the pictures of spring show green grass, trees in full blossom, leaves budding on trees, tender green shoots breaking ground, baby animals, and delicate buds of flowers.   

What actually happens here is that snow takes its sweet time to melt, and the ice melts during the day and re-freezes at night, creating extremely hazardous black ice.  What snow is left is mixed with sand and dirt, what we call black snow.  The roads are gritty with leftover sand and salt, and the lines and markings are faded. Trees don't blossom and grass doesn't green up until mid-May.  Flowers don't do very well outdoors until late May or early June. Birds seem to take their time migrating back to their homes in the north, too. The ones who come back early must wish they hadn't when we have those late-season blizzards and ice storms.

The snow that falls in late winter and early spring is heavy and wet, not like the powder snow that falls in mid-winter, when the temperatures are low.  Heavy snow is hard to shovel because it's, well... heavy.  The wind is wet and raw, and the skies are often overcast in late winter and early spring.  The ground is soft, wet and muddy from the snowmelt.

So no, the earth doesn't really end up looking very springlike until, well... summer, actually.  Seriously.  By the time June 20 or 21 rolls around, we finally have spring, which has probably lasted only a couple of weeks. Then we get right into summer, no waiting around.  

By the calendar, it's 15 days to spring.  By the view outside my window, it's still winter.  One of the groundhogs forecasted six more weeks to spring, but it's been about five weeks already, and spring is nowhere in sight.  Here in the north, we will have to make allowances for cold nights and snowstorms for another month to six weeks.  Rather than make myself miserable about how long it takes spring to arrive, I will have to steel myself to the cold and snow for a little while longer, and just enjoy the occasional 50-degree warmth whenever it occurs.  At least the sun is rising earlier in the morning and setting later at night.  Thank God for that!   :-)

Conscious Reflection

Today is Monday, March 3, 2014.

Be a reflection of what you'd like to see in others.  If you want love, give love.  If you want honesty, give honesty.  If you want respect, give respect.  You get in return what you give.

A reflection is a great visual image for what we know of as the Golden Rule.  The problem with this image, is that when we think of things that reflect – water or glass – they are passive reflectors.  The water and the glass cannot choose what to reflect.  They simply reflect what is there.

Human beings who are not yet "awake," spiritually, are also passive reflectors.  They naturally reflect the behavior and attitudes of the people around them, and in turn, the people who surround them are reflections of their own attitudes and behavior.  Because they are not yet awake, they have no idea that this is going on.  It's all unconscious behavior.  People will complain that others around them are not to be trusted, or that they are unkind, careless, or thoughtless.  The vast majority have no idea that they are guilty of the same behavior.

Once you start waking up, you begin to see how others reflect your own behaviors and attitudes.  It takes a little more awareness to see how you function as a reflection of others. 

Unlike water and glass, human beings don't have to be unconscious reflectors.  We have the power to make changes.  We can consciously and proactively choose what behaviors and attitudes to reflect.  We can choose not to reflect certain negative behaviors and attitudes.  

Gandhi is often quoted as saying, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."  Unfortunately he did not say it this way. This is what I would call a "sound-bite translation" of what he did say, which is this: 

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”

This is what today's quote spells out.  We must change first.  The world around us will change when we do.  

Start by thinking of one quality you think is really necessary in this world, something you wish were more prevalent in the world.  Now, how can you reflect this quality?  How can you model this quality to others?  Write down this quality and set it up as an "event" on your smart phone.  Set it up as a daily event that starts before you normally wake up or at a time just before you normally check your messages each morning. 

Set up another event three months from now to review. Let's say you chose "joy" as the quality.  For the daily event, you can type in "Reflect joy today."   For the review event, ask a question: Is there more joy in my life?   Try this with as many positive qualities as you like.  Pretty soon you'll get the hang of it without the smart phone reminders.  :-)

Follow the Sun

Today is Friday, February 28, 2014. 

Follow, follow the sun
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done.
Breathe, breathe in the air.
Set your intentions.
Dream with care.
Tomorrow is a new day for everyone,
Brand new moon, brand new sun.
So follow, follow the sun,
The direction of the bird,
The direction of love.
Breathe, breathe in the air,
Cherish this moment,
Cherish this breath.
Tomorrow is a new day for everyone,
Brand new moon, brand new sun.
When you feel life coming down on you,
Like a heavy weight.
When you feel this crazy society,
Adding to the strain.
Take a stroll to the nearest waters edge
Remember your place.
Many moons have risen and fallen long, long before you came.
So which way is the wind blowin',
And what does your heart say?
So follow, follow the sun,
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done...

– "Follow the Sun," by Xavier Rudd

© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

The explanation for why sunflowers always seem to be facing east in the morning and west at sunset is surprisingly prosaic and uninspiring.  It has something to do with the fact that the narrowest part of the stem is the part that is actually growing and experiencing cell expansion, and that the cells grow and expand on one side of the stem, then the other side.  This causes the plant to be lopsided, so it faces one way and then the other.  It's true, though, that plants are sensitive to light and that they have a kind of internal clock, just as humans do.

The sun has long been recognized as a supporter of life on earth.  It brings warmth and light.  It provides energy.  It invigorates and energizes all living things.  In the song lyrics above, we are counseled to follow the sun, to follow life, light, energy. 

We are also advised to know which way the wind is blowing.  In other words, we are to be aware of our surroundings, aware of what is happening around us.  

We are told to breathe in the air and cherish each breath.  To me, that means to stay in the present moment.  

That sounds to me like a great recipe for growth. :-)

I See You

Today is Wednesday, February 26, 2014.

I See You

I see your Beauty,
your Creativity,
your Strength
and your Magnificence.

I see your loving Heart,
I see your Shining Light.

You are a Blessing in my life. 

I See You 

 –Julie Parker 

In certain countries of Africa, such as Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, when people greet each other, they look into each other's eyes.  One of them says, "I see you."  The other responds, "I am here."  The Africans say that the thought behind this is, "Until you see me, I do not exist.  When  you see me, you bring me into existence."  

The eyes are windows to the Soul, so this eye-to-eye greeting is a powerful acknowledgement of the other person as Soul.  Since Soul only exists in the present, this is the finest way to be in the present moment.  Not only is it an acknowledgement of ourselves and others as Soul, but it is also an acknowledgement that we are all connected at the level of Soul.

One of the reasons that the Na'vi people in the movie Avatar were so popular was that their culture was based on this deep recognition of one another.  Many have commented that the Na'vi people in the movie were an allegory for Native Americans, and that's true, but in a larger sense, they are representative of all cultures that recognize the significance of connecting with others at a deep level, and not simply superficially.

The greeting, "Namaste," used in India, is another way to say this.  It means, "I bow to the divine in you."  It is a way to recognize that we are all children of God, that we all carry a Divine essence.  

It's too bad that there are some places here in the United States where it is actually dangerous to look someone in the eye.  We should always be able to look each other in the eye, and no matter what our customary greeting is, we should always acknowledge each other as Soul.  :-)

Losing Sight of the Shore

Today is Monday, February 24, 2014.

You sometimes have to lose sight of the shore in order to reach new lands.  –Sue Krebs

 Actually, I think you always do, not just sometimes. 

People here in the United States read in our history books how the Europeans crossed the great oceans between continents.  We know that, most of the time, they sailed near land, within sight of the coastline. In order to get to China by sea, they had to go all the way around Africa and India.  In seeking a more direct sea route, they had to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and they had to lose sight of the shore completely, for weeks. They had no idea that the continents of North America (Turtle Island) and South America existed. The history books only dimly hint at the sailors' fright, but we know that there was always mutiny on their minds as their fear grew. 

Just like those European sailors long ago, we must occasionally go across some kind of divide in our lives where we completely leave the old way of doing things behind in order to arrive at a new way.  Soul is in command, but occasionally Ego threatens mutiny, because it fears what it doesn't know.  

I've actually done this several times in my life, but the last time was as frightening in its way as the very first time.  I was born into a family that moved around a lot, which was actually pretty good practice for me.  Every time we moved to a new house in a new town, I was petrified, dreading the necessity of making new friends and finding my way around a new town and a new school building.   (Every time my dad announce another move, my three siblings shouted, "Yay!" and I started to weep.)

After I graduated from university, I moved to Japan with my husband, lock, stock, and barrel.  The plan was to live there for the rest of whatever, and I was so frightened that my body began to rebel.  I had no menstrual period for months – and no, I was not pregnant.  When the menstrual cycle resumed, it was irregular for the rest of my life.  (It had been perfectly regular before.) 

When I moved back to the United States, I began a teaching career in Oregon, and moved into an apartment that a family friend secured for me, without having seen it first.  I managed that move slightly better than the last one. 

Four years later, I moved away from my first job in Oregon, I went back to the Midwest without a clue as to what I would do next.  I ended up getting a part-time job and taking a couple of university classes that I needed in order to get a teaching certificate.  The year after that I went to graduate school full-time.  

When I was finished with grad school, I was faced with another big move.  I went to Kansas City to work, but had such a terrible experience there that I retreated to my parents' home in South Dakota. Then I moved to St. Paul, MN, where I found a job that lasted a little over 18 years.  

At the end of that time, I retired, and once again, I had to completely leave behind a whole way of life as I transitioned from working woman in a place where I had lots of friends and a fairly active social life to retiree in a small town on the prairie, with family nearby, but no friends except the ones I have online, and almost no social life to speak of.  

Now I am contemplating another big change in my life.  Hopefully, I will make this next change more gracefully than I have before.  I've certainly had enough practice!  Once again I will leave behind that with which I have become familiar and cross a divide to arrive at a destination in which everything is unfamiliar.  

The last journey will be one that many people dread.  It is one that we have all undertaken, as Soul, but the vast majority of us have no memory of it.  In death, we will cross a great divide from physical life on Earth to life in the worlds of spirit.  Those who have come back from near death experiences tell us that death is like going through a door from one room to another.  We will not cease to exist; we will simply drop the physical body when it is no longer needed.  I hope to make that journey, also, with dignity, grace, and aplomb.  :-)

I Did It. I Blogged Every Day for a Whole Year

Today is Saturday, February 22, 2014.

Well, folks, I did it. 

I started this blog on February 21, 2013, with a vow to myself to write a blog entry every day.  I actually started one other blog last April, so have kept myself quite busy publishing not one, but two blog posts each day.  My year for this blog is up today. 

The idea of writing a blog daily for a year came from author Nicole Helget, who has just had her third novel published.  I had promised myself that I was going to write when I retired, but I hadn't yet followed through with my promise.  The blog, with it's self-imposed publishing deadline, provided the perfect means for me to follow through in a timely and measurable way.  

The most obvious benefit of having done a blog post each and every day over the past year has been proving to myself that I can write on demand, and that I can find all kinds of things to write about.  I've developed the habit of writing every day, which is awfully good discipline.  Some of these posts have taken just about all day to churn out.  Others were dashed off in 30-40 minutes.  Some took quite a bit of research to produce, while others came from inside of me.  Some may be seeds of a future book, but all have been good experience. 

Writing a blog has been beneficial in one other important way.  It has facilitated and augmented an inner process that I've been going through, not only transitioning from teacher to writer, but also in many ways rebuilding my life and processing some of the lessons in my life so that I can apply them in a practical way to create my future.  I've been able to process a lot of memories of living in Japan, record and interpret some important dreams, and organize my thoughts on a number of different topics.  I've written about a number of different personal qualities in the past year: love, attachment and detachment, happiness, grace, etc.  I may have seemed like a know-it-all at times, but know that I was writing more for myself than for anyone else.  What I have gained is a sense of clarity about those qualities and their importance in my life. 

I will be continuing this blog in the future, just not every day.  My intention is to post here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week.  The idea is to keep the momentum going, but reduce my blogging just enough to make room in my schedule for other projects.  

My readers haven't left too many comments, so I sometimes wonder how many people are actually reading these blog entries.  The statistics show that a number of them have had several hundred clicks.  Every one has had at least one reader.   In any event, I'd like to thank you, my readers, for following me on this blog.  Without you, this would just be a private journal.  Because of you, this blog is also an opportunity for me to serve others.  :-)