I decided to change the name of my creative posts because 1) creativity doesn’t always come on a Friday 2) I love Oprah’s Breathing Space – a place where you can just be present and breathe. Don’t we all need more of that?

I think true joy comes in noticing the small things.

Take this, for example:

{photo by The Inspiring Bee}

It’s the inside of a beautiful tulip. See all those tiny strokes of red as if someone took a paintbrush and hand painted each individually?

It’s so awe-inspiring even on the outside.

It inspired my latest painting.
When you take time to observe the small things, you open yourself up to inspiration.

What have you noticed lately?

{flickr photo by: dalechumbley}

I used to think courage was being able to sit through a horror flick without hiding under a jacket, asking a guy out, or giving a speech. All of which I failed miserably at. As a child, my mom used to buy me books and toys with a theme: A dog that said, “I’m lonely.” A mouse that said, “I’m shy.”

Okay I got it mom!

But as I got older, I realized that what I thought was courage, was far from what I thought it was. Yes, it took some guts and bravery to do the above. But real courage was strength.

The kind of courage I’m talking about is the one…

• that pushes you to say how you truly feel.
• that frees you to be yourself, not repressing your quirky parts out of fear from being rejected or your winning side so others won’t feel dim in your light.
• that lets you sit in the unknown in peace and quells the anxious voice.
• that gives you faith when nothing is going right and everything feels wrong.

Courage is sometimes the fierce lion, but often the determined mouse.

It’s not easy being courageous. But when we get to that mountaintop and feel the wind brushing our face, we will know that the only way to truly live is to be on the edge of comfort and walk toward our greatest fears with courage.

 Are you living your life with courage or in fear?

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt crafty. I think my last crafty stint was compiling that free craft e-book over there on the right.

But I’m happy to say that after a long break, it’s baaack!

Because I’ve been hibernating for awhile, I chose a super duper easy project to ease into.

Basically, I took an old canvas with a painting I wasn’t too excited about and repainted over it in white.

Then, I reused leftover French Toile fabric I had from one of my favorite projects-a recovered antique typewriter I talked about here and here.

And I wrapped it up like a little present using fabric glue to keep it in place. {love that thing!}

It works either as a hanging fabric wrapped canvas or as a frame. If you look close you can still see my original painting through the fabric. I think it looks pretty cool.

Here they are, my two French toile covered projects side by side:

What have you been working on lately?

{It’s graduation season! Wanna know the 5 things I wished someone had told me when I graduated high school? Check out my Beliefnet post here.}

{flickr photo by The Djudju Beast}

Loss is one of those inevitable experiences in life we have to cope with. Hopefully we don’t have to deal with it until we’re older and more able to handle the grief. But in any case, it’s hard. Its impact devastating.

It’s difficult to deal with whether we’re dealing with the loss of a relationship, a job or a loved one (furry kids included). And one of the reasons why it’s so hard is that it reminds us about how short life is. Every loss is like another dying leading us to our own inevitable death.

Sorry to be so grim. But we are talking about death.

While coping is never easy, I’ve recently found a ray of light to help me deal with loss in a new way.

I realized that the being, the job, the opportunity that we feel we lost has been a gift. And when it’s ripped away from us, we forget that. I think we take for granted that life is short. Waking up each day feels like an expectation not a reason for gratitude. And we expect the same from those around us. We think that life will always unfold the way it has been and are shaken up when it’s suddenly changed.

It’s normal to feel angry, sad, and filled with despair when we lose something we love. But when we’re past the point of initial grieving, I think we owe it to ourselves and the people and things we lost to find the gift in their presence. It’s not only the empty space they leave which makes up the legacy of their life, but their entire life.

Whenever I feel like I’m falling into despair, I refocus my perspective. I remember that the time we have with people and the experiences we love are less important than the remaining impact they left on our hearts. I’d rather remember the gift than the anger. I’d rather hold onto their love than the loss.

And I think it’s important to focus on their purpose of being here instead of why they left. We will never know why something we love has to end. Trying to find the answer to that question can only pull us down a road toward more struggle and suffering. Instead, I choose to find answers to why they were here in the first place.

It’s not easy to deal with the sound of silence after something we loved was taken away. But I know that if we can continue to remember the love, hope is right around the corner…

{photo by The Inspiring Bee}

In life, there is no room for bench warmers. There is no tree with which to hide, no tunnel to escape from, no magic invisibility cloak to help you vanish into thin air.

Perhaps that’s why we lean towards books and movies of fantasy and fiction. When life gets hard, we can’t just disappear for a moment, retreat within and return when we’re strong again. So we watch wistfully wishing we could momentarily catch our breath.

When life gets hard and we’re weary from the fight, the desire to “sit this one out” is great. How do you keep going about your day, maintaining work, chores, your daily tasks when a huge surmounting issue is weighing heavily on your shoulders?

I’ve worn that heavy cape. I’ve felt the crushing pull of not knowing, where you have two choices and neither are ones you would choose. And in that fear, I know that there is only one thing that can help me get through it.

Dig a hole through that tunnel. Find a way to walk through the fear on your own terms. If illness, loss, or some other impending doom is on your way, don’t avoid it, or succumb to the grief the way we’d suffocate under a wave. But find a way to feel like you have control.

For me, this means writing. Only in the process of writing can I completely lose myself to the words. I can forget whatever fear I’m about to face. I can let go of worry. I can forget about the worst scenario. Surfing the internet won’t help. Talking to others may not help. Sometimes the only thing you can do is to let go into the thing you truly love and find joy in this moment.

If you’re in the process of facing yours fears and you’re sick with worry, I hope you will carve a space for your gentle soul. Find a place where you can cry, where you can feel the wind on your face, where you can hold yourself with love and light and remember that regardless of the darkest shadows that want to linger, weight on you and drain you, you can CHOOSE how you will live your life. It may be a small choice. It may be choosing to walk instead of drive or draw instead of write. But if we can find a way to take control of what we feel we have no control of, we will again find the strength and courage to keep going.

{photo by The Inspiring Bee}

For me, it was:

“You’re not creative.

You’re not talented enough.

No one’s going to really believe you’re a writer.

Writer’s don’t make $.

You’re nothing special.

There are millions of people more talented than you so why try?”

Deep in the dark, dusty corners of my mind was a slew of non-confronted falsities that were not only taking up some important real estate, but were insidiously controlling my life.

I realized to get beyond it, I would need to tackle each one. And not just with sprinkles of positivity, but gut-wrenching courage, anger, and a fiery attitude. If could not change completely get rid of the voice that brought me down, I sure as hell would not let it control my life.

Maybe you’re battling your own lifetime of lies. Well today is the day you decide to stop listening to them!

• Do not spend any more time, energy or money on believing in something that is not your own truth.
• Do not give away your power to “friends,” relatives, co-workers, acquaintances who wither in your light.
• Do not focus on what you can’t do.
• Stop believing that you need a guarantee to go forward with your dreams.

The only difference between you and your successful colleague is that they ventured out and tried.

Free yourself from the lies that you’ve been told about what’s possible for your life.

Embrace who you are wholeheartedly and dare to risk that every thing you’ve been told about how ___ (fat, dumb, ugly, stupid, untalented, etc.) you are, is untrue.

Create your own reality.

Define your own life.

Then join us reformed souls on the other side.

{If you want to learn how I found an extraordinary moment while in traffic, check out my latest article for Beliefnet Health, “Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary.”}

{flickr photo by ArtJonak}

In an effort to be accepted, even loved, we often dumb down ourselves so others don’t feel intimidated or less than in our presence. Over time this builds as inner resentment, anger and a lifetime of being “good enough.” It’s sad that we feel the need to be ordinary to feel liked. It’s even sadder that we’re willing to give up our own power for the power of others.

But we do that every time we choose to hold back, take opportunities below our skill level or to accept a life that just doesn’t feel right.

Recently, I too was shaken up. I realized that my own past struggles came from a very deep place of self-doubt and fear of success. If you’ve been spending more time on the computer, on your cell phone or doing anything that distracts you from your true purpose, we’re in the same boat.

Sometimes we settle because we’re afraid of what’s next. Sometimes we stop trying because we’re tired or burnt out. In the end, we will be responsible for the life we lived. Will we reflect back on the moments wasted watching mindless television and living an ordinary life-never really ruffling any feathers but at the same time never quite reaching our dreams? Or will we finally wake up to the life that we’ve been born to live?

Listening to this 9 minute Sounds True audio from Michael Bernard Beckwith inspired me to get off my couch and get back to work on my work-in-progress. Hope it will inspire you to begin the process of working on your life. It’s not an easy nor a glamorous task, but the only one necessary to live the life of your dreams.

Like some of you, I’ve been here and there and everywhere lately. I haven’t had a ton of time to devote to my art. But I hope to pick it back up soon.

I have done a few fun things this week, however. I blogged about one thing that soothe’s my soul on Beliefnet and I’ve also created a free e-book of 8 creative crafts I’ve done over the years. It’s just a handy dandy little guide with how-tos and photos on everything I’ve concocted from faux flower balls to frames made out of pencils. Most of them are fast, easy and all are inexpensive. It’s free and fun and just something I’ve created for the few of you who have been so loyal, kind and sweet to me over the years I’ve tried to maintain this blog.

Just fill out the contact form on the right and I’ll email you the pdf.

Thank you all for supporting me and encouraging me to keep writing!

Hope you like it and please feel free to share to your loved ones. Have a great Friday the 13th!

I’ve been feeling burnt out lately. Actually, I didn’t even know that’s what it was until I read Fried: Why You Burn Out and How to Revive by Joan Borysenko. All I know was that it was getting hard and harder to blog lately. And I was also losing my creative drive. Hence, the lack of Creative Friday posts lately.

After digging into that book, I learned that being burnt out affects each of us in different ways. We become emotionally exhaustive, disengaged, cynical, feel diminished, isolate and lose sight of why we’re doing what we’re doing in the first place.

While I hadn’t experienced the full total experience of burning out, I definitely was creeping up to the edge. This Easter weekend, I vowed things had to change and fast!

In Julia Cameron’s infamous book, The Artist’s Way, Cameron says:

“Our artist child can best be enticed to work by treating work as play.”

Insert light bulb here. All work and no play was draining my creative fountain and I needed a break ASAP. Oh boy did I wish I had taken my own advice sooner. But better late than never right?

This weekend on an impulse, my husband and I took a much needed one day trip to Monterey.

It was an important reminder that in order to meld meaning into our ordinary day-to-day lives we need to take a break, play and open our eyes to the possibility and magic taking place all around us each and every day.

What’s inspiring you lately?

It’s hard not to feel grateful when you see a mommy seal with her new pup.

*The labels people give us can define who we are, if we’re not aware of it. Find out how what others tell you can have a negative impact on your life over on my new Beliefnet Health blog, Happy Haven.

Your True Purpose

There will come a time when you doubt your influence and significance in life. Maybe in your twenties you thought you were invincible and believed that you had the power to change the world.

In your thirties, your dreams began to shift a bit. You scaled them down as other things and people took priority.

Somewhere along the way you began to lose sight of your dreams. You now worry that you may never fulfill your purpose. And that regardless of any fame or recognition you’ve gotten over the life of your career, the most important thing is having a sense of purpose and meaning. But you’re not even sure you managed to do that.

Here’s what I think. I think you deserve a pass. Just for today, consider the impact you have by just being here.

Don’t believe me?

Ask your kids, your friends, your partner, what you do for them that makes them happy and what they love most about you. It won’t be your job promotion, your book hitting the best seller list or anything else you think you need to have in order to have a meaningful life.

My grandfather, for example, had one of the biggest influence on my life. Not because he worked three jobs on the plantation to support his family. In fact, on paper he didn’t do anything grand or momentous except for the fact that he loved his family and he loved me. He had a very simple, ordinary life.

Sometimes we get too hard on ourselves for not “making it in life.” We’re not all meant to be millionaires, best-selling authors, and spiritual gurus. What we are meant to do is to truly be who we are.

Just by the act of being authentic we free ourselves and others to be the loving, influential beings we are all meant to be.

For today, try learning to wear a garment of gratitude instead of hard cold armor. Try it and in doing so, watch as the meaning, and influence you’ve always wanted doesn’t just flow into your life effortlessly.