CREATE2INSPIRE

What Do I Paint? What Should I Create? WIll Anyone Like It?

2012-02-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

This is a heavy subject for me to write. I, like so many other artists, are always struggling with what we should create. Is it in my best interest kind of thing. Should I create a piece that might not be marketable. Our society has given us so many lines not to cross. These lines are drawn in so many ways from different directions. We look at ourselves in the mirror and see what the media wants us to see. Im fat and ugly. I do not fit in. My art work is not going to measure up to what standards the art world has put out there. This is so ridiculous. I am not a very intelligent man and I can only articulate myself a certain way. I speak from my heart and I do not give a shit what you think. I am who I am and I am a product of the likeness of perfection. My creator gave me a gift of life to do with it as I see fit. I have a freedom to feel the way I want to feel. No matter what chains are shackled on me I can feel the way I want to feel. I can imagine what I want to. I can smile, laugh and be happy whenever I feel. I can be positive and be a great person. I can be the light for anyone in despair. I can create my work to suite MY needs. IF anyone relates to it than it will be a plus. For all of you out there that are struggling with the lie, That you are not good enough and the world will not accept you.....wake up to your life today. To the gutter with everyone that thinks this way because that is where you belong. Be in love with yourself and all that you are. You ARE beautiful. All that you are is beautiful. Your gifts are yours. Do them. Bask in the sunshine of your life. It is your light. You were born happy. Be happy. Dont pray to God our Lord for happiness. Dont ask him to have pitty on you to give you the strength to be happy. What is funny is he gave all the tools we needed before we were born. We had that joy in us all along. Figure the shit out. He gave you Joy. You have it. Let it out. BE who you are. Ok. I know it is easier said than done. I am sitting here laughing because I remember when I would tell my mom the same thing. Yet my mom is my perfect example. Abused wife. The eldest of all her siblings. Immigrant. Yet she rose to the ocassion as so many other americans. She was positive above all of the challenges before her. She conquered her obstacles and tackled the most heart felt circumstances. She would turn to me and say: "Mijo! reach for the stars, they are right in front of you. reach out! Touch them! Dont make excuses. Life is short!" My mom is 74 and loves the marathon experience. She has been doing it over 20 years. Run walk jog crawl. She finishes it. She lost her son husband brother and over the past 15 or so years has lost many other younger siblings and still she is so positive. Wow . What a role model. She is an amazing woman. My best friend. The love of my life. Great example of joy manifested. So quit your bitching and moaning about your life. Suck it up! I am sure we all have that someone in our lives that is always running over the challenges in their lives we can look up to. Ask them yourselves what keeps them going. I am sure they will tell you their love of life and the joy they feel.

So. What should I paint. What ever the fuck you want to paint. Sorry for the profanity. But sometimes too much sugar in the morning coffee puts us to sleep. Sometimes you have to really taste the shit to affect you and wake you UP!. As always. I love each and everyone of you that read this blog.

Create Art For Yourself.

2012-02-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

I have been ask recently why I have been writing about non art related subject on my blog. Am I writing non art related? This is about creating a life for yourself. A life of happiness. We are imagining something beautiful and we are creating this imagery in our minds. Then we contemplate and plan how we are going to manifest it in our lives. Isnt that the same process of creating visual art? So there is the answer. IF it does not resonate with you then click close on this blog. Besides in order for me to create art I need to be happy. Not sad. I am a moody person at my core. Moody in the sense that I feel emotion for everything. I am a softy when it comes to my grandchildren and kids. I always cry when it has been a while since I have seen them. I get emotional when people love my work.I hug everyone. I feel bad when the people that I manage have a bad day.

When I create it has to be a inspirational moment. It has to be a grand gesture to my soul. I have to create something that smiles. So I need to be happy. I need to feel joy. Part of being me is being able to have control of my life. For so long I did not have control. I let the world take control. Lately I have been feeling trapped and it is my fault. I have a wonderful job with good people. I have a great life. I have opportunities that only people dream about. I have my freedom. I love that I have a choice to be happy, healthy, able to wake up and choose to do what I do whatever it is I want to do. I live in a country where I have the choice to be good. Today I have a smile in my soul. I exist as I want to. I make the choices and it is so. My art is mine. I create for myself and I am thankful. I have had a wonderful few years meeting so many wonderful artists that come from different genres and paths. They create in so many different ways. They have their own special passions and I love that about each and everyone of them. They are all so special to me and have had so much of an influence on me. Some of them have been a joy to know and some have ...lets just say they were a learning experience for me. I have had a wonderful time creating with them and showing my work along side of them. Learning from them. Now I have backed off and am on my own. I will now go forward to pursue my vision. I have fulfilled that part of my life that needed to be experienced. This experience has been so beautiful. I have created work to make people happy. That has always been my dream. I still have that dream. I still have so much inside of me to give to others with regards to my art. The art I create for myself will hopefully be an inspiration to someone else.

Isnt that why we create? To inspire? I hope this is why we create as artists. I hope that for you artists that create on a daily basis will not tell an artist with their passion that it will dwindle away and become a chore. I hope that you the artist that is so talented and it comes easy to you will always find the time to inspire someone young and old new or old to the arts. I hope and pray that you will inspire people with your gift. I hope that while you create the art for yourself you think of those eyes that are watching you and looking up to you hoping to be like you...I hope that you stay humble. Because to them you are something big. You are special. They wish they could create like you. Stay humble. Reap the rewards of good karma. remember why you do what you do. I want to always watch you because I think the world of you.

Leave it behind you!

2012-01-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

The idea of thinking and feeling positive is that you have to be always aware that your thouights can change your life. You can be feeling like crap and crappy things are going to happen. When you feel great and are happy no matter the challenge in life you will experience positive things. Sometimes I am feeling so happy and when I am alone with my thoughts...other crazy ideas and emotions creep into my mind. I start to wander around my past and posibilities. I start to reminisce about what decisions I have made throughout my life that have affected others. Could I have done something different to make life easier for someone I love? Have I hurt others because of my selfishness? Have there been loved ones that I could have reached out to before they perished? So many what ifs and could have beens? Is it worth to revisit? If to learn from those experiences I say yes it is ok. As long as it is all in perspective for you. You have to know going into doing that mental research that it is the past. You cannot let it affect you in anyway. Who you are now, hopefully, is a wonderful caring positive loving person that has risen above all of the crap from the past. Do not torture yourself with the baggage of guilt and regret. Look forward to a wonderful place in your life where you can forgive yourself of the negative choices you made. Choices that might have created a very uncomfortable world for you. If anything look at it as a strengthening of your character. Now you know what NOT to do going forward.

Life is so beautiful. It is a gift everyday we wake up. We need to spend the precious moments appreciating each other and loving one another. I say again and again. Quit your bitchin and moaning and get to feeling joy! Create yourself a life of happiness. Be a life artist and create Joy!

Random

2012-01-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

my day started this morning being thankfull for waking. being thankful for breathing normal. not having a disease or illness that keeps me from enjoying my life unninterrupted. i open the blinds and see the bright morning sun. i feel the sun warm through my window. i hear all the birds as they wake and call their families to join them in song. i hear the dogs bark to wake their masters. as the morning progresses i can hear the freeway rush sound increase. sirens start to blare. the alarm clock goes off. the anxiety sets in because now i have spent those early moments not doing a damn thing and i am late for work. now i am rushing to get out the door. people cutting me off. speeding to catch the hour. hurrying to be on time. chasing that minute. stressing out over the lingering thought of possibly getting a ticket for speeding. insurance premiums raising. gas prices on the rise. co workers with bad attitudes. not enough pay. the morning turns into a chore right away. job description is not what i imagined. fear keeps me there. fear of change. eating lunch. too many calories. not enough nutrients. burgers are making me sick with fats and grease. drank too much soda. feeling sick after the lunch break. cannot focus on the rest fo the day. ready to go home. family calls with bad news. worrying about them. friend calls with gossip. annoying information too much information. co worker gossiping about someone else. i am really busy. cant focus. yet my boss is telling us we are slow. worrying about losing my job. the hour is here. didnt get anything done. driving home. driving 25 miles at 20 miles an hour. late to pick up the kids at daycare. they charge for that. running out of gas on the freeway too busy to fill up. running on empty. remembering what the doctor said. lose the stress lose your life. blood pressure is high. grinding teeth. paranoid about the spouse always online at night. WTF? why am i doing this? wait there is more. need to go to the groceries. Need to pay the tags are late. insurance is due. rent/mortgage is due. taxes need to be done. clothes are getting tight. need to take a shower. gas is expensive! check engine light is on. i need a drink. i need to run away. have to get the kids. have to see my mom. dad just died. mis him. mom misses him. need to console her. she lives 60 miles away.

but wait there is more.........

How do we silence the confusion in our heads. for some of us this is a daily ritual. Going through a laundry list of duties and respnsibilities that are never ending. we start out the day appreciating end the day hating life. there was a time where I was thinking this way. the examples I gave are somewhat a parallel to the life I lived. At some point you have to change or modify this destructive way of thinking. We internalize our life in a negative tone at times. We do not realize this destructive thought process. Instead of showing appreciation throughout the entire day we throw the white flag up at first sign of distress. then we began to chase our tail the rest of the way holding on until it is time to sleep.

How do we change? Be happy. Love yourself. Love your life. If something in your life makes you uncomfortable. make a change. Modify your outlook on life. Instead of saying "I guess" say YES! Instead of whining, find a solution. Instead of sitting on your ass eating twinkies...go for a walk. Instead of yelling at your kids because you had a bad day, hug them and kiss them to recieve their love for some of that healing. Love is always healing.

Make a choice. the right choice. Go in the right direction. Free yourself from the drama.

1 2 3

2012-01-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

I write my heart and soul and som read and take offense. Dont read my friends. If this offends you then dont read. I will continue to write. I am not saying anything offensive. i am giving words of wisdom. My view, my take on life. I am trying to inspire people to live their lives happy. I do not know how that is offensive. I am not cramming it down your throat. You chose to read this page. You made the decision to click on my blog, or you typed in my web page here. I did not call you or contact you. If you accessed my page through facebook you were my friend and had seen my address there.

We all have the ability in life to make a choice in anything and everything we do. We make the choice to eat that twinkie and gain a few extra pounds. We make the choice to have that one beer that led to a six pack that led to a DUI. no one forced you. You had a character flaw in you that allowed you to be influenced by your peers to take a hit which led to a termination based on a drug test that was administered the following day. No one to blame. You decided to call off the relationship and regret it knowing you made a mistake and cannot get that person back. We all have a choice.

We have a choice to make the right decisions. We have a choice to wake up in the morning happy and appreciative of the wonderful day we are given. It is how we percieve life as to how we are going to experience it. It is how we internalize our daily experiences to dictate how we are going to feel. this is an amazing life. We are so powerful of a race. We are the human race filled with diversity and color. Filled with talent and wonder. We are so powerful we can do anything we set our MINDS to. It does not have a limit as to how. It does not have a limit as to where. We can and we are and we will. We WILL it to happen. We are going to make it happen and we can acheive. Ever heard the term "make your mind up" well that is very real. Once you make your mind up to anything you want you can have it all. Happiness and joy are the first things we should always be thankful for and desire. Isnt that what we ultimately crave anyway. We look for that feeling through material things. We think we can achieve this joy through external sensations. We already have all we need within us. We can find all of our lifes answers internally. All we have to do is listen. Quiet yourself and listen.

If you do anything else today, focus on joy.

There is more.

2012-01-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful time to be alive. We have so much technology at our availability that we can learn so much about humanity and each other. Yet we choose to work negatively towards our lives. We choose to make horrible decisions to distract ourselves from our reality. Our reality is happiness and joy. We have taken a road as a whole to avoid the real person we are. We are a very loving race. A creature in this world created to love and be loved. We find so many ways to damage that legacy. The legacy that was given to us by the entity that created us. There is so much proof of this theory that there is a united movement to trash that legacy and say it is false. Science has spoken out in support of the theory of intelligent design and there is growing proof. Researchers have disected what they can of our DNA and what we are comprised of to the core of the atoms that support everything we are composed of. They have viewed that atom and found that there is a smaller world within our atoms to be explored. Energy flows. We can manipulate what shape they take. We are in complete control of our core. We are in complete control of our life. And yet we rely on something else. We rely on someone else to influence us. We fail to inspire ourselves. We fail to look within our own soul and spitit for answers. Where does this innate hate for what has created us come from. Why is it so strong? I do not understand why there is such a war against love. Why? I love you. All of you. I know we all have some kind of pain we hold in our hearts that sometimes direct the path we take in life. We all develope that fear within us that manifests itself as a roadblock to impede our progress. Fear is destructible. Some say a certain amount of fear is healthy to keep us humble and knowing where we come from. Fear is said to motivate us. Bullshit. Fear is bad. Love and confidence in ourself. If we did not have fear we would be insanely brave. There is a fine line between fear and discernment. Discernment is a map of choices. We make choices based on what we feel and our desires. We know instictively which direction to go. We know in our hearts by what we know and we avoid the roadblocks someone else is creating for us. If we are in tune with our soul, that innate divine energy we are given as a gift at birth, we will know which direction is where we will reap the benefits of being humble to our voice. All is am saying is to quiet your mind. Listen to your deep voice. It is very quiet in this world because of the distractions. You know what they are. Get rid of that shit. Focus. Quit making excuses.

Every Day

2011-12-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

My new Years Resolution is not to have one but to make everyday count. We should have already been making everyday a special day and striving tomake our lives rich. Of course everything in my blog is my opinion. Like assholes everyone has one therefore everyone has an opinion. I might offend some and start arguments that you find it necessary to send me wonderful emails instesad of posting your thoughts here for everyone to enjoy. I love those little love notes. I really do. like my art, I show for everyone to see whether or not it is liked or appreciated at the very least it is being looked at and an opinion is being formed. there is never a bad or good comment, a bad or good opinion, our thoughts are unique and we are all respectful and mindful that we are all different. Getting back to the premise for this post, as I tend to blab.....

To make today count is very easy. If you did not have a good year in your OPINION...then let me enlighten you on my take. I spent many years mulling over all the bad things I have done in my life putting myself down for some of the choices I made. I started to regret the relationships I could have strengthened and some I could have started. I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself for situations I caused others pain and discomfort. Whether it was intentional or by a bad decision. What I realized is that everything we do in our life is connected and good always comes out in the final say. For me anyway I saw good in all the situations I re-visited to bring closure. Through it all I raised wonderful children because I sacrificed my selfish needs. they now thank me. they raise their children keeping all my lessons in mind. I always tried to show affection and love to all my friends and relatives when I could and even when certain people criticized me or rudely poked fun at the fact I was a touchy feely person...those same people have crossed paths with me later and came to me with open arms happy to greet me. I learned not to percieve the world through negative eyes. See the world as a beautiful experience and appreciate everything and everyone around me. I was able to love myself first and then it carried out to others.

We all have eyes on us, whether it is family or friends. We all have someone that looks up to us for insiration. We have to be mindful of this. We are all connected in some way. We affect each others existence. I almost closed this blog for my perception that no one was getting anything from it. I had this idea in my head that it was a waste of time and my time was better served doing something else like watching tv or internet surfing. I did not think people were reading this anymore. I recieved a comment from someone that was heart warming and it made me re-think the selfish thought I had. believe me when I say we all have eyes on us. We are all connected. We all have so much to live for. Our joy is robbed of us by others who have this problem. They have this negative outlook because everyone gives up on them. negative people are just great individuals trapped in a lie. We have to at least try and reach out to them by being a beacon of light for them. sounds corny. We donot have to do anything directly for them but just them seeing us feel joy and be kind helps them. I rambled again. If you regularly read my blof then youll understand. If not, it is what it is.

In LALA Land

2011-12-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

This has been a wonderful year for me. I have created for myself a wonderful experience. I am thankful to our God in the heavens for giving me this great gift be able to create my life out of the promise he gave us through his son. It is a wonderful premise. We think it. Feel it. Believe it. See it. Be thankful we have already recieved it. And then we shall recieve it. If we do not have full faith in that which he has promised how do we expect to prosper in any capacity. If we do not acknowledge his presence in our lives and the son he sent down to let us know all the secrets, how do we expect to expect anything at all.

there are people that say we are destined for what we are destined for. I say we are destined for what we ask for. If we set in motion the negative aspect of our lives then we are not living by faith. We are already giving up hope. If we live by faith then we already live believing we have recieved what was primised to us. What was promised to us was his almighty power. that power is within us. It is a carbon copy of our creator. I am not going to sit here and quote scripture. I am not going to give you a scientific analysis of our being and what we are here for or as we say "our purpose" I will say give it a try. Believe with all your heart. Be happy and joyful with all your might. Feel his love in you and have no doubt you already have recieved. I guarantee you will prosper. Prosper in happiness out weighs any monetary goals you will set for yourself. If you are happy completely you can create for yourself anything you desire. It will be attracted to you. So. Quit your bitching and moaning and get to work creating a wonderful life for yourself.

Creating Our Life Is an Art

2011-11-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

I just celebrated my 45th birthday yesterday. This whole weekend was amazing. I am in love with my life that I created. It was given to me but the journey I created. We create our journey every day. We set forth the steps we take far in advance before we step forward. I do not know how it works out but I know it works. I ask for it, it comes my way. I complain and give my attention to something I do not want and it comes my way. I give attention to anything and focus too much it comes my way. Simple. Yes it is that simple. There are a few things I left out that are very important but the basics are we are what we think.

Lately I have been feeling in control of my life like never before. I know the source of all my good and challenging experiences. I can see where certain directions my life takes had its beginnings, Where I could have had a different thought process. Every day I am thankful for the experiences and the people I meet and are a part of my life. This is a wonderful journey that is going very fast. Now that I know what I know about life I often wonder what it would have been like to have this knowledge as a young man. How different my journey could have been. When I start to think of that alternate route I would have taken then I am reminded of my beautiful children and the wonderful people I have encountered along the way and the amazing friendships.

I often think of my life as a canvas waiting to have the imagery put on it. What vibrant colors I will choose. What textures I can conjure up and the arrangement of color and subject. There are so many variables to consider when painting a masterpiece. Who will see it? Who will buy it? What will everyone think of it? Do I care what people think? I should not as long as I enjoy it. Life is that way. Sometimes we make decisions based on what we worry about what others will think. Sometimes we arrange our lives a certain way where it does not please us but it will serve another’s purpose. We make ourselves available for others. We sacrifice our happiness for others comfort.

When it comes to our children we always make sacrifices. What I did not realize is that I could have played both sides of the token. I could have been providing for them working the same hours and yet working somewhere I love rather did not like just to make ends meet. Make sense? And if you come right down to the basics it is not about what you are doing it is how you perceive your life experiences that gauge your happiness. We need to be happy regardless. We need to love our lives in any and all situations. We need to feel and see the joy. Creating our life is a lost art only a few have the ability to perform.

2011-11-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

I create for myself an environment where I can be happy everyday. Not to say that there will not be challenges in my world. We live in a world that is ever evolving. I live my days to be thankful and expect people in my life that I can inspire. wonderful appreciative people who are positive even in the most dire of circumstances. We are so blessed to have a breathe. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to be alive in this beautiful globe of humanity. there are so many opportunities that we come across. Opportunities to love and be loved. We look for joy in our lives. When we feel joy it feels right. We are creative masters of our lives. Go and create a masterful masterpiece of a life.

The Time Is NOW. Create that Joy.

2011-10-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

At a certain time in our lives we start to question everything. That point in time is different for everyone. Some go through this period of enlightenment early on when they reach adulthood and figure it out and appreciate the rest of their lives. Some live the majority of their adult life working hard, stressed out, being responsible, putting everyone around them first and sacrificing their happiness for the well being of others not realizing that they can have all of it. Some spend their whole lives and realize everything was about their joy when they are in their twilight years. Then watching their grandchildren grow and loving them opens their eyes and they try desperately to teach their children not to make the same mistakes. Like I said these are just a few examples of how we find ourselves at different stages of our lives.

We all have the capacity to love, laugh and live on a daily basis. Enjoying our life regardless if your the only one in your world living that way. We can try and shove this information in our loved ones faces and teach them how to be happy. Show them how to love everyone around them. Explain to them that grudges and hate is useless. Lead by example to display our love for even our enemies. Sometimes the relationships we are around are toxic. The people we love are so much a part of us that we cannot abandon them. We love them. We would do anything for them. How do we keep our composure? I deal with this question everyday. I want to be happy everyday. I want to feel joy 24 hours a day. I want to be able to talk to someone that wants the same thing and feels the way I do. Is that possible? Whether or not it is possible I am going to feel joy. I will block out the anxiety I feel from these people in my life that claim they are happy and feeling joy. I will move forward past them and be happy inside. I will proclaim victory at the end of the day when I lay my head because In the end it my be my last time and I would not want to waste that day listening to the whining and bitching. We need to be stronger. We need to be happy.

Changes to our conscious is so important. We need to quit filling our subconscious(soul) shit from above so to speak. We need to fill our soul with thoughts of joy and hope. Expect to have a great and wonderful productive day exploring the possibilities for which we were created for. We are here to make amazing strides in humanity. We are here to love and love everyone. To challenge each other to heal each other with love and kindness. Forgiveness takes bravery. It takes courage to stand in front of someone who has caused you pain with a smile and feel no pain. I am not saying go look for that individual. What I am saying is face that memory head on and wipe the pain away. Do not let that memory continue to destroy your day or the tomorrows before they can be created. We are to create wondeful days for ourselves. We are to make ourselves joyful.

Where is the rulebook that tells us we are to be victims of our ownselves making hell for one another? Where does it say we are suppose to hate. As children we are innocent. We are love in its purest form. We should carry that throughout our lives. Acknowledge, learn, file it, move on! those of you edumacated people who have a smart answer that you learned in school kiss my ass. Analyze, judge what you want. Use that expensive education to tell me otherwise. But...I'll tell you that the strength we need to overcome our problems that we create for ourselves is within us. Solving these hard matters of the heart and mind are answered if we just look inside. We all have the capacity for so much yet we sell ourselves short and pay someone or give up as the answer. Drugs is the pacifier or just to get by the day. Deal with it tomorrow I am to busy right now pill. I know so many hypocrites in my life. The first one is in the mirror. The next one is close by. The other one is even closer. Why do we lie to ourselves and our loved ones. Why do we tell our children one thing and do the opposite of what we taught?

In closing. Because my random thoughts are giving me a headache. Because What I really want to say is too blunt and naming names is bad for my KARMA. Yes. I said Karma. If it is a name to call that what goes around comes around. I got it out as to teach all of you to quit wasting time hating, hurting, selfdestructing, cutting, hiding, ignoring, abusing, victimizing, allowing, faking, crying, bashing, trashing, crashing...... tell your friend the pill, the pipe, the bottle and whoever else helps you forget that you want to remember and feel what it is that you will recognize what it is you are never going to let control your life again. Let it go my loved ones. Let it go. Let the joy reside. Let that joy be addictive. Allow that JOY to overcome and infiltrate every part of your life and quit making excuses as to why you wont. Let that loved one in your life know that they can be pittiful of they want but you will be happy and remind them everyday they have to look at you smiling that they are sad. Thats it.

Life.

2011-10-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

Life is so precious. Life is like what a painting is to an artist. So precious. So valuable. So much effort and passion goes into living that we will do anything to keep it. We are so delicate as humans. We are precious. We live for today and yet we do not appreciate. We diminish the importance of the present and expect tomorrow. We are selfish. I love my life today. I am in love with my breath that I take. I see the future up to the next moment. I see happiness and joy. I try with all my strength to defer the uncomfortable situations to tomorrow. Because if I wait until tomorrow to worry and I am not alive I spent today relishing in my joy without distractions. If I make it to tomorrow and have to face that discomfort... chances are that it will work itself out or, my joy will gain strength and I can deal better. I can have more strength to inspire and love the people around me to deal with it together. We are all connected and have to take into consideration everyone that lives those moments with us. We have to encourage and inspire. I have someone to encourage me everyday. Thank you my Precious Lord. Thank you My precious Love.

I repeat alot of the same mumbo jumbo in my blogs. I know that some do not want to read the truth and have their own thinking. I respect that. I respect it to the point of, It is my blog and if they do not want to return then it is what it is. If you return then you are with me in this wonderful journey and we are allies. We can feel positive thoughts together. We can encourage one another with good vibes. We can ask our Lord and Savior to send reminders of our joy and what we are made of. We can remember that wonderful man on the cross many years ago who was the ultimate positive person that walked this earth and tried to show us the secret to life. And we did not see what was obvious. He taught it so simply. His message was very basic. So many generations of so called teachers and smart religious people have distorted the basic message of LOVE. Why? I really do not care why anymore as I spent most of my life worrying about why. then I read and read. And one day. BAM! I am happy. I feel joy. I love being alive. I can look in the mirror and love the handsome person looking at me. I can be free of my guilt. I can release all of the shame that others have dumped on me without regret of their own. I can be free of the shackels that my environment has brainwashed me with. I can truly be happy. I can fill myself up with this endless joy that I was born with. I want to shout this to everyone starting with you. I love you. Listen up. Lesson number one. Quit your whining.

What to paint?

2011-10-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

I love the expressions I see on the peoples face when they view my work. It is very humbling. If they object to my work and yet they like the medium I use I made them smile. If they like my work all the better. At least they are looking. I am not the most talented artist in the world or even in my little world. I love creating and have a passion for it. It does not matter if the masses are out there asking me to create more work as long as I am appreciated by a few. If I can make a handful smile and feel joy from my work it is a good thing. there are so many artists that look for attention and validation that they are great or better than the next guy. I know some amazing visual creators and they are the most humble low key persons and yet they are so gifted and people flock to see them. They have a passion they have the talent and the ability to be gigantic and yet they choose to be humble and just do it for the love. I agree.

I observe the art lovers that go to the shows and art walks. They go with a passion to see new works. They want to be stimulated with uniqueness, color and texture. They want to be wowed. I know when I look at others people work I do not look at the technique or I sit there and critique their process. I look at the energy involved in creating that piece. i look at the way in which it was created. I want to meet the artist and look at his work with him to see his eyes when he looks ast his piece. I enjoy the conversation and their story behind the piece from their own mouths. That is so interesting and I appreciate their piece even more.

I had a few art shows this weekend. I would watch people walk up to my works and ask me if I was the artist. they were intrigued at my medium(metal). And they asked of the process. They loved the texture. I was even told "I like the medium more than I like the work" I love honesty. That helps me know that my stuff is not for everyone and do not take it personal. In that particular show I decided to create flowers, abstracts, butterflies, koi and a couple of faces. Not too dramatic. kind of conservative. I think people sometimes look for shock and awe. They want eroticism. I just want to show the color and texture. I want to fill a room with energy. When you get into subject matter it limits the persons ability to enjoy the piece. If it is a nice colorful piece, abstract then you have a larger audience. More pople can be appreciative of the metal and it's texture. A few dramatic pieces with subject matter will help. Some general imagery. Then they can see the metal can be used as a canvas as well. To fit their choice of imagery.

Again I defer back to people generally wanting dramatic paintings to derive some kind of emotion. To bring them back to a time in their lives. to draw emotion. I want to create a good feeling in people. I want to start creating for the soul. A good feeling piece. Something natural. Something organic. Something we can all relate to. Nurturing. Warm and friendly. I guess I am getting soft. Is there a market for this in this world. Can that type of imagery exist in today's art imagery where most art looking for gross, erotic and controversial? If you are reading this comment below and give me your thoughts as an artist or an art lover. Or as a basic comment on your thoughts!

Talking About Art

2011-10-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

As visual artists we want to display our inner most passion. that which we create will give us freedom to that emotion that is inside of us. Some of us artists like to use the art we create as a sort of therapy. We use it as an outlet to heal us. We let our soul talk to the outside. Sometimes our soul talks to us through our art. We are so connected to our soul and most of the time it is screaming at us and we ignore it. We have our natural gifts we spend a lifetime running away from. We meet our soul mates on earth and we walk right by them, work next to them, stay friends with them, be mean to them and we do not even know these people will make our lives peaceful. We have these natural gifts that God our creator created us with. We already had these gifts from before we were born. Some think we are just an explosion in small atoms that all of the sudden emerged as some creation. We are much more than that.

If we are so connected to our souls then as artists we can know w hat to create to stir emotion in others. We know the color that moves. We can heal with our work and let our work talk for us. when I view others work I want to see if I can feel the energy that was given to that piece. Was their passion and emotion used to create that piece or was it just a piece done out of necessity to supply the public with a purchase. Something for the artist to survive with. A tool to receive monetary gain or compensation. Sometimes we have to compromise to make a living with our gifts. Or do we? If I am asked to create a commissioned piece then I will put all of my heart into that piece and love that work. I want to give that person a piece that they can feel not just see. Art should speak to us. It should move us. We should be able to see and truly feel what is being conveyed. We are an emotional species. We need to be moved to be satisfied. We need our art to talk to us.

Be Happy

2011-09-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

I want to get through to you my loved ones but you do not listen. Why do I take it so personal because I want you to feel the same joy I feel daily. I take it so hard when I see you sad and negative. Sometimes it affects me when I constantly send messages and hints that life is beautiful. I even have proof in my life and you still ignore the message. I am here for you and I love you. I always encourage you to smile and FEEL happiness yet you continue to frown and be down. What will it take for you to understand that life does not have to be such a struggle. It is a beautiful ride full of challenges and opportunities to improve and create joy for yourself. We all have the same fight on this journey. We all have the same fate. With that alone should be reason enough to take a look at our days as special gifts that we are here one m ore time to give it another shot. Why not just be happy today if you are not waking up tomorrow. And if you last the week then you had a joyous week. How great can that be. IS another person keeping you from that happiness? Then step away or distance yourself from that person. If you cannot distance yourself from them then know that it is not your fault that they are using you as a target to unload their shit on you. Most people do not even realize they are hurting their loved ones until they are better. Then it is too late. But never too late to apologize and make things better. to move on. To love. To smile. To give yourself the gift of your new life you can create. Thank God he gave us this gift of the real reality most do not even know about. The reality that exists in our mind. He created us in his image. He created the universe with a thought. We have that power. He created the universe with his love. WE have that capacity to love. Use it. Love one person unconditionally. they will forward that love. Then another. Then another. It is like Multi-Marketing Love. Everyone shares the more it is passed on. Quit wasting time my loved ones. Be happy.

A Creators Journey.

2011-09-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

It is not always easy to travel the road we have chosen for ourselves. There might be great challenges along the way. We can be as positive as we drive ourselves to be. Happy and full of joy and yet there seems to always be some kind of roadblock or higher hill to climb to see the wonderful light. We have to strengthen our character and be ready by sharpening our swords. We will face that challenge and become better. We learn to appreciate and see the good of our experiences. We are sharpening iron with iron. Life is beautiful we have to embrace the challenges that are facing us daily. We have to be thankful that we can face them to begin with. If we are talking about how we are going to be strong here and face these challenges together then we are very fortunate we have a community where we can be around like minded individuals to encourage us.

We have to be amazing at life. We have to wake everyday and learn to continue to create that beautiful life of ours. If you wake tomorrow and choose to be annoyed or upset then go ahead. But do not suck your loved ones in to the mess you have created for yourself. Do not involve them in your self pity. I did for many years...I did just that. Sometimes I get caught up these days in the unwarranted anger and frustration of my daily challenge. I have an amazing life right now and I am full of joy every morning looking forward to the challenge of creating for myself and the people I love happiness and joy abound! I hug and hold the people that are close to me. I reach out to strangers with a smile and a positive conversation. I can feel the negativity and I attack it with love. I encourage them with my positivism and give them hope that there are more people like myself wanting to care for our fellow man.

I try everyday to renew myself into a positive influence in this world. I am so happy to be given the chance daily. Here in this forum I know I probably reach a few of you. I know that someone reads my energy and knows what I am about. I am about love and positivism. If you think this is a load of crap then I love you stranger, friend, family but get the hell out of here and go find the blog where you can complain. I would rather you stay and read comment, send me a message or not. Whether you read or not I will continue to write. I get to do this. I am a healthy happy joyous person who figured out that loving humanity and myself is healthy. I know that life is beautiful and see the wonderful souls behind the curtain we put up against the world to hide. I can feel and see thought the hypocrisy. I walk in the room and know where the bullshit is and I attack! I attack with a smile and send them love. Sounds like a crock? Well. Try it. You'll see.

Why do we waste our time anyway being upset or judging others? It is a waste of time and energy. We stress ourselves out and make ourselves sick physically. All we need to do is reach out. It does not have to be anything dramatic. Just be nice to someone. Do not judge someone. Quit being selfish and just think of yourself. Give someone a compliment. Encourage one another. Post something nice on your Facebook for a change instead of some remark that starts eating away at that person that takes everything you say serious. Sometimes we are not aware of the people we impact with our words and actions. I know I have hurt many people in my past and as of recent not knowingly and sometimes I do and I have to move on. We have to be aware of this. We have to think of them. We have to be generous with our love. Stingy with the shit we serve to the world. Wake up. One day at a time. For all you know that day is all you have left. OK so pull it out of you know what and figure it out. I love you all.

What Is Love?

2011-09-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

What is love to you? I asked this in a very popular social network we all use called Facebook. I had a few interesting answers. Everyone has passionate answers. The word love conjures up some very emotional responses. If you are wondering why I am asking people about love in an art page here is my answer. If you are alive on this earth you have a chance everyday to create a life for yourself to go in any direction you wish. Most of us have the choice to feel the way we want to. If we have a choice to create for ourselves the life we want or desire or need...then we are creators ourselves. If we are creators we are artists. If we are artists and creators we have a passion for what we create. if we have a passion for that which we create we love that certain thing. In order to take the time to create something you have to be pasionate about it and love it to sacrifice the time and effort to give birth to an idea.

Getting back to love. What is love. A passion? A feeling? An object we desire? Is it romance? Is it a lifestyle? Am I confusing you with my rants yet? Have I started the thinking process in your peanut head yet? For me LOVE is huge. Love is something more powerful than just a word. Love is a way of living. I open my eyes in the morning and remember not to take for granted that I awoke. I have been given a gift to start a new day. An opportunity to connect with the world in a positive way. I remember to show compassiona nd love to my fellow man. Smile at someone. Cause and effect. Smile and they feel good(or not) but I tried. Deep inside we are all romantics and lovers. We all care for our fellow man. At our core we are children. When children get together and they do not know each other they want to play. If they are negative they have learned this or their innocence has been affected by man. If it was a disease they acquired during the pre birth, or transmitted during the birth, or trauma. A childs innocence is sacred. They look for love until they are taught otherwise. They learn by loved ones and someone they trust or all that they know.

Love is all around us asking and begging to be recieved. We do not want to give. It is free. Free to give and free to recieve. A smile, handshake and pat on the back is free. We put on a wall of protection to the outside becxause the world is full of deception. We are always on the look out for the scam artist. If we see someone say hello or greet we think they want something. What is the hidden agenda? I am a visual artist that creates pieces of artwork for all to enjoy viewing. I have epople like and dislike my stuff. Some dislike mor ethan like. It does not matter to me. The few that like show so much emotion and love towards me it fils me with joy because they tke to heart my passion and love me for it. That is priceless. Would I take the money? YES! But I have more satisfaction by their responses. Money gets spent immediately, the emotion they relay to me lasts far longer.

Lets get to the meat and bones. Love is acceptance of your fellow human being. We are all different. We are unique. Love is being thankful. Love is charity. Giving of yourself emotionally when others are in need. Love is unconditional. Forgiveness is important. Love is overwhelming. Love is respect. Love is joy. love is positive. Just know we are all connected and love one another. These are my thoughts. Like them? Read them. Hate them? Read something else.

2011-09-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

As artists we create a life of art. A life of creativity and wonderous imagination. As humans we are artists at our core. We create a life that is wonderous. We create happiness and joy. We create a masterpiece. We also create hatred, sadness and unhappiness. We can also create the opposite based on the decisions we make. We then complain and worry about the reprocussions of our choices in life and then we spend most of our time with regret. Then we base our whole life on insecurities. We are not good enough to have a meaningful life. We are creators of a body of work called our life. We can actually create the life we want. Any situation we feel we are passionate about. We can actually live our deepest desires. I am not talking about material posessions but more meaningful ideas. I am imparting to you the wisdom that was given to me over a lifetime of people in my life who can see beyond our existence. Only now I have realized that dream they had for me and their loved ones. I only now realize that the description of what these wise people were teaching me was something very powerful. Only a small portion of the history of humanity was and is aware of this special power all humans have since birth. It is something we all practive daily. It is something we all know and use. We all have the knowledge of this power in our being. We all can create for ourselves and masterpiece of life. And yet we distract ourselves with our daily routine. Our daily bitching and moaning of how our lives are shit. We complain of how others have it better. How come they have what I want? What makes them special? We are all special. Some of us get it and some of us dont. some of us have it and do not appreciate and some of us had it and did nto appreciate it and now it is gone. Some of use always envy others and put ourselves down like i said before. WE have to own the idea and feeling that we are all powerful and able to create a life we passionately desire. Be happy and appreciate what you have for whatever capacity you have. Be happy for the ability to choose to be happy. no body is twisting your arm to be sad unhappy or bored with life. no body is holding a gun to your head to be unhappy. and if someone is holding a gun to your head to be unhappy they still do not have control you choose to be happy and filled with joy even in the darkest of hours. even in the final moments i would rather coose to feel joy before my physical existence expires and that way i won the battle in the mind to the end so to speak. I can carry this joy to my next life of ............

I am bored and sick of unhappiness. it is so played out. Crying over bullshit. Being sad over everyday stuff. I go over and over what makes me unhappy. complain to others and make them sick of hearing about it. boo hooing to them. eventually they get tired of it and it wears them down and then you have just created a life of distraction for them they cannot focus on their happiness and joy because you have filled their head up with your bullshit. so it is an ongoing cycle. families are the worst for doing this. We create a world that is false. we act like our problems are worse then the next person. our degree of pain and how we internalize it is not the same as the next person. Yet we try to convince our loved ones that our life is so bad. And that we had it so rough. in reality we had the opportunity to experience life the way we did and we should have used those experiences to strengthen our character and move forward stronger and more powerful because we overcame that adversity. what is so wrong with choosing to be creating a fulfilling life for ourselves. What is wrong with wanting to be filled with joy all day long. What is wrong with wanting to love. Love all day long. Love who you say is the enemy. have compassion for that person that always is sad. give more love to your children parents that cousin that lives alone or that friend that calls you and you never call back. what is wrong with reaching out and letting your love be contagious? does it take too much effort on your part? are you in your comfort zone in life. do you like waking showering shitting go to work come home eat sleep and then the same all over again? is it comfortable to you to just be less than average? Step out of your comfort zone and reach out to who is really you. we are all from love. it took a real understanding creator and a loving creator to create such beautiful masterpieces of humanity. we are pure love at our core and yet we destroy that with all of our fear, craziness and hatered. hatred towards what? fear?

Keep That Smile No Matter What

2011-09-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

It is not easy smiling in the face of adversity. We can surely create our lives to give us joy by being ultra happy all the time. Reality is that the world around us can be overwhelming. The News we see reported is very bleek at times. One or two positive stories here and there. The newscasters and reporters smile when the ugly story is told. That gives you an adea right there that they are so used to the crap they tell. Sad stories to them are ratings. I try not to watch the reality of this world.

What is ironic is the true reality of this world is actually a positive one. People are generally nice and loving. We humans have a desire to be loved and admired by others. We want acceptance and appreciation. We want to be cared for and spoiled emotionally. We yearn for that motherly love. Our instinct as children is to seek out nurturing. As we mature through our formative years we are trained and learn what our environment teaches us. If our environment is negative and harsh then we adapt and conform naturally to protect ourselves from dissappointment. Children who are around violence since birth will grow to accept and think it is normal for them. Children who are nurtured and loved, cared for and protected will feel compelled to express that love forward. It is true that dramatic experiences do shape the character of an adult. We carry the memories throughout our lives. They surface when certain emotions are triggered by similar situation or experience. Then we regress to that moment in time. Some of us our strong and find strength from that experience. We learned to use these triggers to rise above. Some of us never blink. Eventually everyone faces their so called demons. We all make peace with our rights and wrongs.

The question is how do we keep smiling through the pain and discomfort in the journey we experience. Our life is full of experience. We love. We loose. We cry laugh and experience so many emotions. We experience physical and emotional pain. We survive. We live short and long lives. We say hello to new loved ones and say hearfelt goodbyes to passing loved ones. How do we stay upright? How do we deal and face our reality? How do we keep our reality a positive happy one? Maybe the secret to this joy is in us and always has been. Go back to what I wrote earlier. We were children with the instinct to love and be loved. That is at our core and who we really are. That is what dominates our being at birth. We are loving souls. If there is birth in life than for certain there will be death. Acceptance of this truth is key to moving foreward. It does not matter who or what we are. We are all connected to this truth. Everyday is a gift of a new start. A new beginning. Yesterday was a time to be thankful for whatever the experience. Was a moment spent with a loved one for the last time? We need to be thankful for everyday we live as to not have a regret. I understand there are many people in this world that led painful experiences and horrible hardships. I would not want to try and assume what they went through. I could not even begin to guess how why or how they reacted and internalized the experience. I think of the holocaust survivors. Before they were taken and rounded up....Did they have positive experiences? Loving families. Day to day joy? Were they uprooted from a family unit and everything changed from one day to the next? Yes I imagine so. The majority were murdered. Did they have regrets? I cannot even imagine the answer.

Whatever happens tomorrow...I do not know. Today I called my mother and told her I love her. I painted my masterpieces. I fell in love. I am a grandfather. I raised wonderful children. I do not have regrets and if there was something I have not acheived before my last breath it was something I must have not wanted bad enough or gave it enough passion to create in my life otherwise it would have happened. I am responsible for the task at hand for as long as I can see and feel this hand. I have a few things I want to do still. But for now giving thanks for what I have and have had is good. looking forward and taking the step towards those goals are grand. If I reach that point of success...wonderful. If I go to bed for the last time before that time then my life was complete.

So today I smile. Take a deep breath before I sleep and give thanks.

2011-08-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I was thinking of today as a day I have to go to work and spend all day away from loved ones. How awful that made me feel. As I drove to work I was thankful that I had a good job. I was thankful that I have been put in another situation to help a handful of people be happier than they were yesterday. I hope I accomplish that today. I know my purpose in life is to connect with those that cross my path in the best way I can and encourage them. Inspire them to create for themselves happiness as I have. Instead of worrying of the time I have to spend somewhere away from where I want to be I am thankful for the opportunity for God putting me where he wants me to be.

There is so much to do. I only have a day to do it in. I always leave myself open to the possibilities. Every possibility in the world to inspire. I smile and laugh all day as much as I can. I know our lives are surrounded by reasons to be upset or unhappy. I know that tragedy seems to follow our existence and our first inclination is to complain about it. We always seem to look at the negative in the situation when we could certainly forgive, appreciate, love and hold on to the positive in everyone we come across. I know it is easier said than done. There is always a time and place for everything in life. There are seasons where we will have the opportunity to say yay or nay. Sometimes over thinking a solution is unhealthy when we make a rash decision and all we had to do was relax, back up and focus. Release all the tension and be calm.

Our minds are clouded with the worries of the world. We follow the trend and stand in line to jump off the cliff just because everyone else is suppose to do so. We are creatures of habit and do not realize that all we have to do is wait, focus and relax. Why are we followers and not leaders? Why cant we laugh and love. As a generalization WE makes up a large percentage of the masses. How many of us can honestly say we forgive, laugh, smile, hug, touch, cry, feel joy, give joy, give love. Are we caught up in our lives running around so fast pretending that we have it under control we medicate ourselves to forget. We desensitize ourself from our loved ones. We become addicted to the easy way out we do not work for what we love. We expect it in a pill. Then we seek help elsewhere for other things. When all along we had it within. We have that power we gave away and lost a long time ago. We have the capability for so much inside ourselves. we lost that key to our own soul. The soul that is God given. God like.

We are our creators child. He took a piece of him and created us. Call him what you want. God, Christ, Creator, The Big Man, Mr Energy, The Universe. there is a being. Something larger than us. Something that gives off energy and gives life. there is a spark in every being not even scientists can explain and we doubt it is there. We become what we call agnostic because we do not believe or not believe. We just exist and we think that is enough. We are thankful to ourselves. When did we lose our innocence? We tend to blame everyone else and not take responsibility. We continue to do what we do and in our minds are waiting for that apology. The apology doesn't materialize so it justifies our transgressions. We find excuses, we make our family suffer because we think they owe us something, We have become lazy and we teach our children that laziness. We do not struggle to find peace instead we create chaos with our excuses. When does this cycle end? When do we venture on our own with our heads held high contributing to the world in a positive way. When do we break a sick cycle that seems to travel from parent to child. generation to generation.

Just Read.

2011-08-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Everyday I wake I am so thankful. I wake knowing I have another opportunity to create for myself an amazing life. I want to maximize my time left here on this wonderful planet that so many of us take for granted. We are such an amazing species. We have the freedom to love and be good. We have the power to create and be thankful. We have the gifts to transform our world into a beautiful place to live.

Sadly as we look at our media we do not see the latter. At least not as the main story. We see death destruction and tragedy. Where is all the positive re-enforcing subject matter? Is this sensationalizing of human tragedy now entertainment. It is like we are watching a movie and we know it is all fake. The news is more graphic than the R rated movies on the big screen. Hollywood cannot write a better script than our actual lives. We experience all the drama as it unfolds before our very eyes. We are so used to it we watch the television and view on the internet like it is a regular thing. It is a regular thing. We become more diseased with all of the negativity and it causes us to manifest a destiny for ourselves that is bleak to say the least. We pass this down to our children and they.....you know the rest.

Where do we stop this vicious chain or revolving door? We decide to feel joy. We decide for ourselves that in our hearts and minds we are happy. We pass all the negativity and look for a smile in our day. We build on that and multiply it. I find myself falling into the trap because around me it is so overwhelming the amount of people I know always complaining bitching and moaning for the shitty lives and situations. How someone owes them something and they are to blame for their unhappiness. We sit in front of the mirror figuring out ways to destroy our lives. We lose confidence in that joy we were born with. As children we always found a way to keep that joy intact. We always played. We always laughed and were silly. We would always come up to our parents after they came home from a hard days work wanting that love and affection and our loving parents that we adored so much would send us away because they are too tired for love. WHAT? Is that ridiculous? Too busy to love? But we do it as well. We do not break that cycle. I tried my hardest to be a good father. A good person. I am sure I can say I failed in some respects based on the the standard I set for myself. But I am blessed to have raised strong children. Strong in character. Even when they saw me at my weakest they reminded me of how strong I am and that I taught them well.

Lessons from our children as they become adults. I am not too proud to tell you I am learning from my children who school me everyday on how to be a great human being. I see them grow and progress. I see them figure out life. I am still learning. I am still happy. I feel joy. I have so much love to give. I have TODAY. When I wake up tomorrow. I will be so grateful for the gift of a new day. I will be thankful that my life has been given a new day for a new start. A new and wonderful opportunity to be fruitful in my quest to feel that wonderful joy. Gods Joy.

Negatively Influenced

2011-07-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

I can tell you that creating a positive life takes positive thoughts and hopes and dreams. In order to have a joyous life you have to feel joy. Etc....... It is easier said than done. Creating and magnificent life takes work. It takes the breaking of bad habits of negative thoughts. Daily negative routines. Constant barrage of bad sadness in our minds. Being around those negative people in our lives. Most of these people are in our own households. Some are around us like flies. We cannot seem to run from them. I know that most of you have issues with that when you read my advice. I know I have these issues. I have family and special people in my life that are always so negative and full of drama. All I can manage to do is hope that my positive example helps them realize. Every once in a while I lose my mind and speak my mind. Speak how I hate this and that what they are doing. I get so wrapped up in the drama I become just like them. I worry about all the crap that is going on. Instead of being a positive influence on them I add to their misery. Misery loves company. I have to check myself daily. I have to avoid these circumstances if I am not ready to be in front of it. I have to be ready mentally and emotionally for it. I can be weak and get caught up right in it. We have to train ourselves to stay on our course. We have to maintain that joy. In order to continually create a wonderful happy and joyous life we have to stay POSITIVE.

I watched myself dismantle. I fell apart at the seams. I encouraged the negativity. I added to the despair. Why? Because to begin with I went against my first instinct to stay away from the negativity. We have to listen to that inner voice. I know there are some moments where we have to take a stand. Or we think we have to say our peace. Just make sure when the peace is delivered it is peaceful. And when the term saying your piece doesn’t involve yelling or screaming that peaceful word to another. Saying your peace is just that. Expressing your love and concern over a certain matter and then finding a solution if need be.

So can we co-exist with family and friends who are negative 24/7? Yes I believe we can. We have to be very strong and full of love and light. We have to be that beacon of light and hope that they can rely on. If we are who we aspire to be in our joy then they can be as they are and feel very comfortable knowing that you are a pillar of strength. They can eventually stand beside you and celebrate their change and through your inspiration for them to create a better life. Things will change.

Today Is NOT Yesterday

2011-07-23T01:21:00.000-07:00

As I sit here contemplating what to write as to be so smart and witty I wonder why sometimes I do this. I try and look through the other side of my words to the person that reads my writings. Why are they reading my thoughts? Are they getting any kind of comfort or re-assurance of something? Is for entertainment? I wonder why you are here.

Then I ask myself many more questions as I continue to write and suddenly realize....I am not writing for you or them. I am writing for me. I am writing because I need to. I need to let this shit out. I need to make sure that I am an open book. I need to be thankful for all that I have in my life from the smallest bit of joy. I need to let others know that the most important piece of pour lives we need to be thankful for is our joy. Our happiness. All the material things in the world cannot measure up to the joy few of us have in our lifetime. Pure joy. To me pure joy is being completely being happy where you are at in life.

I look at the news and see that 80 some children were murdered from an unhappy person at their summer camp. What drives a person to such depths? Before and after that report there were other murders and missing mother’s daughter’s babies killed husbands shot in war families and towns being wiped out in the name of their God. And so on and so on. I turn on the TV and listen to 5 minutes. That is all it takes for me to go crazy with ugly thoughts. So I change the channel. Same thing on the next one. I turn off the TV. I stop myself from asking the same question. What is the world coming to? I do not want to waste time worrying about the impending catastrophe. 2012. If I waste my time worrying over 2012 and tonight was my last night to live because I was not aware that there was a banana peel waiting for me at the top of the staircase. I want to enjoy my life for the time I am so privilege to have. I want to enjoy this moment loving my family. I want to dream big. I want to love. I want to create artwork that makes me happy. I want to bring together colors that give life. Shapes that inspire thoughts of joy. I want to trigger that smile in someone where there was sadness. I want to inspire because paying back for the love that was bestowed my way by a community of artist had the love to share with me. To accept me as a brother. To call me an artist like them. To show me the gift that I suppressed most of my adult life. To help me realize that we are all artists at our core with the power to CREATE our lives as we want.

I give back by writing to you the person reading this. I want to tell you how easy it is to be happy. How easy it is to make a choice. Make the conscious choice to turn off all the negative in your life and quit making excuses. We all know we have tragedy in our lives. We all know to expect death. Disease. Horrific situations we have to endure at some point. This is to be expected. Trauma is something that will ultimately be a part of our life. This we cannot control. We cannot control the actions of others. We can control our internal actions. We can control the decision we make to hate love cry mourn anger....we can control our emotion. Humans are resilient. We are strong. We have the capacity to calm in the face of adversity. We have the strength to feel joy again after our time of mourning for a loved one. We have the power to avoid falling apart when a tragedy occurs. We have the might in our character to bounce back and be positive and SEE ourselves stronger. Challenge yourself daily to find love in your daily journey. Challenge yourself to reach out to someone every day and encourage, inspire and love. Keep life simple.

Go to a children’s hospital and visit the terminal children dying from cancer and see how they are filled with joy and love. How can they feel that way with such physical odds? How can they love? Ask them. Tune out the negative and enjoy today. TODAY. Today is special because we have a chance to right yesterday’s wrong. Today we have a chance to feel joy. It is a new day.

Excuses

2011-07-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

My head hurts. Have you heard that before? Does your head really hurt? Is it a physical problem or stress induced? IF it is stressed induced...did you internalize something? Can we prevent the headache? Alot of questions.

I had a conversation with someone very special today regarding the choices we make daily in our very fragile lives. We make the choice to waste a day worrying about the things in our lives we cannot control. We add to our miserable existence. In fact our existence is perfect in our creator’s eyes. We are capable of allowing ourselves to feel as much joy as we can take. Isn’t that what life is all about? In any situation we should be able to let that joy in. We only feel joy when we have that temporary fix or stimuli. Caffeine, sugar, shopping, beer, sex, chocolate. We always need something or someone we have to lean on to give us some validation or comfort...like a blanky. We all have some vice we need to hold on to. We do not need any of this. I struggle every day to make sure my only choice to give me that special feeling that I searched for my entire life is within me. I am in control. I have the ultimate power over all. Yes I do. I can or not allow exterior situations or so called forces penetrate my joy. I remind myself to stand strong.

LOL. Easier said than done. How do we do it? We tackle what we can control one at a time. We remind ourselves that what we cannot control is what we do not waste our energy on. Like the fear of death. We cannot control that. It WILL come. Our physical will end. YES. Don’t you forget it. But don’t let it haunt you. Whether it is from a car accident or a fall from the banana peel...it will come. Chances are if you have some sort of incident that caused a near death experience or accident you caused it. You put yourself in that situation. Example.

I cannot control that my boss is an idiot. (My Boss is NOT an idiot). But i spent all night after I got home in a bad mood upset about the way this person is. I ignored my kids because I was too buzzed from the bar where I was unwinding because I needed a few drinks to escape the world I am in. So they are neglected. They in turn will develope a complex and wonder what they did wrong to upset me. They will turn to someone else for that missing attention. My wife is upset because I will not perform for her because I come home and I want to go to sleep. So. You know where that goes. I alienate my friends because I am too stressed out to pick up the phone and say hello. Then there is my eating habits and the laziness I feel. So I am too stressed out to work out and I prefer the comfort food. Late night snacks. Insomnia because I overthink what am I doing wrong to cause my boss to dislike me. Snowballing effect takes place in every area of my life. Use your imagination from this caption of my life all because I think my boss has some kind of vendetta against me. The truth is....My boss counts on me to do the job because I am the most reliable person he has. So he puts the most pressure on me and cannot trust anyone else. He is just the kind of person that does not show it because he is so busy with his own problems from his boss giving him shit. He is withdrawn and stressed out about his position but when he drives home he is thankful he has you in his corner.

So. This is a long example. We create our own demise or our own joy. We are the ultimate creators of our life. Our creator has made a perfect being. We are perfect. We can receive his joy daily just by allowing that joy to just be because it is already there. We have so much going for us and the stimuli and joy we search for daily is within us. We are created in HIS image. Argue with me if you may. Go ahead and waste your time debating. Waste that precious moment you could be just agreeing and letting yourself be joyous and appreciate where you are and what you have. What you have is the time right now! What you have is the CHOICE to be happy. If you were told tomorrow is the last day here for you. BE happy. Be thankful you know it is your last day. Be appreciative that you have a date so you can plan the remaining days to Love. Well. Guess what folks. Today is my last day on earth. Today I die. Tomorrow I am reborn a new. Tomorrow I am given a new opportunity to love again. If it is given to me today is justified as tomorrow earned. If it is not given to me today was a treasure and I made the best of it. Either way we win. Only. Only if we choose to feel that Joy we already have in us. So. What is your excuse?

Our Creative Power

2011-06-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

It happened again. I have been told by many people in my life, Mentors, Coaches, Ministers, City Leaders, and other successful influential people in my life, I can create my own reality by visualizing. Somehow after experiencing myself these phenomena...I still did not have 100 percent faith in the idea or philosophy. A few years ago I had a vision in the middle of my life of anxiety, depression and self pity, I was going to be successful and happy one day with regards to my art life. At this time in my life I was not creating much but for enjoyment in my garage. It was for time to get away from the world. I did not even want to show anyone for fear of rejection and ridicule. I guess as artists we all have that privacy factor. Not so much fear or just very personal to express yourself and for the first time a show in public. I did not let many people watch me not even my children. It was kind of intimidating to hear the criticisms even if they were positive encouraging ones. During this tumultuous time in my life I was having these visions. I was more feeling it than seeing it. I was feeling that my art was one day going to be seen by many and sought after by many. "Many" was a very questionable word at the time. Many people? What did that mean? Hoards of people? Room full of people? Calls from interested people? Showing in front of people? I guess it did not matter. For at the time one person was enough for me.

To date I have been public since October 2009. I have been seen by many people and have done quite a few shows. I have been interviewed and talked about by very influential people. My art has been purchase and is hanging in homes I could only dream of owning. I have met so many wonderful people in my connections. I have been regarded as a very unique artist. A pioneer in my niche. I love all of the attention. Not because of the attention so much. I am a very shy person at heart. Telling you that if you know me you would laugh. As a young man if you knew me that would be how you would describe me. When I express myself through my art I can be whoever and whatever I want to be. I can tell the story my way. I can be as passionate as I want to be and show the color I want. It is one area in my life I have total control. I thought it was the only area I had the control of. Now I know of another area I have total control of. I found this through my art. I have total control of creating my life.

God our creator gave us this gift to control creating all of our lives. He gave us this gift. All this time I thought the Good Book was exaggerating that we are created in his image. We are. He is should and spirit. Energy power and might. He is all universes. He created with thought. He thought it and then it was. We are of the same spirit. Yet we keep that part of our being doormat never getting to really know that side of us. That supersubconcious mind in us that is so powerful. We waste all of this power through a life time of worry doubt despair. We search for that special thing in our lives that will give us an answer and make us happy when all along it is with in us begging for us to release it. Release this unbridled power to create majesty. Create a world to fulfill and enlighten. We have all the answers of our purpose for ourselves, within us. All we have to do is slow down and be quiet.

I have been reading so much literature on this journey. My entire life I was different always searching reading exploring and trying to find answers. Even in my so called darkest hour I was wondering why true happiness escaped me. Why I could not let all the money and material things I had accumulated make up for the happiness I lacked inside. I had a great life. Wonderful children a beautiful wife. Yet I could not appreciate where I was at. I was still looking for more. That little thing that made that huge difference. Where was it? It was so depressing that I let my life blast by. Like a blink of an eye I am Older. My youth was gone. My skin was not as shiny and tight. I was older. Different. I did not recognize myself in the mirror. I saw myself standing before my art in my dreams thoughts and believing it was so. There was nothing in my life at that moment that could convince me this was not going to happen. Just as sure as death was certain one day it was certain to me that I would do my art and it was going to be big. I got a taste of it in a short frame of time last year. I am so thankful to all of those people who I have met and encouraged me. I went back to work after being laid off giving me the opportunity to create for most of the year. And these past few months I have been getting these visions again. They started small and very mild. Now I see it as death is certain. We know this for truth that we will die in flesh. I know for certain that I will be creating for wonderful people again. I will give people inspiration through my visual art. Through the creative process that I have a passion for. I see everyone who everyone is and it does not matter. I see it as the sun makes the night sky day. I see it and feel the happiness. I immediately have received calls from several people organizing shows and displays for events. I am getting calls from people from my travels by work. I have commitments to create works of art for companies. It is not coincidence. There are so many other incidents. I am creating my life all over again. I am reshaping my culture. I am rebuilding the legacy I will leave my children of honor and respect. I am rebuilding my life all over again. I am inspiring others to do so with my connections. I am inspiring. That is my dream Create 2 inspire always. Love, inspire, connect cry laugh be joyous of the life and power we have been given. Quit bitching and moaning of what you don’t have and what others have that you don’t have. Shit! Go and get some for yourself. Ask for it! Take it. Dream it. Be thankful what you already have and what you will receive because you see it already present in your life it just hasn’t showed up yet like UPS is a little late delivering it.

The one thing we can deliver immediately is joy, love and happiness. Have the gratitude that we can give you that gift of happiness. Look in the mirror and see the beautiful person you are inside and quit complaining. Take a deep breath and be thankful for the hard times you are going through and knowing that it is a building of character and you will be more appreciative of what you have when you get it. You will be more appreciative of the piece in your life and the quiet. Overcome the complaining and self doubt and create for yourself a life of positivity and confidence. Smile. Say hi to someone you do not know. Hug a family member that you have not forgiven. Let shit go. Open up. Live your life on your terms and not the world’s terms. If you don’t agree then stop reading this it is not for you. If you cannot relate stop wasting your time reading this crap and go look at pron. or shop and spend the money you don’t have. Go read the disastrous news. Go on facebook and comment negatively on someone. Email hate words to someone like you always do. Stick to your plan of self destruction and get the hell off www.creat2inspire.blogspot.com. I love you all.