Everywhere You Are-THERE IT IS!

Life force…

In the blue eyes of a client trusting me with her deepest heart.

In vast sky, floating clouds and iridescent, golden glow of setting sun.

In grackles, hawks, hummingbirds.

In giggling 5 year old soul sisters skipping exuberantly.

In the presence of my beloved husband...heart leaping, spine shimmering...joy bubbling.

In the most delicious avocado I have ever eaten.

In purple flowers- luminous at dusk.

In this breath, and the next.

Everywhere I look…

In you.

In me.

Life force is everywhere, all the time, all at once. Isn't that just amazing?

The Main Event- Don't Miss It!

Stay awake to the present moment.
Everything is revealed here.
Everything is done here.
In this moment, and the next, everything we need for our soul evolution is being offered.
This present moment, right now...
That is the main event.
Look no further.
Don't miss it.

3 Reminders to Inspire Your Day

I read these three quotes in an old journal this morning and felt totally inspired by them. I will allow them to fuel my day...maybe you will to.

"Krishna is the complete giver, why should we beg?" Bhagavad Gita

"The lord is my shepard, I shall not want." Psalm 23

"Find something in each person that makes you feel like the Sun" Dr B

Simple. Potent.
May we all receive the magnificence and radiance that is always, already present.

Bless up!
G

The Great ReInvention of Life-A One Love Nugget

Every circle completes and begins again.

I welcome the disintegration of expectations, continuities and neurological grooves.
I am not the same person I was a month ago, or even a minute ago.

Throw all pictures, parameters and ideals of who we think we are, of how life is or how it should be to the wind.

Witness the unfolding of this divine design.
Raw, organic life force~unrehearsed, unknown.
Seeds of essential being flying free.

Right now. As it is. This breath. This moment.
Luxuriously fresh and ALIVE.
Evolution rocks!

How to Live Art Everyday Part 2

At the midpoint of the Art Everyday Month Challenge, I am both delighted and humbled. There were moments this week where it took real choosing to create beauty, ease and art with life...especially when I was very busy, tired and tempted to reactivity and survival chemistry. Though every time I choose to live my life as art, my mood lightens and I feel my commitment to my essential values.

That is what creating art does for me...kicks a log in my fire of divine love!
Here are some nuggets from the week in review:

Day 8: The Art Of Simplicity After a juicy, fun filled day of friendship, intuitive consults, family time, and all kinds of details in the marketplace, I snuggled in bed with four 4x5 postcards and a pencil. Simple- 4 line drawings, before dissolving into dream time. Turns out these wee pieces captured potent energy, and really nourished my soul. It doesn't take much. As the Bhagavad Gita says, about the path of yoga, "Even a little of this practice will shelter you from great sorrow."

Day 9: The Art of Going with the Flow Though a long to-do list met me in the morning, I looked at my journal and line drawings and knew the agenda was out the door. Today (unlike yesterday), I would make Art Everyday my first priority. I sprawled out with bright brush pens, layered papers, wrote haiku, adorned and framed each line drawing. Each was written for and since given to 3 precious peeps in my life. Later, going with the flow, found Talia and I sharing a picnic and romp at Sabino Creek all afternoon. I also shifted my evening city plans as the flow led me to a sweet mountain sunset with the hubs and snuggling our cutie to bed together. Following the current of energy, and letting go of agendas once in a while is golden.

Day 10: The Art of Shopping I am not a fan of shopping. Though I love quality, groovy, functional goods and gear, consumer madness, is cuckoo. Today, however, I set out to create an art form. I was a stealth, zen shopper. I was on a mission. And a fruitful, affordable and fun one it was! Here are my art of shopping pointers:

1. Have a list- yet be open to surprise purchases.
   
2. Get only what you *love* and need.
3. Welcome bargains (second hand can be first rate).
   
4. Have fun.
   
5. Get in, get out.

Day 11: The Art of Chanting I am a big fan of singing Kirtan and devotionals. Every week, right here in Tucson, over 150 folks from Tucson gather to sing Global Chants together. We sing songs and prayers from the Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Native American, Buddhist and Goddess traditions and more. I love that we are all a totally diverse cross section of humanity. We are mixed in age, gender, ethnicity, size, color and background. Yet we all have in common a sweet, singing devotional heart. I love attending with Kenya and Talia. We sit in the inner concentric circle, surrounded by guitars, drums, harmonium, violin, shakers and bells. Tonight Talia danced in the center, until flopping into my lap and falling asleep to the lullaby of a Sanskrit chant.

Day 12: The Art of Zenjoyment (a word I created and use often). This day, (and all weekend solo with Talia as hubs was out of town) cross referenced with The Art of Least Resistance, The Art of Non Reactivity, and The Art of Patience. I chose to practice Zenjoyment all weekend, saying yes to life, letting go thoroughly to the moment, being wildly grateful for my experience, no matter what.

Day 13: The Art of Altars Creating a little (or big) space, here and there to welcome, honor and remember the divine is a gift you give yourself and your family. It doesn't matter if that place is where you meditate or on your kitchen counter. Adorned with fresh flowers, images of family, divine archtypes, sentimental trinkets, beautiful elements of nature, seasonal goodies, candles, and more, nurturing this space is a way to nourish ourselves. Today, I cleaned and cleared my kitchen altar. It is fresh with a trinity of Kwan Yin, Mary Magdalene and Lakshmi, with offerings of pumpkin, mesquite pods and eucalyptus. Everyday, I light a candle and some incense here and notice I immediately slow down, breathe more deeply, and relax into love.

Day 14: the Art of Sabbath A day of rest and worship...who couldn't use one? As Rumi wrote, "There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the Earth." Whether in the church of the great outdoors, your home, a spiritual service, solo or with others, taking a Sabbath day is a loving, sane practice, and truly an art given our fast paced culture. I love unplugging, enjoying time in prayer, and communion, savoring unhurried 'down' time that is focused on connection. Today, we did just that, all day long! Yes! A sweet exhale of gratitude.

How about you? How did you create art everyday, in big or small ways this week? I would love to know. Please remember to post your comments on the Blog itself. Use the "comment" link/space at the end of each post. Hitting "reply" to your "emailed" post never gets your comments to me. They are words of wisdom. I want to hear them! May you go out and "Artsper"... prosper too!

In loving Gratitude, G

How to Live Art Everyday

Welcome to my Art Everyday Series!










My dear friend, rad visionary/creative career guide, Britt Bravo always hooks me up with juicy, inspiring goods. Recently, she turned me on to ArtEveryday Month, (a genius creation of life artist, Leah Piken Kolidas). This is a wonderful month long invitation to create art everyday.

I felt totally inspired for many reasons. I love living life as art. I love the practice of focused intention to live creatively everyday.

Here are snapshots of the week in review.

• Day 1: "The Art of Lounging" I slept in till 9:15 am (a rarity in our household, which I have done less than 5 times since becoming a mama 4 years ago). Later I enjoyed a lounge on the Hammock, with my sweet hubs, Kenya and daughter Talia. Laughing, snuggling and swinging together was luxurious.
  

• Day 2:"The Art of Sharing" I posted 10 Pearls of Wisdom for Living Love. Being a true believer in our unity and shared dreaming, I shared highlights from a recent vision quest. Today I felt into my broad definition of Art. I feel so grateful for all the ways that art reflects the beauty, mystery and infinite possibilities of life. True art touches me on a heart/soul level. Later, I played around with watercolors, for the first time in years! Painted a "You Are Love" sign for Talia's room. She loved it!

• Day 3: "The Art of Gift Making"Talia and I played for 2 hours with a sprawl of art supplies, making holiday cards and bookmarks as gifts. We talked, laughed, listened to music, sang and enjoyed a quiet shared creative space.

• Day 4: "The Art of Haiku" I love this Japanese poetry practice, inspired by Zen/Buddhism (5-7-5 syllables). Ideally, it encapsulates deep feeling and gives a sense of the infinite- in a nutshell. Take a deep breath in between lines as you read.
  
  Renewal, Rebirth
  Gut, Release, Dissolve
  Steeping in the Love.
  

OK, by now, I am also in awareness and celebration of how much art expression there is in my life! Improvisational play, puppet shows and family dance parties, singing, chanting, drumming, strumming are a daily part of life. We host a chalk mural canvas patio, the length of our home, 3 cupboards loaded with art supplies and a wide ranging family of instruments. We bring love and creativity into cooking, parenting, relationships, professional work and to the chop wood carry water details of life. And while this lifestyle is the norm for us, I notice that the exception is not nearly as fun or life giving. Surrounding ourselves with art creation and creativity, in all forms, feels good! It is a way of being good to ourselves.

• Day 5: "The Art of Earthing" Yes, Earthing is actually a real word and a movement to stay connected to earth energy as a sustaining factor of vitality and health. We enjoyed an afternoon out in Bear Canyon, with 3 kids under the age of 4. With head to the big sky, sun kiss upon us and bare feet in the ground (literally), we dug in sand, splashed in the creek, played on rocks and communed with nature and friends. First thing that morning, I created a tiny 5"x3" bookmark of Sky/Starfish/Ocean with brush pens. Knowing it would be a full day out, I wanted to begin with the practice of "creating art everyday". Even small expressions of creativity can be so fulfilling.

• Day 6: "The Art of Blessing" I savored a full day in meditation on divine love, peace and unity. I was initiated by soul kin, Zelie and Lucia, beautifully tuned medicine women, as a Deeksha-Oneness Blessing Giver, This profound transmission of divine love, intended to inspire global peace, comes to us from the Oneness University . Check out their amazing vision. Also highlighted today was the "Art of Yoga and Napping in the Garden", on our midday break. I *LOVE* when these art forms blend together.

• Day 7: "The Art of Play" I played with Talia and two of her pals at our home. Hubs was giving their parents a djembe drum lesson, while we romped. We played karate/yoga class, zoomed on scooters, climbed the fort, drew with sidewalk chalk, went on the swings and hammock, shared snacks while coloring with Crayons, told knock knock jokes as we played with the sand and water table, read books (I read), pretended a birthday (complete with gift offerings and song), and had a bubble party, dancing to One Day and Give Love. Thoroughly playful. And they played ten times as much on their own. Children are masters of presence, play and wonder. They are natural life artists.

All that in just week one! I am finding that living Life as Art and Art as Meditation are my ideal lifestyle. Art Everyday Month has already been such an inspiration, to deepen and grow this life long practice that gives so much-inside and out! What's more, this week I got that it is not just "Art Everyday", it is also "Art Everywhere" Thank Goodness.

There are still 3 whole weeks left. Join me, and comment on your experiences here! I'd love to hear about your journey. Stay tuned for week two.
Let's Live Art Everyday, Everywhere, Together!
LeHaim! To LIFE!, G