Welcome to the art/life trail ride!
It’s the third week in the Clarity cycle (April 7 – May 6) the element that kicks off this Natural Year is fire.
‘Homage’, Drozda, Acrylic/board, 20 x 16″
Be ignited and lit up! Find the idea and inspiration that has motivation and momentum…power and thrust! Cast your vision six moon/months out from now. Imagine that it’s October and progress has been made. What are you up to? How are you doing?
Action defines the primary masculine quality that propels each of us through spring and summer. This half of the Natural Year is when the art/life burgeons and grows. That doesn’t mean that my all-systems-go are the same as yours…that doesn’t mean that what lights me up does likewise for anyone else…the beauty of the art/life trail is that we all make our own discoveries and this is the pioneering month.
You don’t have to be the hare…remember how in the story he’s fast out of the gate but losing stamina midway? You can choose to take the tried and true, slow and steady, pace of the tortoise…we’re all about the graceful pace here on the trail ride.
On the art/life path we realize that there is continual access to the step-by-step unfolding of the natural cycles. The unfolding brings synchronicity and a dash of magic…practical magic…allowing aliveness to remain intact no matter how many times we’ve circled the wheel.
Each spring we spiral into a new Natural Year that holds the magic and the surprise of discovery. Indeed the focus of the trail ride is to let go of the race. It feels natural and nurturing to experiment with stepping away from the ‘gotta get there first’ mentality.
EARTH DAY/WEEK/MONTH/YEAR
Another quality of the art/life trail is that you will never come to a point where you can see all that lies ahead. There will be the inevitable twists and bends in the path; there will be wash outs and floods following storms, sudden surprises jumping out of the bushes causing a skip in your heartbeat and naturally there will be enough awe-inspiring vistas that make all challenges and obstacles worth getting through.
To ride the trail of the art/life means eyes open wide! Ears alert for the snapping of twigs! Your instinctive body alive, alive O! Movement of body in saddle urges rhythm and fluidity increasing equilibrium.
This week we’re looking at how Clarity can increase these qualities and add so much more to the joy ride.
A basic and consistent means of bringing Clarity to your awareness is to name things; the values that you live by, the shadow side that follows you, as well as what you’re moving toward.
It’s also amazing what Clarity arrives when we stand still and make connection to the Earth. Realize self as part of the life on Earth. See that indeed calamity happens, beauty happens, goodness happens and predator/prey relationships happen and none of these define us. We define the markers on the path and what they mean over time.
You will find, if you take Beauty as your teacher, it will teach how to recognize the value of everything, Beauty has a storehouse of positive energy. Let yourself be aroused by the beauty of something and you will feel an in-flow of positive thoughts and feelings. Make everything you do a contemplation of beauty and you become an advanced mystic!
James O’Dea
This is the year to sit tall in the saddle! Send compassionate care out into the world. This year the trail ride is about evolving as we touch the hearts of the others.
THE THIRTY DAY CLARITY CHALLENGE
This week: To get clear we need to clear. Get clear of the burden of so many things to take care of…this can extend from one end of the house…or the mind… to the other. So much is written and discussed on the topic of stuff and what to do with stuff. Clutter on the path can be distracting as well as dangerous. During THE THIRTY DAY CLARITY CHALLENGE notice how much extra stuff is surrounding you and intruding on your creative space. And it is so helpful to remember that stuff refers to thinking stuff…clear the garbage thoughts. How many ideas and opinions are being carried that could be inventoried and released? Count em.
This week it’s timely to add in a meditation of loving kindness…
You’re navigating the terrain of the art/life. Things can get bumpy and disorientation can be the result. Tap into the inner GPS system (check your saddlebag) that keeps you on track. You want to get where you really want to be going. Navigating directly toward your destiny and continuously aligning with the purpose of your life will help you see all this year that something is finished. Something has been accomplished…creatively speaking this entire year is ripe for noticing what’s done …as well as what’s to come. Once space is made by releasing what is complete notice how innovation, renewal and rebirth begin riding beside you. Take note of creative solutions as they begin to accompany you on the trail ride.
Wise Woman of the Week
I’m so happy to introduce you to poet/healer Cindy Washabaugh. Cindy contributes to the beauty of the world by laughing and weeping with the deep Self. For the past 25 years she has been encouraging the words that forge healing in relationship and community. Our Wise Woman this week is developing, directing and facilitating creative writing programs in colleges, organizations, and in neighborhoods helping others to Sing the Body of word pictures that is theirs to share.
Her work has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies, including The Connecticut Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Hanging Loose, Confrontation and Hunger Mountain and locally, in the anthologies Cleveland in Prose and Poetry, League Books, and Voices of Cleveland, Cleveland State University Press. Her poetry collection, Sings the Body, is now available from Finishing Line Press.
Grab a front row seat and listen in…
Cindy’s debut book of poetry titled ‘Sing the Body‘ is ready for pre-order…check it out.
Thank you Cindy! Your painted words and the healing that their resonance brings to the Earth is a fitting celebration for any Earth Day, week, year.
In My Front Yard, Drozda, 2010
Thanks for being on the art/life trail ride…share the ride with a friend by forwarding them the link…
At the bottom of the post you can leave a comment on your trail ride view.
You can also find the share buttons and send a ‘LIKE the ride’ on Face Book…
NATURAL TIME MANAGEMENT FOR THE ART/LIFE TRAIL RIDE
I am a working Heartist with more than thirty years of practice in supporting the creative best in each of us to come forth and shine. Join the movement: make joy the vocation of your mind. Connect with the uplift of ‘Luna See’ and Lifecycle; time management tools for aligning with natural creative rhythms. Discover and uncover the ecstatic thrill of ‘making life the master peace’.
Dear D I you know I ‘ve been following this path with its 12 words which are perfectly aligned with whatever is happening in my life and TIME. I particularly liked the reminder to release that which has been completed. I’ve been doing that for some time .
The first day of your Fabric Workshop, last Friday, I pulled the Rune, Isa from the bag passed around. Isa is another milestone point on this path of CLARITY. To shed, release, come to a standstill while holding the seed of growth within the husk.
love, Ellis
Hi Ellis…it really is stunning to simply align with the moon/month keywords as we travel the art/life trail.
The 12 qualities are individual sign posts that allow tremendous flexibility for exploration.
Once we begin to focus on each in turn for its 30 day period we discover that they, in turn, imply and then require an organic, most natural creative expansion…what we like to refer to here at Wren House as ‘PWP: progress without pressure’.
AH HO!!