Welcome to this weeks art/life trail ride!  

April is over. It’s useful to notice that we’ve invested a full moon/month clearing space. Clear space (whether internal or external) brings Clarity.
What we’ve gained will travel on with us. YAY…Clear…what a wonderful way to begin!

Each year the Natural Calendar opens with the April moon cycle igniting an inner fire. The inner fire warms heart and earth. Life burgeons and we are encouraged to grow. 

Back in the saddle following the six moon/months of rest, rejuvenation and
re-creation we are beginning the new ride with Clarity. As we move forward into the six moon/months ahead the creative energy shifts giving us ample time to consider the best pro-active practices for what we intend to express. We have a foundation of stability because we took this quieting time. Being stable doesn’t mean that there won’t be the occasional surprise it simply means that when surprises pop outta the bushes we have tools.

Let’s pay attention to some of the shadow surprises that attempt to hold Clarity, and the Wisdom of May at bay. It’s helpful to name challenges and obstacles as we find them. FEAR will block Clarity and distort Wisdom in a snap. Fears of all kinds; self-doubts, health issues, trust issues, projections from or onto others, not enough time, money, skill, etc. Any and all of these can cloud the lens of Clarity.

What lies behind us, and what lies before us,

are but tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 TEND THE FIRE OF CLARITY & GROUND YOUR WISDOM

April’s Clarity is followed by the keyword for May: Wisdom. As we move into the second moon/month of the Natural Year the path broadens and curves. Up ahead there is a signpost anchored deep into the ground. It posts a wise navigational question:

What needs to be done?

Be highly creative and curious about your clearest commitment during this four week stretch. There isn’t any way to ferret out what needs to be done until there is a conscious commitment to Clarity gained. Keep your ‘flow flowing’ by noticing the next signpost:

What would love do now?

7yr old artist in Saturday in the Studio artist, Drozda, 2012

These two inquiries settle your roots. Even though we’re moving forward we can loop back in heart and mind and touch in on these anchoring qualities at any time during the Natural Year.

With commitment to loving what’s next all falls into place

April and May guide us through the East Gate of the Natural Calendar and point to:

beginning

dawn

springtime

THINK fresh start

Compassion Action for this week…

THINK “Art of the Start.”

THINK of how you begin things.

THINK of how you take steps toward those parts of your art/life that demand growth.

THINK about the areas of tension, frustration, chaos and stress in our three primary areas of focus: physical, emotional and spiritual.

Think kindly remembering that tension, frustration, chaos and stress are calls for action.

Calls for Action Rule All Through the Spring!

Spring and Summer address issues on the masculine side of the calendar wheel. 

Healthy masculine energy manifests and brings results.

  Masculine Manifests Keywords:

Active, adventurer, analytic, ambitious, assertive, command, confidence, control, compete, daytime, doing, domain, dynamic, exploration, extrovert, forward, functionality, invent, left brain, logic, masculine, manifest, math, momentum, money, motivated, outer focus, practical, problem solving, project, puzzles, quantity, resource, solar, solution-oriented, structure, revolution, theoretical, technical, trajectory.

Look the word manifest up in the dictionary and/or the thesaurus you’ll find this definition: Clearly apparent to the sight or understanding; obvious. To show or demonstrate plainly; reveal. To be evidence of; prove.

What Will Your Compassion in Action Manifest in 2016?

Here’s a formula you can enlist when your manifesting mojo lags:

T leads to F leads to A leads to R:

Thoughts lead to Feelings

Feelings lead to Actions

Actions lead to Results.

With this take-action formula in mind canter into May making a commitment to your thirty day challenge: manifest wisdom…whatever that looks like, feels like to you.

To kick us off, here is my pick for our…

Wise Woman of the Week

 Bruce Bingham

 

“I believe we live in a world filled with wonder, surrounded by hidden beauty naturally embedded everywhere. Many miss it, some never see it, and others overlook it.”

Bruce Bingham

‘Full Circle’, Bruce Bingham, oil on canvas, 2016

I see the essence of pure energy behind my reality. The colors, mood, and mystery of the moment intrigue and inspire me.

I sense the magic and fleeting change of the fog before it lifts and the frost before it melts and squeeze it onto a flat canvas. I feel the texture of life and allow the paint to create its voice like the sunlight warming the soft fur of a cat.

The more spontaneously I can allow myself to translate the energy in the language of painting the more unique my interpretation of reality. So I am a chaser of magic that glimmers and twinkles just beyond the surface of what I see, following fireflies shimmering on a warm summer’s night. I love painting in oils…

I wake up and paint like most other artists I know and try to squeeze the “must dos” in life around the edges. Or I could be a sleeper cell spy…. These are my musings on how life parallels art, revealing more of the process I use to create my life – dark to light, and all the shades in between.                        Bruce Bingham

Thank you Bruce! For sharing some of your images from your recent painters journey to Cuba. The manner in which you create your trail ride is a joy to witness and ever an inspiration!

I encourage all dear readers to visit Bruce’s Blog …scroll through and enjoy her many journeys inspiring her lush imagery.

 

May your trail be clear and peaceful.

May your art/life be wise and happy.

May you be healthy and well.

 

Donna Iona Drozda, All rights reserved © 2016