Recovering a Sense of Possibility
It's possible. We can "catch the bus" as Julia Cameron so eloquently puts it. There is an adequate supply and we can learn to let it flow where it will, not "where we will it". Ideas come to us but we might discount them as outrageous or silly. We might hear them, see them, draw them but not act on them because...well, because we just don't. We don't have enough time, enough money or know the next step. We may not allow ourselves the pleasure or the opportunity to create as other demands pull us away.
So very sad that this idea needs to float away and find a new home. Someone else may birth it. Someone else might find joy in it and THEY may be the ones who get the million dollars for it. AND maybe it was theirs to BE birthed. Yet, every time we don't act on idea, on a dream, on a creative intention, our dream not only dies within us, our dream dies for the world! The way YOU would write that book is differently and unique. No one else can share your gifts in the way you can.
When exploring "possibility" while reading this chapter, I came across this Ted Talk by a young Singaporean singer, songwriter who explains his journey into doing what he loves, being a musician. Listen closely because, for some of us, as we get older, we tell ourselves that POSSIBILITY only exists for the youth. Not true. The small actions that he took towards this feeling, towards this dim vision, towards his passion, led him on this path to sharing his gifts with the world. We ALL benefit when we listen closely and act accordingly.
There is possibility in this moment if you are curious enough. There is possibility until you believe there is not and then you become the judge, the jury and the executioner and possibility dies. As Joel Tan says "I took small steps outside of my comfort zone and created possibilities that I couldn't understand the magnitude of... Possibilities can be created starting today."
Recovering a Sense of Abundance
"We want a God that feels like a fat paycheck and a license to spend as we please. Listening to the siren song of MORE, we are deaf to the still small voice waiting in our soul to whisper,
"You're enough." (The Artist's Way, pg 105)
Carrie's thoughts...
Abundance. It is all around me. I am filled with gratitude for the food, the clothing, the roof over my head, and the soft pillow I lay my head down on at night. I have abundance in so many forms. I am loved. I have friends. I have safe streets to walk on. I have parks to go to. I have a bike to ride. I have a car that starts and gets me from here to there. What more should I want for?...(continued on Carrie's Blog)
"All substance is energy in motion. It lives and flows. Money is symbolically a golden, flowing stream of concretized vital energy." ~The Magical Work of the Soul
Homework Week 3
Recovering a Sense of Possibility, Abundance & Connection
2. Do Morning Pages daily
3. Don't forget to schedule your Artist's Date NOW.
4. Bring postcards to class (or I'll have some). We will begin to write to 5 friends (we will complete 2 postcards). (task #5 in Abundance)
5. We will do the Virtue-Trap Quiz together. (pg. 101 in Possibility)
"Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong!" (Task #1 in Connection)
7. In our Gaggle group, post one way you pamper yourself. If you don't pamper yourself, how would you like to pamper yourself?
Recovering A Sense of Connection
I reflected on Connection during the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, and during the years of violence, anger, despair, suffering, injustice, and confusion that people experienced in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and throughout the country. Doing the Artist's Way during that time held a different flavor for me. As a result, I became more aware of the importance of connection.
Take a risk a day..
"Once we are willing to accept that anything worth doing might even be worth doing badly, our options widen." Julia Cameron pg. 122
I like to use the phrase my Zen teacher uses which is, "dim vision". What is your dim vision? It doesn't need to be all planned out, perfected to the "t" but you have an idea, a dim vision of something you would like to create, to try, to implement. This doesn't need to be "artsy", no, this could be sending an email to help you move in a certain direction. This could be attending a protest to stand up for what you believe. Each step, each action takes you that much closer to this concept, this idea of what you believe in. It's about who you are and how you envision that showing up in the world. Don't overthink it. Just do it! (the famous Nike phrase). As Julia states,
"The success of creative recovery hinges on our ability to move out of the head and into action." (pg. 121)
I came across this website that has a fantastic activity to get you to step outside of your comfort zone and try things that might, at first, seem scary to you. 7 days...check it out!
JEALOUSY
"...jealousy strips us of our will to act when action holds the key to our freedom." Julia Cameron (pg. 124)
Jealousy is always a mask for fear, that is what Julia says and I believe it to be true. This reminds me of what Marianne Williamson said in her book, A Return to Love ...
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Jealousy is LACK mentality. For some reason you don't think that there is enough to go around. 'Why should I write that book when there are so many other, better authors out there?' One more doctor, one more photographer...it doesn't matter because, here's the thing, there ONLY ONE YOU! No one will do or create like you will create it or do it, BUT... if you NEVER do it, it will never be created how you would create it. That piece will cease to exist.
"The truth, revealed by action in the direction of our dreams, is that there is room for all of us. " (pg. 124)
