The Artist's Way - The Blue Iris Garden

“The true use of art is, first, to cultivate the artist’s own spiritual nature.” – George Inness

I have been participating in a Zoom workshop based on the book I read several years ago titled the Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.  This workshop and recent changes in our world and my life has allowed me to focus on a new website and blog on WordPress that I am designing titled The Blue Iris Garden – Finding God in All Things.  The Blue Iris Garden is a platform where I will share my thoughts, teach and lead on God and higher consciousness, gardening and nature, art, and creativity to open our thinking, see possibilities to make constructive changes within our lives knowing that each of us affects the whole. 

 

The Artist’s Way which is based on God as the unlimited source of creativity with the power of flow that opens doors as we need them providing opportunities in our life.  It is very different than the corporate structural model I used to audit that sets objectives and constructs processes and controls to obtain them.  As I thought about my new journey, I wondered, are they two separate approaches to life or can or should they be combined?  Should and can I completely let go of one in order to achieve the other?  When I worked for the Jesuits, I was taught contemplative prayer (which requires emptying our mind and allowing direction to emerge), action (taken on the direction received in prayer), and reflection (evaluating our thoughts and results before prayer) which is a form of practicing the Artist’s Way.

 

But I know based on psychology classes that switching our minds between the Artist’s Way and a structured repetitive thought process is very inefficient and draining for the brain.  I realized that I do have to work primarily within the Artist Way and use structured thinking on a limited basis by beginning with the end in mind.  I have learned the importance of habits, routines, and scheduling blocks of time for dreaming, reading, thinking, writing, exercising, and completing tasks.  And I believe everyone needs a space that inspires them while they create especially for me because I not only write, but I am a visual artist.  

 

And I step back further and think about our Earth with billions of people connecting within societies acting in collectives, I ask how do we change given we have brought our existence to the edge of extinction with unsustainable populations and consumption, mass weapons and environmental destruction?  I realize that the answer is to raise our consciousness and focus on making incremental changes that impact the end while networking our ideas.  We need to make our changes locally, within a larger picture and vision of what we want to be universality while honoring the diversity of our cultures and environments.  And we recognize that each of us is uniquely gifted to serve differently. With faith, love, and hope knowing our creator is all powerful and his creation is miraculous we change the world spreading joy and kindness while holding ourselves accountable.  

 

As I thought, I realized that over my lifetime and especially within the last year, how much uncertainty I have been able to accept without stress has changed.  I can move between abstract questions and the big picture and the detail.  I can focus on the moment and what is immediate, while keeping the end in mind.  When I was younger, I was so busy and task focused, I didn’t think about the larger picture and consequences or trust my intuition and feelings about the choices I was making.  But now with the virus, climate change, political climate and social unrest I am far more conscious of the impact of my decisions and the need for individual and collective change.   With age, I am now aware of a universal consciousness that the Bible and spiritualists have been experiencing and writing about since humans were created.  I am aware that my individual thoughts and actions not only change my behaviors, but impact others' thoughts and behaviors.  I also know our collective thoughts and actions create a consciousness and spiritual energy that affects our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing  without being experienced through our five senses.  And I know the importance of the physical restoration of gardening and nature on Earth is required for our physical, mental, and emotional health because all of nature is part of the universal consciousness created through God as well as experienced through our five senses.

 

I realize that I need to lead through helping others visualize, be creative and step out to make a collective vision that is beautiful and intricate.   I will always love my personal exploration of God, higher consciousness and communication in Sacred Souls over the last seven years, but it is time to write, teach classes and network in my life and my new website and blog.

 

I hope you will join me in The Blue Iris Garden - Finding God in All Things as I begin my new journey on the first day of Spring, March 20th.    

 

 

 

 

Everything is a Miracle

“There are two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other as though everything is a miracle.”  Albert Einstein

This morning as the clouds cleared and sun streamed through the windows with still bitter cold and untouched white snow on the ground in my backyard, I sat with my coffee and looked at my yellow, blue and floral pillows glowing on my sofa I found myself in deep thought.  The first is that I am so incredibly blessed in my warm beautiful home with people and animals suffering and dying due to the frigid temperatures.  And I thought about all the problems in the world we are facing and that that those problems seem so insurmountable and outside our control.   My thoughts then wandered to last week when one of the men in my Christ based discussion group shared a book on faith he was reading.  As he talked, I realized he was discussing intellectual scientific and faith-based arguments on what is a miracle.  I felt the need to laugh because one of my favorite quotes from Albert Einstein suddenly came to mind.  He said, “There are two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other as though everything is a miracle.”  Everything is miraculous if you see and experience life through that lens, but the reality is a large percentage of our world is not because they are focused on surviving the next crisis including not freezing to death or baking in temperatures over 100 degrees.   And I realized the hypocrisy of even writing this blog entry when I live as I do safe in my beautiful home.  But I kept thinking….

Yesterday, I was listening to Bill Gates talk about global warming and he pointed out that a large portion of greenhouse gases are emitted by agriculture including cows.  And then I thought about the series on Magnolia network, the Lost Table where a small rural town restaurant in Freedom, Maine supports farmers who raise livestock, vegetables, fruit, and seafood in the area and how beautiful and amazing that life is, although not easy.  And then my mind flipped back to Bill Gates in his intellectual mode was talking about companies need to produce beef in the lab which is humane and how that was the future of mass produced beef.  Many Americans who regularly eat beef contributing to greenhouse emissions do not realize that other countries are replicating our diet with far reaching environment consequences.  And after reading the Fate of Food by Amanda Little, I know that feeding the growing world population in a warming climate has become a crisis that needs to be met with a variety of solutions, including choosing to eat less meat and grow meat in labs.  But underlying it all is that we have reached a world population number long ago that is not environmentally sustainable, and we need to recognize that fact in developing our solutions.  Do we want a world where communities like Freedom Maine cease to exist because we are developing technical solutions for a population that cannot be sustained by our Earth home given the way we want to live?  Is building electric cars and infrastructure using precious earth resources while we lack the systems to effectively recycle or reuse wise?  At what time in civilized world history do we run out of nonrenewable resources that we are consuming?   How do we reduce our world population to a sustainable level, without accepting mass deaths due to climate change and other causes?  It is a conscious decision, but one we can make.  We can choose differently, but we need to act individually and as a group in making our decisions and deciding what to sacrifice while developing innovative solutions.

And then I come back to my faith in God and my belief that everything is miraculous.  I thought about my Christian friend who spends time praying for miracles to extend the life and ease the suffering of his friends and family, while hoping to be accepted into heaven.  And I asked myself, is prayer without action enough?  I thought about the Christians who believe Jesus is going to come back and save the world they believe is unredeemable.  But in the Gospels Jesus said the kingdom is here and never promised to come back and save us in this existence.  Jesus’ point is that we are saved, but we need to live like it.

God is in the moment.  God is love.  We live in this amazing world and universe which is miraculous and proof of miracles to come.   We are on an eternal journey that does not end within this existence but requires us to make decisions to care for each other.. And we should find joy, chose differently, and have faith that with God and each other we can care for our Earth home.  The end is not certain because there is always faith, love, and hope.  Everything is a miracle.

   

A Winnie the Pooh Day

“What day is it?” asked Pooh.

“It’s today.” squeaked Piglet.

“My favorite day.” said Pooh.

 

Today was a sunny day and I set off for my three-mile walk around the neighborhood to clear the cobwebs and heaviness from my mind from our recent cloudy days at the end of January. As I walked clarity returned, and I thought about my Facebook post from Winnie and the Pooh about the simple joy of focusing on the moment.  And I agreed with Pooh, today is my favorite day.

As I sat down to write this, my cat Chloe is licking the remaining drops of potato soup from my lunch cup.  She really shouldn’t be in my cup, but I decided to let her have her moment. And several minutes after she finished, she is still flicking her tongue savoring the taste of each drop.  She then proceeded to clean her paws thoroughly while sitting on the desk in front of me.  And in the background on my favorite playlist Ed Sheeran is singing Perfect Symphony with Andrea Bocelli.  And as I listen, Chloe looks at me in adoration.

 

Let us remember to gaze at our loved ones in each perfect moment..  

 

In God We Trust - the United States of America Motto

Tonight, I decided to join a Raise the Bar group discussion on the topic of joy and how we find joy in tumulus times like this.  For me, joy is finding God in all things and appreciating my blessings.  This week has been very challenging for me due to my own health issues.  But I realized how lucky I am compared to others who have lost loved ones as the virus death toll reached over 400,000 today.   People have lost jobs and are without a roof over their head or food on the table and are dealing with grief or pain.  I know I am especially blessed because I am surrounded with loving, caring friends that were here for me this last week despite their own challenges such as severe physical pain and the loss of a father.

In the group discussion, it was apparent that members wanted to get their lives back to normal so that they can socialize and be together.  But when I pointed out there never has been a normal my comment was met with anger by one of the participants because of the devastation in his livelihood in the restaurant industry.  My point was that the last year has been a lesson in raising consciousness about how we relate to each other and underlying societal, environmental and government problems that can no longer be ignored.  God has been at work through it all because God provides light and hope that we can be better and do better individually and together.  But because we have been so unsettled, there is a longing to be in the moment and not constantly worry about our health and the future.  My statement that there never was a normal is because no life is worry free, but we do need and can find our moments of joy and peace in the presence of God.   

I believe with the Inauguration of President Joe Biden tomorrow we will be restoring the United States of America motto – in God We Trust.  To trust God, is to trust the Almighty creator of Heaven and Earth and to know love is the most powerful force in the Universe.  And by trusting God and his power to heal us, we can change our country and the world treating each moment as an act of love and demonstration of kindness.   And in that we can find peace and healing while rising to the challenge to make our country a more perfect union.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, 

But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, 

The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen. 

2020 Vision and 2021 Reflection

 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”  Proverbs 29:18

“No problem can be solved by same consciousness that created it.”  Albert Einstein

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  Romans 15:13

This week has been another emotional week for me, but then those weeks are the most enlightening for me requiring me to put together all the pieces in my mind.  I have been thinking very deeply this week about two of my favorite Bible verses and quotes – one from Matthew, one from Proverbs and the other by Albert Einstein, both which underlie much of my thinking.  But I need to articulate today other verses in my mind which I have known for a long-time, but I have always struggled to put in practice because I am human.

And that is the verse Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” And this is especially relevant in a society where the enemy’s purpose is to sow disinformation and take information out of context by hacking into personal, public and private systems. And this includes threatening people and their loved ones physically, eventually killing them when they will not remain silent or conform.  This creates an environment where we become fearful for ourselves and our loved ones not trusting the love and goodwill of others.  This has and is leading to changing words and images on the internet including the Bible.  This becomes gradual and then outright so we can no longer trust any documented source. This includes substituting original paper documents.  We are becoming paranoid, isolating ourselves and creating a fear of the “other” instead of seeking to understand, and then to evaluate and act.  We protect ourselves by distrusting everyone else and we react with emotions based on our perspective in the moment.  This can then be used to discredit us with others including our loved ones, destroying us because we are less than “perfect.”    

In a society based on the love of God where we recognize we are human and can be forgiven by others, we can do better.  But the ultimate purpose of the enemy is to keep us from recognizing the great gift of humanity – to love, feel all our emotions and be in union with God combined with an eternal life as a spirit knowing that with God all things are possible.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  

God protects us, when we love him and others acting with faith and hope. That is vision. The enemy cannot succeed because God and love cannot be defeated.  Jesus is love incarnate and all-knowing rising beyond death showing us the way.  

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the to most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. 

Psalm 91, King James Bible 

  

Awaken

 “Cogito, ergo sum.  I think therefore I am.”  0 Rene’ D’Escartes

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Hebrews 11:1 

 

In my home, I have a print of a painting by Monet in a muted gold frame in my dining room.  Monet had captured a moment in time of a woman standing on a doorstep with a young girl playing in the garden in the front of his house in Giverny, France.  

 

I woke up thinking about this print and began crying.  I was crying because in my mind, I was the woman in the garden in Giverny and the little girl is my child. It had been a dream I had working towards unconsciously for years.  And I was torn between the power of my imagination and all the possibilities and beauty for my life, and a reality that said it was no longer possible to have a child and that my time is limited.  A world where we are human beings looking out a universe never understanding that our consciousness and thoughts are part of God and that we are therefore God.  Not realizing we are focuses of light and energy with the power to transform everything around us. and that everything is thought.   “I think therefore, I am."  And because of it, we are trapped in a world with a raging virus and decaying environment of our own making bound by fixed physical parameters that we don’t believe we have the power to change.  

 

And it came to my mind previous flashes of insight seeing a deeper understanding that I and others have been fighting throughout eternity to awaken our spirits and unlock the doors that hold us within.  And I thought of my brilliant nephew who has been classified as developmentally disabled and autistic who told me once, “the door is locked, and I can’t open it.” And who played scenes from the movie Monster.com on his iPad for me where a little girl unlocked the doors to free the monsters who weren't really monsters at all.  I thought of the Wizard of Oz in which Dorothy who discovers she always had the power to go home in her ruby red slippers.  And I realized that the answer has always been within us, that everything we do is a reflection of the conscious and unconscious and this deeper order of truth we have kept from ourselves.  And I thought of Carl Jung’s quote “One does not become enlightened by imaging figures of light but by making the darkness conscious.”  

 

We are all Spirit.  We just don’t know it.  We are all part of God, but we don’t believe it.  With God, all things are possible.  

 

I believe it is possible for me to have a child and to live in a house with a beautiful garden.  I am brilliant with a light that cannot be contained.  I am of God.  And I am here to awaken.

 

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die." Genesis 2:15 NIV

We ate from the tree of knowledge and we  no longer know.
Jesus was all knowing.
Sometimes I know.
Sometimes I don't know.
Sometimes I don't know and nobody else knows.
Sometimes I don't know and everybody knows.
Sometimes I know and others know.
Sometimes I know and everybody knows.
I always know.
Everybody knows.

  

 

 

 

 

The Essence of Leadership

 “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.  He or she does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the quality of his or her actions and the integrity of his or her intent.  In the end, leaders are much like eagles…they don’t flock, you find them one at a time.”  Author unknown

I found this quote handwritten in a file I reviewed yesterday of my writings from 1997.  Along with an event last week that required me to process my thoughts from different perspectives, this quote caused me to reflect on what it meant to me and the history of my leadership roles which first began in 4th grade when I was elected class president.  Even at the age of nine, I learned that truth and integrity mattered both in intent and action.  I went on to be appointed editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper and remembered with a smile, a student who wrote a dissertation on his vacation and I had to drastically edit it curtailing his wish to name everyone he had met.  He was very upset with me, but he went on to be the editor the next year.  I also remembered running for senior class President, losing by a few votes even though my track (we had a year-round school with three tracks or groups in school with one out), was not given the opportunity to vote because they were out of school  during the voting.  I decided not to object, biding my time before running an editorial before the next year’s class elections, in which I pointed out that everyone should be provided the opportunity to vote to ensure a fair election.  The senior class advisor, a social studies teacher, who had told the year before I had lost, let me know personally with a subdued face that all four tracks would vote in future class elections.  The elected president, Natalie, did a great job and it ended up I was very busy with senior activities including the newspaper while working as a part-time secretary for a State Farm agent.  So, it all worked out.

My next leadership role was as President of the University YMCA student board.  While serving as the incoming president my junior year, I sat on a Board of Trustee search committee as one of the two student representatives to choose the next General Manager.  I opposed the committee’s decision to select an employee already working at the YMCA, arguing for several hours, because I knew that he was a liar and could not be trusted based on my experience with him, as well as stories told to me by other staff members.  I had to work with him during my term as president and it was challenging.  To make a long story short, two years after I graduated, he was finally removed because he was using funds that needed  trustee approval without seeking it.    

I thought of another leadership experience while at the YMCA because of events this week.  The student vice president, Kim, who graduated top of her journalism class was very smart, very outspoken and very opinionated.  I was intimidated by her and felt she was dominating the board, so I decided to have a side conversation telling her that she needed to tone it down so others would not be affected.  I was apprehensive about having the conversation.  After I said my piece, she looked at me, smiled, and said “I am going to be me.  Your job as leader is to manage me.”  I suddenly knew that she was right.  Her intent had always been positive, and the issue was within me because I was intimidated, and I needed to be more assertive in directing the conversation, but not by controlling her.  So, going forward, I leveraged her intellect and passion while making sure everyone had the opportunity to participate and the entire board benefited.  She was one of my bridesmaids seven years later.  I have to also add the previous board president, voluntarily resigned from the board when he realized he wanted to still run the board and that his anger with me because I would not date him had become a problem.  A number of years later when I saw him he admitted his enthusiastic support of the General Manager had been wrong and I was right in my opposition.

I have been pushed out of Bible studies, writer’s groups, jobs and other groups because the leader sees me as a threat to their expertise and agenda because I am creative constantly thinking outside of the box.  These leaders lacked the personal insight to evaluate their own emotions, confidence in their vision, or the leadership skill to leverage my intellect and creativity, my goodwill, and my perspective as I learned to do with Kim in order for the entire group to benefit.  What is sad, is that the actions of some of these leaders have been especially damaging to me.  A leader should always work to bring out the best in people, not by constantly praising them, but to challenge them and provide the opportunity for them to grow.  The leader of the memoir group pushed me out of her class this week because I read a blog entry on my vision of God. She had designed her program according a formula that she felt would allow an unprofessional writer to record their memories for their children and it did not include a reflection on God.  She angrily told me, you are confusing them (the other writers).  What I would have said to each writer to think about as they started writing – what are the lessons you learned in your life as you tell your story that you want to share with your family?  And how did your life shape who you are and where you are going from here?   Steven Covey in his Seven Habits includes the statement – begin with the end in mind.  And for me, my purpose in writing is to share my journey to know God and how it influences my future going forward. 

In conclusion, what I have discovered about me, is I cannot support a leader who lacks the characteristics in the quote on the essence of leadership.  I expect leaders to make some mistakes, but I judge them by the quality of their actions and the integrity of their intent.  But I would also add I evaluate them on their ability to self-reflect and improve their leadership skills.  I expect them to keep the best interest of who they are leading in the forefront of their thoughts and actions, always learning while achieving their objectives.   This reflection reminded me to strive to do this also as I move forward in my life.