“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.
Great blog. Looking forward to it.
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