Category Archives: Nature

A Different View

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I headed out for my walk this morning wearing a pale yellow sweatshirt, frayed and loose around the neck, with one shoulder partially exposed, Flashdance style. My skin was cool and the air was quiet when I left my house. I felt footloose and fancy free. Taking a route different from my normal routine, I trekked up one hill then down another to reach the water. As I approached Long Island Sound the wind whipped up and I saw tiny white caps.

My morning of life/work balance was already pleasantly euphoric. My sneakers beat a steady rhythm on the asphalt and I thought back to art school. A college professor taught all the students in my Design class to turn every artwork around, to view it from all sides. This way the artist can see and change the composition from every angle. What I learned is that when I changed something from one perspective, it changed the whole piece. The finished artwork was completed by drawing a line or changing a shape that I never would have considered if I had not viewed it upside down or backwards.

Today, the surprise of seeing white caps on a day that started out calm and simultaneously feeling exhilarated by the increasing winds put me in a place of deeper gratitude.

Creativity and wellness message for today: Look at your moment from a different view, break out of your routine and be delighted at how the change affects the whole.

Immersion

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Watching a scarlet cardinal splish and splash in the bird bath this morning caused me to stop my responsibilities of the moment and just be delighted by the scene. The image of the red bird wriggling from head to tip of tail in the cobalt blue ceramic dish, with a background of emerald green lawn appealed to me.

I was struck by the bird’s total immersion in its activity. It reminded me of my day last week at BookExpo America. BEA is the largest North American publishing trade show. Just like the cardinal I dove into the trade show experience full on. You can read more about it in the Fairfield Writer’s Blog where I penned a report.

This morning, the ease of the cardinal in the bath reminded me of those things that help an artist or writer be in their zone of creativity. At BEA I heard the author Cornelia Funke speak about her writing process. What fascinated me was learning that she started her career as an illustrator. This explains her use of visual objects to inspire her writing. She writes in what she calls her “writing house,” a small building on her California property, formerly owned by the actress Faye Dunaway. Built-in shelves originally lined the walls to hold Dunaway’s dramatic awards. Funke now uses the shelves to hold bits and pieces of color, texture, symbol, and shape as fodder for her imagination. As an artist I can relate to the comfort zone of using the visual to enhance the written.

Creativity and wellness message for today: What is your zone of creativity? What can you use to expand your awareness and deepen your expression?

Fullness

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Last night the moon was so full and bright I opened my shades and let in the light.

Memories flooded my senses — swimming under the blue glow of a full moon in the waters off Cape Cod; creating and leading Full Moon Meditation Retreats in Connecticut; writing poetry inspired by a full moon’s clarity. Then this morning I received a copy of Catherine Al-Meten’s  article in which she explores the various names and cultural interpretations of the Full Snow Moon, the largest one of the year. I’m enjoying a feeling of coming full circle.

Creativity and wellness message for today: Let the energies of the full moon pull you closer to your true expressive self.

Into the Storm

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During last week’s blustery New England weather I headed outside into the storm. My cheeks iced over while frigid wind made my eyes weep and I headed down to the beach. Torrential rains and high winds became my walking companions. I had deadlines at work and deadlines with my writing and I still wanted to go out into the storm. Little did I know that braving the elements would prompt the topic of one of my essays, due that day. I returned to my desk refreshed and vibrantly alive. As a contributing author to the Fairfield Writer’s Blog  my blog post from that day reflected how my experiences and insights during my in-the-moment-of-life walk inspired my writing.

Creativity and wellness message for today: Don’t be afraid of the storm, whether it be internal or external. Go into it, let it change you, cleanse you, and ignite you.

Cross-pollination in 2010

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Many years ago when I was the Founder and Director of The Center for Creativity & Wellness, I had a collaborative professional relationship with three psychotherapists. Each of our strengths was different. One of us was a therapist who specialized in substance abuse and recovery, another was a marriage and family therapist who also led Sacred Circle Dances, and a third was a therapist who was a practitioner of shamanism. I provided the healing arts of natural energy healing, dreamwork, and meditation for my clients and students. Our professional foursome published quarterly newsletters, and mailed them as a unit to our clients. We called our multi-pronged marketing “cross-pollination.”

We embraced our diversity and that attitude served us, and our clients well. Potential clients were introduced, in very user-friendly ways, to new modalities of healing and personal development. This collaborative approach can be applied in any business or walk of life.

Creativity and wellness message for today: For 2010 plant the seed of fertilization in your life. Veer off the beaten path, touch down on a new flower, try something that you haven’t done before. Let the vitality of cross-pollination be your guide.

Drawn to the Sea

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Yesterday was one of those out-of-kilter-days. Do you ever have them? I woke up with my list of personal and professional responsibilities all lined up, in a neat row, in my head. The only problem was that I couldn’t get my motor started. Yes, I was up very early, yes I was completing my appointed tasks but I felt like I was moving through molasses. My order! My list! Everything was out-of-order and my energy was draining. Finally I let it all go and went for a walk to the beach.

Inhaling salty cold air, and watching the play of light against dry, stark white snow and damp sandy shore, made me pause. I was in the right place at the right time. My lists could wait, what I needed was to have my soul replenished.

Interestingly enough when I returned from my revitalizing walk, I had an e-mail calling me into work for a meeting. That was perfect! That was why my day felt so off-balance, I unknowingly needed to allow space for the unexpected.

Creativity and wellness message for today: Be drawn to where your soul needs to rest.

Teamwork

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On this first day of autumn, as leaves begin to turn from green to burgundy, I have the opportunity to revise an essay I wrote. The Spirit of a Woman is an upcoming anthology (to be published June 2010) and my writing is close to being approved for inclusion! I am one of the lucky women from many nations, ages and personal histories, to make it this far.

Years ago, when I was a working and exhibiting fine artist, I loved doing everything myself. It was my way or the highway. Now as a working writer, I welcome a team approach. Editors really are there to help writers. What a priviledge to be working with a team of editors, all of whom are dedicated to the success of the same project, and are helping me make my words the best that they can be.

Creativity and wellness message for today: Consider teamwork. Just like trees need the union of sunshine, nutrients and water, to transform their colors, humans need the same. Being part of a team can bring unexpected new hues to your creative efforts.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

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With many-petaled dogwood  trees blooming pink and white all around me, I took my morning constitutional. I chose a different walking route today, one without sidewalks, but one that would end at a particular beach. As I enjoyed the smells of Spring popping all around me I noticed that the traffic was heavier than I expected on this early morning road. As cars sped by, my reverie was distracted by consistently watching out for my own safety. Realizing that this route wasn’t perfect, I almost turned back several times. Yet, I wanted the prize at the end, I wanted to get to that beach. I persevered, enjoying the sights and sounds whenever the coast was clear, as I ventured forward toward the beach. I was not disappointed. Loons swam silently by. Still as a lake, the water breathed in and out with soft gentle sighs. I exhaled, drinking in Nature’s sweet bounty.

Creativity and wellness message for today: Don’t let imperfection stop you from experiencing your own realm of wellness. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Dreams: Snakes, eels and me . . . oh my!

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You may be asking right about now, “What do snakes and eels, of all things, have to do with being creative and how the heck do they relate to wellness?” Dreams, my dear Watson, dreams. Our nighttime dreams hold the wisdom of our souls. They offer us the equivalent of decades worth of free psychotherapy in our lifetimes. As a dreamer and as an educator about the wonderful world of dreams, I have learned over the years to trust in my dream imagery 100%. Dreams provide us with an uncensored window into our waking life. Knowledge garnered from nighttime dreams actually helps me create the life I love.

Recently snakes and eels have shown up in my dreams. Their appearance helps anchor me in my own symbolic mythology. In everyday life I may shutter or jump at the sight of a snake, but in my dreams I receive the emotion that is in the dream, without editing it. Using the art of metaphor, I glean my dream’s message. It’s like unraveling a ball of yarn, tugging at possible interpretations until one feels right.

Creativity and wellness message for today: Listen to your nighttime dreams. Refrain from judging your own symbolism. Let your nighttime dreams speak to you in their unique language of colors, animals, and intricate texture–your waking life will be richer for it.

Composure

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I’m sitting at my computer, exhaling. This week has been full of new beginnings. My twin is this season called Spring. Green stems from bulbs planted long ago are poking through fertile earth, like the ideas that I’ve been planting and fertilizing over time that are beginning to bloom. I’m reminded that patience works. All we have to do is let Mother Nature teach us. She shows me how to create new seeds of ideas and then to gently nurture, nourish, and protect them. Trusting that when they are ready the ideas will spring forth–healthy and ready for the light.

Creativity and wellness message for today: What seeds of new possibilities are you planting in the garden of your life? Let the wisdom of Nature guide you to your own place of calmness, tranquility and self-possession.