Moving Forward....

“the flower doesn’t dream of the bee.  it blossoms and the bee comes.””  mark nepo

 “all these distractions and fears are part of your world.  it does not serve you to deny them, but neither does it serve to give in to them.  do not be concerned with what you have to say and how it will be received.  that is not what matters.  what is important is for you to speak whatever voice you hear within.  that is your only calling.  forget what others may say about it and think of those who may need your words as you have needed the words of others to help you on your way.

 remember how you have been moved by the creations of others.  remember what joy, what cleansing insights, what surges of passion and hope they have stirred.  what if the creators of those works had given in to their fears?  what if all artists listened to the voice that denounces their gifts?  what do you think propelled them on in the face of doubt?  it is the same force that moves you – the force of divine beauty seeking expression in human form.  

 you have come to experience the gift  of humanity and to add to it what only you can add.  this is not a burden, but a gift and a privilege.  what you create as you render your experience into new forms will be a pathway home to your deeper self.  as you create, you will grow in wisdom, connect what you know with what you dream, what you have felt with what you have faith in.  as you pull from the mind and draw on the spirit, you will find new life breathed through you, breathed into the work that is before you.  and this newness is the force of life itself, continuing through you, blessing you as it passes and becomes itself.”

 these are the words of jan phillips in “marry your muse” (one of my absolute fav creativity books!)  i ran across them (of course!) while i was planning for the workshop that may or may not happen.  thank you all so much for your kind and thoughtful comments on my last post.  your words, as well as these which i so appropriately ran across at just the right time have spoken volumes to me.

i am moving ahead.  why? because i want this workshop to “exist” whether or not it happens at this time.  the more details i put into it the more real it feels, the more i can envision it and the more i believe in it.  somewhere, someday…..

(all iphone photos taken on my morning walks)