Aquamarine Insights

Looking for assistance, I placed a small piece of Aquamarine, my Gemini Gemstone Guide (in honour of the previous New Moon in Gemini) under my pillow last night and found myself absorbing fresh insights as I slept. I wouldn't call them answers exactly, just insights, mainly about balance.

Balance is something especially important for those of us working from home as we juggle life and work.

Last night I attended opening night of the 44th Annual Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach where I had been an exhibitor from 1995 to 2001. I spoke briefly with a new artist about his ceramic jewelry which I'd been admiring for it's simplicity. We spoke of artistic balance; his booth was filled with creative designs that were all the same size so I asked him about making a few large, dramatic pieces and he agreed that working like that was especially fun and exciting artistically speaking.

So my question for you, dear readers is, "Are you allowing your strengths and talents to shine forth or are you keeping them hidden? What is your number one strength and how are you expressing that gift in a balanced way?"

With that in mind, I found a bit of time today to balance all my hard work with a visit to my painting studio just to sit and write and ponder upon a new painting. I allowed myself a short nap underneath two giant old oaks as I enjoyed the sensation of dappled sunshine upon my skin, my faithful mutt Abby nestled by my side.

What kind of balance could you achieve between your life and work within the next twenty-four hours? Why not try it sometime,  it feels sooooo good!

3 Tips to Stay Focused

Staying Focused

I found it quite interesting that a recent issue of Wired magazine talked about how Twitter and Facebook can actually help make us more productive, not less - hard to believe isn't it?!!  Research has shown that "regularly stepping back from the project at hand can be essential to success. And social networks are particularly well suited to stoking the creative mind ... we need periodic breaks to relieve our conscious minds of the pressure to perform - pressure that can lock us into a single mode of thinking. Musing about something else for a while can clear away the mental detritus, letting us see an issue through fresh eyes, a process that creativity researchers call incubation ... regular breaks enhance problem-solving skills significantly".

I was recently inspired by an interview with Danish film director, Susanne Bier who shared this important tip (learned at film school) - “Kill the darlings and focus on the ball ".  In my own work as a soul reader and creative being I have had to learn that lesson over and over again and I still find it tough to let go of paintings I adore and to know when to call it quits on a painting in progress.

Staying Strong:

Tip 1. Soul Time - take some alone-time but without being tyrannical about it, to be in nature, take a walk, and enjoy the scenery without putting pressure on yourself to do anything but just be in the moment - it can be a refreshing way to recharge your soul and find joy in the small things that you often overlook.

Tip 2. Creative Time - let yourself dabble around in a journal to release whatever pent up thoughts, emotions and ideas are brewing away in your mind. Allow yourself complete creative freedom without worrying that anyone else will have to see or judge your scribblings, think of it as a way to let off creative steam and once again, allow yourself to be in the moment and really have fun with it.

Tip 3.  Media Free Time - free up your creative mind and allow yourself some space to hear your own mind, feelings, soul, by spending 1 day (or more) without listening to the media: news, tv, internet news, etc.

What new projects are you germinating right now and how could you benefit from creating healthy, balanced new ways of being?

We are the Bridge and the Way

Letting go of obsessions, fixations - do we really need these things, these people or these feelings, to feel good about ourselves? Or are they just excuses to remain trapped, to not expand our consciousness, to remain small and stuck and sad? And yes, sometime new fears can pop up, but by looking deep within ourselves we can sometimes find the root of those fears and that root is nothing new. It may be something we've been avoiding or denying for a long time.

Are we just passing the time, filling the space? No! We are transforming, ascending, deepening our connection with source. We are transcending human bonds, becoming pure energy, resonating with pure beauty, expressing love.

We are becoming one with Mother Nature - fecund, fertile, prolific, as we dance in space yet remain earth-rooted, feeling and knowing both mystical ascension and earthy sensuality. We are the bridge. We are the way.

Receive, give thanks, be.

You can't put a price tag on your soul, just as you can't price out passion, art or creative expression.

Inside the dome after experiencing a Sound Healing Bath at the Integratron, Landers, CA

"Put your hand over the side of the boat What do you feel?"

From the song "A Coral Room" from the album "Aerial" by Kate Bush

Finding Our Heart-Home

Sometimes it feels like I spend more time shutting out the world than I do being in it, through meditation, deep thinking, deep feeling. The time spent on this is immeasurable - time does not equal money. How little money can we exist on? How to simplify so that basic needs are met, leaving room for art-making, play, deep reverie? A longing for one-ness with the universe, the Divine, the source, the thread connecting all I do. Sometimes we seek outside of ourselves to fill this emptiness, this loneliness felt deep within our soul, but outside sources can never fill this bottomless pit. Instead we need to recognize our yearning for what it truly is, a search for source, a longing for re-connection with our Divine self.

When we realize this - that our heart-home lies always within reach and that our true home is always within ourselves, we are home, we are blessed, we are free.

"I love the ground whereon he stands." From the song "Black Is The Colour" by Marcy D'arcy & The Prodigal Sons from the album "Women of the World Celtic II"

The photos above were taken after experiencing a sound healing bath played upon quartz crystal singing bowls at the Integratron in Landers, California.

Gemini Full Moon Musings

Moon Talon - acrylic & pastel on silk - 3.5' x 3.5'

It is the Full Moon in Gemini - Feel it in your bones.

Feel the Quicksilver Tongued One brushing your tingly flesh with her silvery, sparkly breath.

Can you hear her calling out to you:

What do you really want to explore this month? Follow your curiosity, communicate your dreams, press your soul to paper, record the moment, fly for just one second on dreams of butterfly wings, letting them carry you higher 'til down you tumble, laughing all the way back to earth.

Now, quick! Name three dreams you dreamed today! 1. 2. 3. Now, Believe in those dreams, believe in you and then thank her high and holy Goddess Gemini, Queen of Silliness & Structure (the twins, as you know!) for granting you the power of Sacred Play as you watch your wishes unfold before your eyes, fresh and sparkling and new.

Gemini Colours: Yellow, silver, pale green Gemstones: Agate, aquamarine, beryl Plants: Nut bearing trees; hazel, chestnut Food: Peas, nuts, vegetables grown above ground Animal Spirits: Talking birds, monkey, butterfly, deer Goddesses: Hina, Iris, Feng P'O P'O, Tatsuta-Hime (The Wind)