DEDICATION: Art Practice, Moon Magic January Link-Up!
We each get to decide if and how we dedicate ourselves to a conscious relationship with creativity. How and where in our lives we will be AWAKE to it. Shoot for as much as possible, I say, and do the best you can to savor and indulge!
It can be directed to our homes, our relationships, our work in the world, our spirituality or art-making, our music or fitness, the next thing we are building or dreaming… wherever we lay that attention, that's the fertile ground of our becoming and our remembering.
It is the point of living presence, where we meet the layers of our selves in their wholeness.
Sometimes it's beautiful; sometimes it's damn messy and chaotic. Sometimes we have no idea where it's coming from, what it is or what it's all trying to tell us, or who it's for. But when the creative spirit moves through our lives, you can bet there will be awareness followed by… something shifting… or settling more deeply into what it already IS.
Pages and paintings in a contemplative creative practice can be like this, too.
I'm not so sure these days that we're meant to figure out what this practice or life stuff is all about as much as we are simply here to BE an opening for the evolution and awareness of remembering, activating and becoming, one moment at a time.
There is a thread of connection up there in the pages I've made so far in my Art Practice, Moon Magic art journal this month… probably a thread only I fully understand... a sort of visual story-telling of my unique BEing, right now in 2016, processing what was, is and will-be, in the way that I am able to perceive from today's vantage point…
...and, in my experience, that's how it is meant to be in a practice. Dynamic. Personal. Mysterious.
A practice has to begin with you, be for you, stretch and center you. No matter what it looks like to anyone else on the outside - because they can never see the inner workings within you or the bigger picture that is your creative journey through time.
It is sacred. Treat it as such. Share it mindfully with others, when it is the medicine that sees you through. Protect and tend it patiently when it is a freshly planted seed.
Honor the often delicate beginnings of orienting to your essence and receiving intuitive direction in your practice.
Share it boldly too, when courage is the muscle you need to strengthen and connection beckons. We all need to remember we're not alone in living expressively, making art and making life art.
And, most important of all, perhaps - balance it all by not taking any of it too seriously! If it ever feels too heavy to carry, remember that.
I feel an awakening - or readiness, of sorts, to a deeper understanding of power and dedication - the power each of us carries as a vessel of creative energy and life.
It is neither light nor dark, but very much alive. And time's are a-changin', my friends.
There is a responsibility with this, and vulnerability... along with possibility, beauty, love, joy and healing.
That is why dedicating our practice to someone, some cause, or some element outside of our self can help get us to the practice that centers and liberates us on those days when doing it for ourselves alone is just not enough. That totally happens and it's OK.
So dedicate if you know the practice is good for your state of being, and get yourself a trusted practice/play buddy, if that helps you stick to it, too.
As we feel life itself pulsing and moving us in our practices and days, let us be mindful of how we give away, leak and use our creative energy and power. In our noticing, we can re-direct and reset.
Let us have consciousness in what motivates us, and how we bottle up or let flow the surges of creation and curiosity in our lives.
Let us remember to pause and breathe in the essence of our creative spirit every day, like the moon shining down beams of a greater, mysterious unfolding, activating our primal desire to revel fully in being alive, lit up and expressive. Let us take this to our practices and our living, wholeheartedly and with dedication.
How will we work with this magic today, this month, this year?
Me? You can find me star-gazing with my people, serving dreams+prayers+creation, and practicing the craft of making my art medicine.
How will you work with your creative medicine and magic?
These are musings and pages from my personal Art Practice, Moon Magic reflection this month. What's been coming up for you? Care to share? Link-up is below... or you can start with the original January New Moon invitation HERE.
With the next New Moon in February, I'll be sharing more about the flow for this year's invitations.
LINK-UP is now CLOSED