The Direction From Which Your Soul Calls {with art journal peek}
art journal sketchbook collage, Hali Karla
art journal sketchbook collage detail, Hali Karla
art journal sketchbook collage detail, Hali Karla
Everybody has their own way of living and sharing their gifts in the world.
My way of being and doing has always been a little... different, solitary, and obscure to others in my relationships. It seems slow at first, an inner immersion before any outward sharing. Without words; swimming with sense - it's rather private.
Then, eventually, there's a grounding to what's been processing - like feet touching land, arranging pathways and taking energetic, directional action. Like a charge to my soul, I move color and energy - or it moves me, from the inside out - and I see what I couldn't see before. I make changes, assess, and keep moving.
My personal creative process certainly feels most vital and thriving when outside noise is kept at a mindful minimum.
There are connections and pathways, waiting to be illuminated and explored... I simply need the quiet to listen close for their call. Sometimes the quiet is literal; sometimes it's a zone.
There was a time when I questioned this rhythm and general difficulty I have in describing my process - out of doubt, a desire to belong to a shared way, or some imposed societal or academic expectation that if it didn't fit form, function and systems that there was something... off, imposing or just un-useful... about my ability, insight and value.
I didn't know how to stand strong in a process that was organic and natural only to me - despite it possibly looking wishy-washy and messy, or disruptive and un-aligned with the way things ought to be or have always been done. I certainly didn't have the words to ask for what I needed at the time, because I could barely bring words to it for myself.
It's unfortunate, sometimes, for many of us intuitive creative types, that so much in our world is measured and rewarded by how well we verbally explain ourselves before, during and even after a process - and how that assessment measures up to various timelines of expectation.
It's a changing world, though - for all of us, if we want it to be. So many of us feel it, and choose to be part of it.
There are new and timeless ways within, nestled deep beyond personas and explanations, just waiting for our attention to focus inward and claim what matters most - actively living meaningful and personally innovative lives - guided by who we are, at our essence, and what we sense to be true and waiting to come through us... however simple or grand... and in spite of outdated tribe mentalities, whether or not we might change our minds, and even our current places of healing within.
So many of our deepest healings thrive in the presence and flow of a spirit of creativity.
What do you need to be fully open to how you process the stuff of life, envision change and personal growth, and to actively take a hand in helping create it?
Front and center for me is consciously nurturing my relationship with both the mess and beauty of life... best amplified in quiet, by touching in with nature, and through music and paint.
No effort is too small if it is made in the direction from which your soul calls.
Claim your sense of self, and take the space and time to infuse it with your sense of connection, in the ways only you can.
Then, explain less, stand strong and create more.