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Are you awake or asleep in your life?
"Most people are sleepwalking through life.
Only about 10% are fully awake, and those people live their lives in a
state of constant amazement." -- Meg Ryan in 'Joe Versus the
Volcano'. Add that to the statistic that most human beings use only
about 10% of their functional brain capacity and it becomes easier to
understand why people do things without seeming to realize it.
There is more to being truly alive than
merely making your feet follow one another to get through one more day.
If that is what you feel you've been doing lately, maybe it's time to give
yourself a wakeup call. Awakening to life can be the greatest gift you
give yourself.
We each create our own lives, even if we do
so by continuing to live the same way we always have. Few
people understand that perpetuating their present reality is, in itself, a
daily choice. While that may work for some, the real question is whether
continuing along your present path will bring you closer to the life you
want to live. You are always free to choose a different path.
"Man is asked to make of himself what he is
supposed to become to fulfill his destiny." -- Paul Tillich
Are your daily choices bringing you closer
to fulfilling your destiny? We each have a life purpose, some gift we
bring to this planet by virtue of living our lives at this time. Seek to
discover your gift, the ability that is uniquely yours to share with the
world. Engage with the world by taking time to notice the sunlight, the
moonglow, the change of seasons in the air around you. Breathe in deeply
and let the intake of oxygen fill you with new reserves of energy and
peace. From a new place of clarity, it will be easier to bring your life
into sharper focus.
Open all your senses, and actively apply
them to connecting with your sense of wonder at the ordinary blessings in
your life. And from that place of active gratitude, it will become easier
to reach for and recognize the extraordinary blessings you are given.
The more awake you become in your present
life, the greater the blessings you will experience along the path to
fulfilling your true purpose.
Your Life as Art, by Phoebe
Fox
As a creative person, I know the signs of
when I am living my life creatively versus when I am merely marching in
place while keeping time to someone else's music. I must confess I am
appalled at the rather large chunks of my life I have spent doing the
latter. Using the time of my life wisely on a daily basis is one of my
challenges in this life, so allow me to share with you some wisdom I
have picked up along the way about living life creatively.
When I am living my life in the creative
zone, I feel more energetic about everything I do. Things that might
seem like a challenge suddenly feel easier to attempt, and those
attempts usually result in something more positive than I could imagine
before I began. Time spent being actively creative, even if only to
plan someone's birthday celebration, inspires me to be more creative in
other areas of my life. If I feel my creative energy getting stuck,
something as simple as moving around physically by taking a walk seems
to get my creative mind back on track. Joyce Carol Oates reconnects by
running. You may find some other activity works best for you, but the
theory is the same.
When I am not living creatively,
everything feels stodgy, routine, and (frankly) boring. The funny thing
is, sometimes I actually let it get to the point where I feel bored to
death before I wake up to the need to change my approach. Right now I
am working on shortening my wake up time, so things don't have to reach
a point of desperation before I recognize what's going on. It's better
for me, and better for the people around me.
Creativity is a gift we all share. Some
of us may appear to be more in tune with our creative abilities than
others, but we all have them to some degree. You may simply need to try
your hand at different things until you find the creative outlet that
works best for you, or comes easiest to you, or the one you have the
most fun doing. Take the time to explore your creative self. You may
be surprised at what you discover you can accomplish at this stage of
your life, even the things that felt challenging or difficult to do when
you were a child.
You say you have never thought of yourself
as a creative person? All the more reason to waste no more time before
discovering your untapped reserves of creativity. I am a writer; my
sister is a painter; some people have musical ability even if they've
never had a music lesson before. Is there some activity, craft, or
skill you always thought you'd like to try someday? Just when do you
expect that someday to magically arrive? If you feel the urge, the
ability already resides within you; you simply have not developed it
yet.
Talent alone won't get you there.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
wrote, "Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work
one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you." Take the
first step, and the second will appear easier.
Never having had a lesson is no barrier to
entry. When no teacher was available, I taught myself to knit by
reading a book on the subject. You can simply make it your business to
find out what you need to get started, and then begin. The artist
Robert Motherwell said, "In the brush doing what it's doing, it will
stumble on what one couldn't do by oneself." Although he was speaking
of painting, I can attest that the same principle is true of writing.
"If you want to be a writer, you have to write every day," said Walter
Mosley. My mantra is simpler: Show up, and write what comes.
You say you cannot afford the cost of a
new craft or hobby to explore your creative side? Think about how much
money you throw away every month paying for your favorite vice: junk
food, pay per view, cigarettes, whatever. What you choose to spend on
such items is your business, but take stock of what you are actually
spending in that one area. Isn't it worth at least that much to you to
engage your creative self?
You say money isn't a problem, but you
have no time to tackle anything else right now? How much time out of
your life do you spend tackling the TV each week? Most children spend
on average more than 30 hours a week watching television, and the number
quickly climbs over 40 hours when you count time spent parked in front
of a computer or playing video games. That's the equivalent of a
full-time job, and children typically don't stay up as late as most
adults, so how much more TV time are the grownups getting? Could some
of that time be set aside to pursue your creative efforts?
My Grammee used to say, "Excuses are like
[something else, it may have been noses]; everybody's got one." She
used to say the same thing about opinions, by the way.
We make time in our lives for the things
that are important to us, and we can't seem to find the time for things
that are not. The choices we make every day about how we spend our
time are actually shaping what our lives will be about, not only in the
present but also in the future. Today's choices are the foundation
of the choices we will feel comfortable making tomorrow.
St Francis of Assisi
said, "He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with
his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his
hands, his head, and his heart, is an artist."
You are a creative person whether you
realize it or not. The work of art you are in the process of creating
is your life, the life you choose to live every day in every way. Make
it a labor of love by actively engaging your creative energy in every
aspect of your life, and discover your gifts.
The life you create will be truly your
own.
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