Archive for February, 2012

Take Your Dreams One Convivial Day at a Time

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I’m at Starbucks trying to uncover the gems I seek for what will eventually become chapters of the convivial book I am writing.

I won’t pretend to be fearless. It scares me to say that I’m writing a book. Such a daunting task for a busy mama, but its what I desire.

I refuse to believe in the impossibility of my dreams.

It’s so easy to just exist, to get by, but defiantly creative spirits won’t let up and don’t get comfortable, so day by day, I take steps to be resourceful, to connect with people who can guide and be part of making this book a reality.

Declaring what you want to the world takes cojones and holds you accountable.

Once you make your dream known, you have a choice to follow through or disappoint…yourself. After all, that’s who you’re creating for, right? If that isn’t the focus, then forget it. Your art is not about anyone else but you. By being true to you, to your art, that’s how you serve others.

And the world- upon hearing your dream- now has the choice to believe you, (eagerly) watch you fail, or become part of the process. Ask for help. Show up for the unknown.

Failure is inevitable, a gift, something to embrace.

In Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, he says, “You’ve got to be willing to be wrong in order to be right all the other times in your life..” Words like that fire me up and make me want to go make a writing fool of myself…in private. If I show up and do the work, I’ll eventually clear the junk and find my treasure.

That’s how art and the process of creating it works. It’s hard to see the initial results of your labor, but if you keep faith behind your efforts, you’ll get to the good stuff.

I am in the beginning stages of this book project. Unfortunately, writing for me can’t begin until after 8pm each night, and I can’t always dedicate every day to creating a new sentence for the book, the blog, or simply for me, because family life takes first place, and many nights, my body fails me. My boys take a lot of my energy throughout the day, and even though I’ve got passion for this convivial empire brewing and bubbling beneath the surface, sometimes I just don’t have enough energy to keep going.

This is me, the convivial mama in action.

I’ve learned very quickly, and painfully, that you are nothing without your body. You must take care of it.

I used to stay up late into the night writing, researching, creating plans with my muse, but those days seem long gone. Nowadays, my body seems to crash around 3pm and I’ve not even done anything! It’s frustrating since the lack of energy cuts into my creative time. Scoliosis and a 34 degree curve in my lower back are the big culprits. I’m working to get that driving force of energy back. My next holistic move to heal myself is Cranio-sacral massage. I’ve been wanting to try it for years now. Intuition’s leading me there and I’m finally listening.

For now, I take it day by day. I avoid comparing myself to others who are birthing one creative project after another, because I know my story is not their story, and my path is my own. Being gentle with yourself is essential to pushing through the slow times, the times when you’re full of creative ideas, yet seemingly stagnant. It’s like you’re standing idle, in some imaginary, never-ending line, waiting for your turn to come.

This is every artist’s struggle: making the time and having the energy to create.

You get knocked down, find discouragement almost anywhere, at times lack clarity of vision, struggle with self-acceptance and self-belief, yet you keep at it, keep believing in what you are compelled to do, because that is what convivial minds who are artistically committed do.

Sometimes I don’t know why I feel the need to show up for the blank page and write my journey, sometimes I am not sure what difference it all is making, but I do it anyway, because I don’t know how NOT to write what I feel, what I believe, desire and dream. Some of it I share here, some I keep just for me, but I know one day, it will all come together. One day…this I believe.

Wishing you the best health for your next creation,

Redefining Art, one convivial word at a time

Last year, The Convivial Woman and my efforts with The Convivial Supper Club centered around the general experience of being a woman- the things we go through, struggles we face. As the year passed, I found myself needing to narrow my focus a bit further, so I sought time alone to do some inner searching.

That inner reflection gave me the courage to switch gears and realize that my purpose here is not only to share my experience and struggles as a woman, but ultimately as an artist, a creator, a dreamer, a doer.

The convivial shift has gone from the feminine to the overall experience of the ever evolving, artistic homosapien. Sounds very Planet of the Apes, but you get my drift.

When you think about the word “art,” what comes to mind?

Someone standing at the easel, ready to paint as Picasso and Dali once did? Someone sitting at the kitchen table ready to write the first draft of a great story as Stephen King still does? Or do you envision the Mona Lisa and all other world masterpieces lined up on the museum walls of Le Louvre in Paris?

Those impressions are pretty common, and it tends to cause people to feel isolated and discouraged from pursuing any creative endeavor simply because they find it hard to view themselves on the same level, in the same light.

Here’s the truth: I’m no different than the Greats and neither are you.

A work of art resides within you, within us all- its simply a matter of time, awareness and effort before an awakening can occur to express the creative genius in you.

Once you see yourself as an artist, a creator in your own right, it is only then that you can pursue it and attract who and what you need to create a life around it.

To bust through any glass ceiling of creative self-limitation, you must consider and question the definitions of art.

Wikipedia says…

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect…

Britannica Online defines art as…

the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.

Goethe defined art as…

a second nature.

I want you to consider a more expanded version of what the “A” word means, what that encompasses so much more.

The Convivial Woman’s definition of Art is anything you… (more…)