Thought for The Day - Not Yet

It's a sad reality, that moment when you accept "I'm not ready." And all too often, that realization is followed by "when will my time come around?!" Patience gets tossed out the window in moments like this, but there's not much you can do. Oh, you will wait because there's not much more you can do...

Back to the wood shed! Continue working and practicing and building your skills. Each opportunity you get, you try to showcase your talents, though often you ask yourself why; the end is always the same: rejection or worse, apathy! And each time, you wonder whether you have what it takes, if you are too young, too old, too short or the right race...nagging questions that you dare not ask, because in truth it won't matter what others say. There's a reason you continue to hone your skills, show up for the performance and give it all you've got: you have a message, a song, a move to add to this vast collective! And whether you're "ready or not," you have to press on!

Perhaps, many years from now, the "right audience" or group will see you for who you are. One day, you will be recognized for your outstanding performance, but for now, in the meantime, just not yet...

Thought for The Day - Rearranging the Space

Clearing out space

Moving around stuff

Making room for more

Getting rid of old energy

A constant process... we aren't as wise and clever as we would like to think. But we've got to do something! After all, as much as we deny it, we crave change! It's in our DNA, our soul is this bundle of energy and constant growth. So, from one minute to the next, from day to day, we move about, we settle down, we shift and we stretch. Always moving people in and out of our lives.

Yes, people and things, coming and going; seeing this person and that one; wanting to "settle down" with someone but when we do, we aren't really settled are we? We want to grow together and somehow we don't. We make this life as difficult as it needs to be.

My words aren't cryptic, friend. You understand what I'm saying...

Thought for The Day - The Good News/The Bad News

The good news is you're alive (you are, after all, reading this).

The bad news is you may not be using your time wisely. Sure there's "work," the 9-5, if that's what you do everyday. But I've known people who don't use their time wisely at work. Tasks and assignments aren't completed as needed and it's not until management threatens to dismiss you, that "time management" is a consideration.

The good news is you like/love to read (you're reading this).

The bad news is not everything you read is worth your time. Back to the time issue, again. I've heard this once and it was good enough to stick: "if you love reading, there's a strong possibility there's a story" in you. Now I know there are many novels, books of poetry and a couple self-help books in me! Today's thought isn't merely about you; it's me, performing a self-convicting disclosure!

The good news is you "have time..."

No bad news on this one; each day is what you make of it. While you may berate and criticized yourself - and possibly others - the time is yours to use effectively. I'm not talking about organizing your day down to the minute and in some cases, not every hour. But it is a matter of evaluating how your time is spent, in light of what your goals and your purpose. And after evaluating, performing the necessary steps until that demon is exorcised!

The good news is you have a reason to be alive; you have a purpose.

The bad news: you may not be using your time effectively in light of your purpose. I'm not sure if you've ever read this in my blog, but I "KNEW" (notice the caps?) I was supposed to be an artist. I questioned the preacher part, but did it (and still do) when the time was right. But I had high aspirations of touching hearts and mind with my work. My mom wanted me to be reasonable and have a plan B, just in case the art didn't work out. Enough doubt and concerned was raised that at 21, shortly after graduation with a degree in Fine Arts, I put my pens, pencils and brushes away. But thirty years later - yes that long - I'm back at it. I have to "unlearn" a great deal of self-doubt and force selfishness - guarding tmy time in the studio is an internal fight more than a fight with family and "commitments." But I'm determined to do so. As far as setting the world on fire, touching "hearts and minds?" Well, I will allow the "beholder" to decide if the message hidden in lines and colors, gets 'em to the core.

Thought for The Day - Rubbing the Sleep from Your Eyes

My evening routine: come in after work, grab a snack before dinner - breaking a mom's cardinal rule, except it doesn't ruin my appetite - eat dinner, fall asleep on the couch, squeeze in a little gaming, get clothes together for the next day and go to bed. Pretty much each week night, the routine is the same. Except, since 2009, when I begin painting and drawing, I've wanted the evenings to be filled with drawing and painting. Can you imagine being 'haunted' all that time with a desire that you, yourself seem incapable of fulfilling? I have my evenings, where I make it into my studio and get to the work, and there is the weekend. But I know the value of doing the work when it is begging to be done!

I would love to think last night would be a new routine, but I know my tendencies all too well! I started my normal routine, making it through dinner a nap quickly to follow, but through the process, I could see in my head the painting on the easel. I could see the colors I wanted to paint and the movement it would take. All of that hovered in my head like a pleasant reminder of the work to be done. Well I had my nap and not as long as I thought I needed. I woke with only 15 minutes rest and went to work. It was time well spent and though I expected my sense of dread for the next day to kick in, any moment, I made it through a good two hours of working.

I know exactly what I want for my life and would like to believe I am on the path to it. I will take last night and use it as a reminder of what I can do when I focus. And hopefully, I am moving down that path at a better pace. Thank you Lord!

Thought for The Day - Practice Session

I was nine or ten years old, living on the West side of Chicago. My mom and I decided it would be a good idea for me to learn to play the piano. I guess there's a musician buried beneath all of the other creative stuff I do comfortably. Initially, she would take me, wait in the entry area, while I had my lesson. But eventually, I had to walk the four or five blocks by myself. I used that time to imagine my playing the songs I learned in class. Of course, the teacher suggested that I practice at home, but we didn't have a piano and small Casio keyboards weren't available so many years ago. But we had a small organ, which, when I think about it, was a blessing. I would try to play the songs I learned in class and it seemed like I never got the sound just right. But I would practice.

I had an older cousin who was far more gifted in music than I and on the day of a recital, his mom and mine were there. My playing was simple and choppy barely getting through the song without too many errors, but my cousin, he played like a young concerto! He had the look and the confidence as he played each note. The music lessons lasted maybe a year before we moved and I never was that good at playing. I did learn to place my hands on a piano or keyboard properly and I can still pick out middle C.

A few years ago, I tried my hand at poetry and unlike the piano lessons, there wasn't anyone to guide me. It was on my shoulders, but the burden seemed light. To express myself with words, creatively, with flow, pitch and depth...it flowed easily. Now, I'm not one to appear on a stage and read it - at least not yet - and there's all this expectation that one does it with the swagger and confidence of the "spoken word" crowd...that's not me! but I continue to practice word creativity; this is one way to do so.

I guess, in essence, the painting and drawing, the writing and now reading up on guitar playing - yeah, trying that now - are my practice sessions. And it all meant to serve, inform and uplift.

Thought for The Day - Practicing Your Craft

Keep at it!

Put in your 10,000 hours and you will be an "expert" in your field.

In that case, I better work 100,000 hours and while I'm asleep! Writing and drawing, painting and poetry, water colors and stories...I could be practicing a long time!

I don't want to become proficient in any one thing; matter of fact, the one thing that acts as an umbrella over all is expression. Not in the soliloquy, monologue style, but where I am actively engaged with others. This life is not to be lived in solitary, but in community with others of same and different minds.

Practicing my craft is a matter of taking in the world around me, the good, the bad and the ugly. It makes for a rich tapestry for the stuff of rich lives. I quietly observe, be a fact finder, examine the highlight reflecting on someone's nose and observe the sounds. I'm making mental notes and always cataloging colors and words; there's always fascinating things happening around me and I do my best to observe and absorb.

Ten thousand hours? I think I've put in quite a few already. Maybe not ten thousand, but I'm building my time as I go. let's see what comes of it.

Insight, Intuition and a Sledge Hammer!

Some days insight comes in like a 10 lbs. sledge hammer, slamming in my head like a huge bell. Clarity, an explanation, a warning or just a gentle ‘hello.’ Then there are times when I know I’m being told something, but it is more like a cloud or the image of the Virgin Mary in a chip; not everyone would understand, and if I told it to others they would smile and nod, but they wouldn’t get it. Regardless, communication, a language and words, have been passed.

Response; there are times when I allow myself to swim in it like a huge ocean. I allow the waves of consciousness and revelation to engulf me, fill my being and to find myself in the sea of ecstasy. There are times when I move with purpose in response, words find there way to the surface or images find their way to paper. Plans are made, “Google” searches done, or I tug at the ears of friends, family and anyone who will listen.

I’m speaking of insight and intuition. I know we all have it I’m just not sure we respond to it. Trained from the time we could comprehend ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ we expect knowledge to come through books, a well meaning authority figure or even someone who means us harm. Rarely do we listen to those whispers, which “pop” in our head that doesn’t spell out an answer like a textbook. But insight can easily be ignored if it is nurtured, disciplined and acted on. For me spending years choosing to be bound by the perceived needs of supporting family, I nurtured a dream. That dream now makes itself evident through my writing, artistry and counseling. Insight and intuition are skills and talents available to everyone if we will practice and perfect it.