Posts Tagged ‘energy’
When You Need Something To Believe In…
On a bright, sunny Sunday this past October, I answered a casting call put out by WORKSHOP and CAPTAIN AND THE FOX to be part of the video reading of the Charter For Compassion in New York City. I jumped at the opportunity because I believe in the powerful, hopeful message of the Charter. (That’s me in the picture in the front on the left side) Click here to see the video
It’s been quite sometime since I’ve been able to engage in ’spiritual’ dialogue of any kind, even though I still consider myself to be ’spiritual’. I’ve been waiting and longing for something I could really sink my teeth into, and without a doubt, I have found it. “Treat all others as you want to be treated”. This simple, yet ancient philosophy of kindness and respect toward others is worth getting excited about, especially in a world that so desperately needs it.
There are numerous opportunities for everyone to get involved in events celebrating the Charter world wide. There is also an open door for each of us to create our own events, and in that spirit, I’ve been working on two. First, along with my signmaking peers, we’ve established a blog and gallery of Inspirational Word Art. Secondly, I’ve written a new song called, “Higher Ground” with co-writers Dawn Kenney and Christine Hatch. The song will ultimately find its way to a youtube video featuring the Inspirational Word Art, and hopefully will find wings beyond that.
Everyone can get involved in spreading this message: facebook-it, msn-it, tweet-it, blog-it. More importantly, we need to ACT on it. Compassion is a lifestyle. An attitude. An invitation.
Designed by Nancy Beaudette
Doctor My Eyes!
I’ve been putting off ordering new glasses for over two years now. My eyes have changed to the point where I need bifocals – I guess it happens to most of us after we pass the forty year milestone. My eye doctor said I could wait until I just couldn’t stand it anymore before biting the bullet. In this case, the bullet could have been $650.00 worth of lenses and frames! Yikes! So I’ve held off placing the order…until now. I broke my glasses.
Duct Tape & 18 gauge wire
It’ll take two weeks for my new glasses to arrive, and in the meantime, I’ve wired and duct-taped up my old frames. Yes, they look funny, and I get a good chuckle at myself when I put them on. They’ve become a social experiment for me. I leave them on when I go into the grocery store, or gas station, or wherever. The reactions are fairly predictable: my friends laugh and jab, but strangers take one look, and never make eye contact again. I have broken glasses – not leprosy! How many people in wheelchairs or with other visible differences experience similar reactions? Though I didn’t scientifically measure the results, my two week experiment was certainly enough time to ‘experience’ the awkwardness of people I encountered.
We have the ability to touch each other with our eyes every day – every time we look someone’s way. We’re all broken in someway or another – mostly on the inside. Today my challenge to you is another social experiment – never look away. Focus your ‘kind eyes’ on friends and strangers, especially if they’re ‘different’. Don’t just look at them – ’see’ them – and take it to heart.
(By the way – I ordered new glasses online, progressive lenses and frames for a mere $66.00. Now we’re talking!)
Read Jackson Brown’s song lyrics: Doctor My Eyes
Need A Little Lift? Go Fly A Kite!
Nancy & the High Flyer
If ever there was a guaranteed recipe for feeling like a kid again, it’s this: sunshine, wind, and a colourful piece of nylon with strings attached. If you can find a sandy beach even better, but a big green meadow will work just as well. Stir up these ingredients and you’ll find yourself flying a kite and feeling like an eight year old. That’s probably just how old I was the last time I held the reigns of a kite, and it is as amazing to me now as it was then.
It wasn’t my idea to fly the kite. I would have been content to sit on my beach chair and catch rays all afternoon. My friend Chris, on the other hand, had the kite out of the package and in the air before setting up her chair! I was simply flabbergasted at how easily the kite propelled into the sky and danced effortlessly on the wind. I certainly don’t remember it being that simple to launch a kite when I was a kid. When it was my turn to take the reigns, all of my ‘adult’ inhibitions fell to the ground and I felt like it was me up there, soaring and swaying above the clouds. Quite simply, it was fun.
Riding High
So next time you’re feeling tired after a long day, or you need to release a little stress, consider taking the kite-flying challenge. You’ll be glad you did.
If you need more details on how to fly a kite, check out this step by step on eHow.
Strings Attached!
When is the last time you did something for the first time?
I’m not quite sure who first posed this question, but I think it’s worth asking over and over again: “When is the last time you did something for the first time? I’ve contemplated the question often over the past year, but more importantly, have taken it to heart. New people, places and adventures await at every turn, and I am anxious to embrace them as opportunities for change and personal growth. Perhaps it’s as simple as making a new middle eastern recipe, or hanging a set of bifold doors for the first time. It could also be as exciting as starting a new jewelry business, or strapping on a set of skis and hitting the slopes (ok, I have to admit I went downhill skiing as a teenager, but at 48 it sure feels like the first time all over again). In the past few months I’ve also learned how to dye easter eggs and weave a basket, and I can’t wait to see what will come next!
Nancy & Lauren
For me, the question isn’t so much about seeking out the next great thrill, – even though I still have a desire to bungee jump and sky dive – rather it’s about not standing still. A couple of months ago I met a fellow songwriter at an afternoon workshop. She has a passion, energy and expertise for the craft that is inspiring. (Check out Lauren Passarelli). Doing something for the first time can mean you have to step out of your comfort zone. In this case, I had to put my fear aside and ask Lauren if she would be interested in a collaboration. She said yes! We started working in the studio together to record one of my songs, and I believe there’ll be co-writing in our future as well. That’s momentum.
So now I’ll ask you, “when is the last time you did something for the first time”? Maybe sharing a story in this blog will be your answer!
Gratitude – Then and Now
The bracelet my first boyfriend gave me after our first kiss, the keys to the car that declared my ‘roll down the window and crank up the music’ independence, and the love notes exchanged between me and my first true love, preserved in shoeboxes and Tim Horton cans, are evidence that I am a sentimental pack rat. I don’t apologize for hanging on to these things. They help me remember special moments in my life. They remind me that I was here.
Sunflower Angel
Up until recently, I still had the big green trunk that my Dad passed on to me when I was thirteen. It held precious things like ticket stubs from concerts and movies, letters from high school friends and sweethearts, and the high-heeled pink shoes that my sister made me wear to her wedding. I also stored college art projects and theology essays, the ones that got A’s, so I could remember those achievements. It held photo albums filled with the escapades of friends that still make me laugh out loud when I look at them. The trunk was ruined in a basement flood a few years back, so I had no choice but to part with it and the majority of its contents. One starry summer evening, when the flames were burning high in a backyard campfire, I put the trunk in the fire, and ceremoniously gave its ashes to the wind. It was a good lesson for me to ‘let go’ of some of these old things. Let’s face it – I’ll never wear those pink shoes again!
Today I received an email that filled me with a sense of hope and newness. Today I witnessed a great blue heron walking along the water’s edge, and felt the morning sun flood its light on my face. These were not yesterday’s memories. This is my now. I know all these things will be added to my storehouse of treasures, to be called forth again when I need them, or least expect them, but living in the moment, feeling them for the first time over and over again, is really where it’s at. I am here.
Creative Stimulus Package – 5 things to get you rolling again
Cup of Inspiration - photo by Noella Cotnam
I think most artistic types struggle to find the incentive to create when feeling overwhelmed or just plain tired. It’s too easy to get side tracked in front of a TV, or aimlessly surf the internet, when really, you know you should be doing ’something’ more productive. ‘Something’ that would make you feel good inside and remind you that you are a creative force to be reckoned with, if only you could get started. The Irony is that the act of being creative – of engaging your mind, soul and hands to make something that wasn’t there before – is exactly the catalyst needed to get out of a slump.
It’s not like I’ve got limited choices when it comes to exercising my creativity. I’m a songwriter, visual artist, jewelry maker, writer, outdoor enthusiast and love to cook, and any one of these things could bolster my imagination. Perhaps it’s just that I want to do everything at once, and so my wheels just spin like bald tires in the mud, and I don’t get anywhere. When I’m stuck I turn to previously proven methods to augment the process.
Here are five things you can do to jump start your creativity when you’re in a slump:
1) Give yourself permission to relax. Creative answers often come to us when we least expect them and they need time to brew. Quiet, reflective time allows your subconscious to reorganize and connect the dots in fresh new ways.
2) Do an environmental assessment – just a fancy way to say ‘clean up your space’! An uncluttered, organized work space with everything in its proper place gives you a ‘clean pallet’, ‘a blank canvas’, and room to breathe as you prepare to start a new project.
3) Change your space. If you’ve been glued to that same spot for days, it’s time to find a new stall. Little indie type cafes are a great place to go and hang out for an afternoon. A lot of ‘creative types’ frequent these places and their energy can be intoxicating.
4) Share your energy. Brainstorming with another person or group will almost always ’spur the flow’ of ideas and inspiration. Bouncing ideas around can lead to that next big thing and ‘recession-proof’ your creative gene pool.
5) Find a new muse. If your creative fairies have left the building, maybe it’s time to play with gnome’s instead. “Guiding spirits” are all around us, so the next time something or someone tickles your fancy, pay attention and prepare to engage!
There are many ways to get the ol’ creative juices brewing again. Do you have something that works for you? Share it here.
Happy May
As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. As I watch the day unfold with sunshine, I am trying to put the list of things I need to do in some type of priority. Of course there are the regulars that always seem to eat up my weekend like house cleaning, groceries and errands. But on this day, I hear the song of my perennials singing, “Ready or not, here I come!” The daffodils are blooming, the bleeding hearts are budding, and there is a new little friend whose name I can’t remember, a gift from my sister in law, blossoming little white flowers above spotted green leaves. The leaves that I neglected to rake last fall are now compacted on the lawn, and the stalks I left for ‘winter interest’ are now just looking dead as the new green plants are emerging underneath them. It sounds like a lot of work, and there is a part of me that wishes I could wrinkle my nose like Samantha from Bewitched and make my gardens perfect. However, once I’m out there, the feeling of nurturing my plants always brings on a sense of peace and satisfaction. So, I think my regular chores can wait. Gathering up my wheelbarrow, shovel, gloves and rake will inevitably bring about more satisfaction as I focus on my connection with Mother Earth.
Photoblog
