Step into your purpose

Photo by Jesse Bowser on Unsplash

"What inspires you? What excites you when you wake up in the morning? Go do that!" 

~Carol Mossa, How to Live a Wildly Creative Life

As a certified meditation teacher, I hear it all the time, "I can't meditate; I can't quiet my mind." Somewhere along the way, folks got the idea that meditation was all about relaxation, all about quieting the mind, and that if they couldn't quiet the mind, they couldn't develop a consistent practice or become effective meditators. I have spent years trying to dispel this myth, this misplaced notion. We've made it so hard to just sit, to sit and notice, and then without judgement, to allow the thoughts, sounds, and sensations to move on by. Those distractions? They are the gold. They are the practice. https://www.heygo.com/the-footloose-muse

It's the same thing with this notion of purpose. Once again, myths abound. Finding one's purpose has become a mystical quest, a head-scratching conundrum of confusion and inaction. We need to keep this simple. Let me try to get to the heart of the matter. What do you love to do? What's the one thing (perhaps there's more than one thing), the pursuit that if you gave yourself permission to do, you could do without hesitation, with passion, with vigor, with enthusiasm often and without guilt?

Your purposeful, purpose-driven life is right under you nose.

I'll use me as an example. I love photographing abandoned buildings, in fact I live for these outings. Hands down it's the one thing I could do every day. Urban exploration; that's my thing. So where's the purpose in that you ask? Over the years, through my camera lens, I have been able to share some of the most decrepit, rundown, sadsack buildings (most with horrific histories of abuse) with my followers, and in so doing, I have been able to uncover and reveal the intrinsic beauty among the ruins. 

I'll give you another example. I am a creative midwife. I help people give birth to their creative ideas. It just so happens I am uniquely qualified to carry out this work because I have given birth to countless creative ideas of my own. I know what keeps us stuck, and I know how to unstick you. Combined with my writing and communication skills, I get to live a purpose-driven life: spreading the word among followers to stop making excuses and reach for the creative stars we all came from.

So how do you derive satisfaction? How do you express your creativity? What gifts and talents can you offer the world? In other words, what inspires you? What excites you when you wake up in the morning? Go do that!

Can we make a deal? Can we stop mythologizing the notion of purpose, can we stop pretending we don't already know how to forge passion into intention? Can we just do what we love, share it with gusto and unabashed enthusiasm with the world? Step up, step into your purpose, step into your power.

I'll end with this quote from Rumi: "Let yourself be drawn by the strange pull of what you love. It will not lead you astray." 

Namaste.

If not now, when?

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash 

"The trouble is, you think you have time." ~Jack Kornfield

I read somewhere that Leonardo da Vinci painted his Mona Lisa on and off from 1503 to 1519,  leading some art pundits to posit that procrastination can be good for creative people since it allows the ideas to percolate in their minds before they are expressed elsewhere. This is not the kind of procrastination I'm writing about today. I'm all for laying down tracks, walking away, coming back tomorrow, and even many tomorrows after that. In fact, that's how my weekly columns here begin. I finish one and almost immediately begin prepping for next week's, knowing that edits and revisions along the way will make the piece stronger. There's a certain alchemy to this creative process; a vague idea gets fleshed out over time (yes, even over years), and may even morph into a completely different topic or project. 

It's the procrastination laden with excuses, weighed down by perfectionism, that is deadly to the creative soul and process. It's the people who never begin, the ones who lament they don't have the time, talent, finances and/or resources, who suffer the most.  I'll even go so far as to venture that we all suffer when these individuals fail to step into their creative skins. Why? Our creative spirits need to be fed, nurtured, loved, maintained, and like any hunger, left unsatisfied, all sorts of emotional maladies (and perhaps physical ones as well) surface: anger, depression, frustration, complacency--the list goes on. 

Who are these blocked creative individuals? They are you, and me. Each one of us is gifted in some way (often in multiple ways), but some people never open their package. Please step into your bright, wonderful creative self. Here are a few gentle reminders.

If not now, when?

Stop making excuses.

Life won't wait. 

Do it now. 

Just start.

Do the work.

Why not try?

Go for it.

It began as a mistake.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

You said, "tomorrow," yesterday. 

Linger Longer

 "If you're always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you're in?" ~Nanette Matthews

My third book, a photo book, was published in 2015. 

Linger Longer: Lessons from a Contemplative Life is a compilation of photographs and inspirational quotes I amassed during a solo cross country trip in 2014. For the first time in my life, I was left to my own devices, free to wander, unescorted, unimpeded by anyone else's schedule, expectations or agenda. It was bliss. When my publisher and I discussed naming the book, the thought, linger longer, fell off my tongue in a moment of divine inspiration. Those two words summed up my experience perfectly. Of course, there are other ways of expressing the same thought; Stop and smell the roses. Slow down you're moving too fast. Live, breathe, learn. Enjoy the scenery. Life is a journey, not a destination. You get the picture. 

The experience of lingering longer has practical as well as artistic benefits. Just this week, I received an answer to a perplexing problem while examining the petals on a rose bush. Then yesterday, on the Reiki table, I got a great idea for my hosting business. It matters not where that still small voice comes from or who it belongs to. All I know is that whether you are a regular meditator, a solo voyager, or you have a practice that welcomes quiet contemplation into your life, slowing down, tuning in, and listening to your higher self, your muse, the universe, spirit, God—whatever you choose to call it—will  provide fertile ground for ideas and answers to make their way into your consciousness. 

Don’t deny yourself this gift.

Gifted

 "Everyone is gifted, but some people never open their package." ~Wolfgang Riebe

In October 2020, with Covid's uncertainty touching us all, I shuttered my private massage therapy practice in seaside Charlestown, Rhode Island, and I moved all my wellness offerings online. I applied for and received a large grant from my state of to pivot. At that time, I created a private Facebook group for women called The Footloose Muse and here I invited women to get excited about living wildly creative lives. Through daily inspirational quotes, online workshops, a monthly book club, retreats, weekly meditations and blog posts, we grew into a bright and beautiful creative community. 

Fast forward not quite two years later, the group has grown as have my offerings. With the exception of paid six and twelve-week online courses, I have joyfully donated my time and my talent. Guided by the late Wayne Dyer’s quote, Don’t die with the music still in you, I have endeavored to inspire women to embrace their creative birthrights. My own limitations have prevented me from reaching out to more men and I wish to correct that failure on my part by extending a warm welcome to all the men who need the same gentle nudge women do.

So ladies here’s your reminder, and gentlemen here are my ABC’s of creative freedom: 

Don’t die with the music still in you. 

Do what you love and make adjustments in flight. 

Everyone is gifted, but some people never open their package.

As a gifted writer, teacher and photographer, I will dazzle, challenge and encourage you. I will not, however. cosign your bullshit when you tell me you don’t have the time, the talent, or the financial resources to follow your creative path. Your health and well being— emotional, spiritual, physical— depend on me convincing you that creativity is your birthright.

Let’s go!

It's Fun Friday...

and your muse is dying to spend time with you!

Pick any relationship—the one you have with your partner, the one you have with a family member, friend, or work acquaintance—and you’ll agree that they all have one thing in common: they require the three Cs: communication, commitment and cooperation. The relationship you have with your muse is no different. You cannot relinquish it to a corner of your mind, and expect your creative life to magically evolve. So this week, today, this Friday, devote some time, some solo time just hanging out, playing, having fun with the child within. Author and creativity maven, Julia Cameron, calls it an artist date. Don’t make this difficult; don’t overthink it. Visit a bookstore, a gallery, a winery, any place your senses can be heightened. Your ego will throw up all sorts of reasons why you should blow off this activity. Do it anyway; then come back here, leave a comment and tell us about your artist date. 

Do What You Love

 

"Do what you love, and make adjustments in flight." ~Carol Mossa

I bought the book, Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood, by Marsha Sinetar, in 1989 and I pored over it. At the time, I believed it contained the blueprint for building a work life around my many passions. Fast forward over thirty years, and Do what you love is still my mantra, but I've switched up the rest of the statement to read: and make adjustments in flight. Because the truth of the matter is: the money may follow; it may not. The money may not follow right away; it may not follow in the amounts you imagine, so the adjustment piece is crucial. You must do what you love if you expect to live a wildly creative life. You may think you don't need to live a wild or creative life, but you do, and I'll tell you why. You were not born here to work and pay taxes. You are cut from the same cloth that created infinite varieties of flowers and trees and snowflakes and insects and stars. You, too, are a creator; creativity is your birthright. Doing what you love is your contribution to the universal creative flow. If you don't heed that call, if you focus only on achieving financial success, you will pay a price spiritually, emotionally, and perhaps even physically. Heed that calling, don't deny it, even if it doesn't pay your bills. Yet. And here's where the second part of that earlier quote/statement comes in.

Make adjustments in flight. Begin to live more simply. Today. Now. Create a budget. Look at your spending habits. Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. Refrain from amassing debt. Where can you trim and/or eliminate the things and services you don't need? Every time you reach for your credit card or cash, ask yourself, How many hours must I work to pay for this purchase? And then decide if the price of your creative freedom is really worth sacrificing.