Working it out from the collective...

I am struggling (joyously, it's true) to express my visions in glass. I find that I have to go through some immense personal transformation to actually get the image into manifestation. It's very easy to feel like "not talented enough" an artist... when you hear of others that just spit the stuff out. But I do know that those of us who are multi-talented have to give the universe a time to catch up with the area we're focusing on and wanting to manifest in NOW. :)

I found this excerpted piece of writing by John Lennon, from the archives of Playboy. I feel that he captured perfectly the challenge and joys of birthing creativing through you. Enjoy!



"Not really. It actually took me five years for them to come out….The physical writing was within a three-week period. There’s a Zen story that Yoko once told me—and I think I might have told it in “Lennon Remembers” or “Playboy Forgets.” A king sent his messenger to an artist to request a painting, he paid the artist the money, and the painter said, “OK, come back.” So a year goes by, and the messenger comes back and tells him, “The king’s waiting for his painting,” and the painter says, “Oh, hold on,” and whips it off right in front of him and says, “Here.” And the messenger says, “What’s this? The king paid you 20,000 bucks for this shit, and you knock it off in five minutes?” And the painter replies, “Yeah, but I spent 10 years thinking about it.” And there’s no way I could have written the "Double Fantasy" songs without those five years.

Even great artists struggle with self-doubt. And art often needs a gestation period, except on those few occasions when the gods offer you the more or less final product as a gift.

The gods generally won't arrive though until after a prolonged period of hard work. Maybe they have a academy up there that gives out Awards for Dedication.

---

Sometimes, I may do a painting that takes several months and when it is finished, I am exhausted. Then the very next day I will get an idea or a notion about wanting to do something, and do it spontaneously, and hit it right on the nose.
Once I was talking to Robert Frost about a poem of his that is so beautifully written, it is considered by some to be actually perfect. It is called 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.' And I asked him, "You must have worked a long time on that. It must have been done in the middle of the winter. What was your experience?" He said, 'Andy, I'll tell you about that. I'd been writing a very complicated, long-drawn-out poem, almost a story type of poem entitled 'Death of a Hired Man.' I had finished at two o'clock in the morning. It was a hot August night, and I was exhausted. I walked out on the porch of my house and looked at the mountain range. It came to me in a flash! I wrote it on an envelope I had in my pocket, and I only changed one word. It came out just like that."
- Andrew Wyeth from the book Two Worlds of Andrew Wyeth

I found this wonderful inspiration through a great site: Stumble Upon. It gives you areas of interest to choose from and then suggests sites you would enjoy...amazing and fabulous sites that I personally never would have found on my own. Check it out...virus free and totally enjoyable over that morning cup of tea!

This is a wonderful short piece of writing by Charles Swindall, and a FABULOUS illustration by CharlArends to go along with it. Enjoy!

The Power of a Positive Attitude

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money; than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."

- Charles Swindoll

Art by CharlArends

AVOIDING VD

Now, I hate to be the traitor to my own sex and burst the bubble out there, but Valentine's Day is nothing but a setup for disaster! Ever since some other little curly haired brunette got the "BE MINE" candy in Fifth Grade, I knew I was doomed to disappointment, at least once routinely, every February 14th. Thinking I would outsmart my doomed future, I married a highly romantic man. Problem is, he doesn't like to perform on demand. And, as it turns out, I have witnessed in my counseling practice that neither do 99.5% of all other men (and lots of other women) on the planet. For that matter, my experience with gay people shows that they don't fare all that much better.

The fantasy that you have in your head for what this upcoming event should look like not only originated in the fabrications of youth but has been fed ever since by every TV commercial and cereal box you've ever seen on the subject. Over -inflated, like a giant helium balloon ready to burst, the occasion assures us that: 1. nobody has the great taste and caring attitude that you have, 2. it's clear your partner doesn't pay attention to what YOU like because they insist on giving you what they THINK you should like, and 3. clearly you aren't nearly as fabulous as you hoped or SOMEONE would rise to the occasion and overwhelm you with romantic and expensive assurances of your value in the market place.

Why so many people, women especially, pick THIS time of year to evaluate their self-worth is sad indeed. Eager to substitute just ANY body into the script, many single girls stoop to self destructive lows in assuring that they will not be alone for this all important occasion. Now, do YOU see this working out well? Going out with somebody you would NOT previously consider being with, pretending to share a bond together (and of course meanwhile sending out signals that he is really a looser and you are just desperate) does not make for a mutually empowering evening. Like I said, it's purely a setup.

So, do yourself a favor and whether or not you are in a relationship - TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF - REVOLT AGAINST VALENTINE'S DAY. Look yourself squarely in the mirror and remind yourself that you are awesome, uniquely divine, powerful beyond meaure, bright, caring, attractive, sensitive and talented 364 days of the year...and VD is no different. List, out loud, three of your most loveable qualities and decide WHAT positive treat you will give to yourself on VD. If you're in relationship, assure your partner that you love them dearly, but that you would like their support in rebelling against forced sentimentality and that you would like to agree to SKIP this quick route to stress and emotional letdown. Then look at the relief that crosses their face, and know that you have done something positive for your relationship, and for both of you as well.

Howard Bronson offers five things people can do to recreate a positive Valentines Day experience:

1)Don't bottle up all of your emotions just for this holiday. Instead, find something to celebrate about love each day, no matter how small and do something to celebrate love with a friend or partner at least once each week.

2)Don't expect another to make up for your own deficits about love. Issues of lack of love generally have to do with ourselves vs. anyone else.

3)Don't hide behind flowers, candies and other gifts. The best gift is to actually say something kind, sweet and celebratory directly to a friend or significant other.

4)Make reflection a kindly process. Examine what you yourself can do to make love work more effectively in your relationship. Criticism doesn't achieve anything. Love is an action word. Take real action that shows love. Don't try to buy your partner's affection or approval.

5) If anything, make this a time of thanks. Try to see how many things you can thank your partner for and then, do it, over and over again.

So here's a big HUG and smooch and my declaration that I think you are wonderful, and promise to love and adore you all the days of your life - and beyond. The chocolate? Well, that you will just have to provide for yourself - I'm hoarding mine! :-)

Blessings,
Jolinda

This full moon in Cancer Capricorn today, January 19th, is especially powerful as the moon is now so near to the earth. We bring to the surface our old emotional issues that are needing healing and it's a great time to get practical about what we want to hang on to and what we can finally release.

Pat Liles, writes the following for the Power Path (a great site) which is becoming more evident in our world every day: "With Pluto spending an extended 16-year period in Capricorn, we are compelled to look at the shadow side of this societal focus and at the systems of our culture that have become abusive of their authority. It's a painful process and the old power structures do not embrace change easily. With the help of Uranus in Aries and the unrest of the people that it represents, gradual or even revolutionary change is inevitable and to be expected. The stagnation of authority is no longer tolerable. Of course, the same is true within ourselves as well, where we are rigid and not willing to embrace change and where we stand blinded by our unexamined beliefs, this is where our power is buried and needs releasing to move us to the next evolutionary step."

Watch getting over reactive and going to battle in the next 24 hours, better to look at what deeper issues are REALLY pushing your buttons...and it may not be what you think is triggering you in the moment.
Many Blessings!

Astrology Sign Hub Bub

Fox news published an interesting story on the chatter going around that astrology is invalidated because we have been working with the "wrong zodiac". The article is worth reading and can be found here: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/11/age-aquarius-actually-age-capricorn-thanks-rotation-earth

One thing that’s not being said here is that there is some merit with many astrologers in working with BOTH systems. The Sidereal, or Indian or Jyotish system comes from the Indian style of Eastern thought: Life is based on a system of Karma and what you are dealt is a factor of previous lifetimes and your experiences and actions there. It’s more about seeing yourself from a Spiritual viewpoint, and it holds little in possibilities for change (although they do have some rather odd “remedy’s). Western, or Tropical astrology, is similar to the consensus of Western psychological thought: with awareness and self-help we are able to change many of the aspects of who we are and thereby live a much more enjoyable life.

And one more CRUCIAL thing that I don’t see mentioned here, that is ESSENTIALin any astrological study, is that WE ARE NOT OUR SUN SIGN alone! All this hub bub has to do with where your SUN is placed in an astrology sign; but attempting to interpret the chart of an individual would of course include the other 9 planetary bodies most commonly used. At least the two planets, Venus and Mercury, never travel outside of 30* from the Sun…so chances are if your Sun is early Gemini, there’s a really good chance that at least one and probably more of your planets will be in late degrees of Taurus. So in that way you would be more like the sign Sidereal astrology suggests for you. We are NOT just “apples” (none of us) we are “apple-orange”; which is why it takes a professional astrologer and not even a computer program to weigh in the overlapping factors of what makes our unique chart (we are all like snowflakes – no two alike) distinctly OUR OWN. Attempting to interpret someone’s astrological chart from ONLY the sun sign would be similar to a doctor diagnosing the patient by looking at the big toe! There are 10 planets, in 12 houses, making hundreds of connections in meaning between themselves…so best not to underestimate a science/art that has held value in every society that bothered recording its history since the beginning of time. On the other hand, I’m happy for the “masses” to believe that astrology is just that “silly stuff”, called “horoscopes” and found in newspapers; otherwise, my fear is that science would begin to measure the immeasurable (like measuring “love” – doesn’t compute, but still exists) or some religion would want to “own it”, or the government would decide that IT should “control it”, license it, and eventually tax it. This way, when an individual has come to a time and place in their lives, and find themselves open to self-reflection, a caring friend will share with them the meaningful experience they had with astrology and how it helped them along the path of personal awareness and growth. It gets handed from person, to person, with sincere testimony and personal care.

We ARE what we value...

Many people have teased me for my "handle"...MORLUV. On the back of my car, (hubby initially feared I'd be accosted at a gas station :-) and in my email address, and on my dresser...etc. - it reminds me to be with the flow of things in a spirit of love. It's a REMINDER for me, for Pete's Sake, NOT an advertisement! ;) It doesn't mean I don't occasionally speed, or even (heaven forbid) cut off, or tailgate a fellow traveler in that car with that handle. No, I am not beyond much that is human and prone to err. But I try not to. And I find that it seems to help me. I put it everywhere I will see it... because when all I have seen and all I have learned boils down to one simple thought...the thought that makes the most sense to me is ...
MORE LOVE.

My friend (who lives in Maui amid the flowers and the peace) gave me a bumper sticker. At the risk of overstatement, I put it too on the back window of my car...it says, "The Answer is... LOVE". Yep, just about says it all.


And then there's the story of money. Many of us live in conditions that most of us cannot imagine. That breaks my heart. And, like so many of us, I don't seem to know where to begin to change that imbalance...which will, in the end, impoverish us all...rich and poor alike. The best I seem to be able to do is to value life, and living, and LOVE... above all else that's material. I remind myself daily to be in a place of gratitude, not scarcity, and that helps me to expand and to release what I have, in a healthy way, so that it can flow out into the world, and then return to me (as life always does).

On my desk I have a card that reminds me "If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich" (Tao Te Ching) and when I am stilled or stirred by nature, or touched by a beautiful heart, or poignant words, or when hubby and I find our way to the higher ground and make peace instead of war...I remind myself that I am RICH, beyond measure. I know so many, with so much, that truly have so little.

Today, I got a new gift, from a good friend, and I felt immediately blessed and aligned with the thought behind the words. And so I wanted to share it with you. In the hopes you will feel more love, and enriched, in reading it.

Many blessings! Jolinda

Robert F. Kennedy Address, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."

New Moon and Partial Solar Eclipse, 1/4/11 2:03 AM

The New Moon with a partial solar eclipse is Tuesday, January 4 at 2:03AM MST. This is a powerful time for us to align with our yearly intentions as the eclipse will lend impact to our will and clarity. Release that which no longer serves you (write it down, burn it and walk away) and then write down your Goals (accomplishments) Wishes (what you choose to manifest) and your Resolutions (changes in personal awareness). This is a powerful time for change, and a time that things should NOT be put off until tomorrow. Make your commitments, and then follow through or else give yourself permission to simply eliminate what you can't commit to from your life. Be clear about what's important to YOU...verses what others are telling you should be important. Get out of your head and listen to your gut, it knows what your truth is. This is a good day to reset what is important as this new moon comes with the force of the eclipse and the surge of energy associated with planets going direct. Anything you decide will be supported fully, so invest in clarity.