And So

So things have been really busy with a flurry of workshops over the last two weeks. Today was the last major one, not just for February, but for some time. I have decided to make some changes in my life and so I am stepping away from workshops for awhile in favour of freeing up some time to follow the yearnings of my own heart.

I've been teaching mixed media for about 5 years and before that, textiles. I like teaching. I like sharing information and meeting people. I enjoy inspiring my students to find what's special about themselves and express it through art. I like seeing someones face light up when they get an idea. I like watching people relax and unwind and find the zen of creating. I enjoy the camaraderie, the laughter, the give and take of teaching and learning.

At the beginning of the year, I decided that what I really needed to do this year was to "be the leaf". This meant trusting myself and the universe enough allow my life to unfold. It meant not worrying so much about looking for something to do, but to simply just be and see what happens. It also meant allowing myself to go wherever the currents of life take me and to be okay with it. In being quiet and still, it became clear that I need to take time for myself.

Just the other day, in a workshop, I said to my class that people always say they don't have time for art and that I don't believe that is true. I believe that if something is important enough to you, you make time for it. I need to make time for myself to rest and rejuvenate and to make whatever art the spirits move me to create. I think it's impossible (and foolish) to keep giving from the well of creativity without taking time to fill it up again. So for the foreseeable future, that is what I feel moved to do.

I want to do more writing and I want to get paid to write. Writing is another way of teaching and I have ideas and thoughts that I think are worthy of a salary. Nothing would make me happier than to be paid to sit here in my jammies and write articles, to help empower others in their lives.

When I was a little girl, I thought I would grow up to be a writer. (That dream came after wanting to be a forensic pathologist, by the way.) I never dreamed I would be making a living as an artist and it certainly never occurred to me that my name would end up in books in libraries in my community and beyond because of art. It's funny the twists and turns that life takes and how your dreams can come true in ways you never thought possible.

So this is me trusting. I believe in the power of saying YES! to myself. I believe that when I let go of one thing, I open my hand to receive something else and I believe in the possibility that that "something else" will be better than anything I can imagine.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable."

~Helen Keller