Going Forward

I do not know where to begin. I am at a crossroads in my life. I am changing my blog. I am changing the content. The purpose. I have had a hybrid type of blog acting as an Artist kind of advice forum. I have been wanting to write so much more. I have been wanting to write about life. Not complaining but encouraging. I will continue to encourage artists in their world, for those of you that remain reading my blog and are artists. I want to reach a broader audience. I have a passion for helping people and feel this is the perfect place for it. In essence helping people in this forum will help me be a better person. God knows I need the lessons. I have found out in my life that I learn so much more from life when I listen, watch, appreciate and observe. IF that makes sense. Someone told me that an artist experiencing a creative block is a lazy artist. I beg to differ. I strongly feel that SOME of us artists that experience a block are struggling with unresolved challenges in their soul. I see it as an artist creates and is inspired from their souls. Our art is an expression of our deepest emotions. We can see the pain and joy in our textures and colors. Not necessarily our subject matter but our way of putting it in our media and or medium.

SO where do I go from here.

How do I transform my blog. Well, I will tell you how imperfect we are and that we all need to be one as a human race to grow. We all have to love each other and open our hearts to encourage one another to live the remainder of our days positive. We admit our mistakes and failures, move forward to hold each other while we get stronger. Not take advantage of one another being mindful of every act and relationship we partake in. Every contact with another human being, every precious moment we cross one another should be meaningful. Know that our lives are all intertwined. Be respectful of each others space in time. Avoid the confrontation that can transform someone's life negatively. Release the hatred and anger for one another. Love one another and avoid the negative thoughts like a bad disease that kills. Because it does. Accept that we will have tragedy and hardship, but that this world is unpredictable. We do have some control of how we perceive those horrible moments. Do we perceive as an attack against us personally individually? Or do we know that each of us has a path we follow and sometimes the path leads to circumstances that are a result of a decision. Loved ones we will hug today and say goodbye tomorrow. Going back to before, Every precious moment we cross one another should be meaningful.

I will address all of you that read this blog going forward as if though you are in front of me and you are loved ones in need of encouragement. We will bond as loved ones do. Our souls will connect. We will break bread. I will create a place to escape the life that might be a hindrance to your happiness at the moment. I will not claim to have all the answers, but I will surely have an opinion that you might relate with or to. You might read something that will strike a cord in your pain. You might share a joy that my life has given me. We might laugh together as I am writing and you receive the message as a blessing. Our quest can be contagious. To be happy and live happy. To fill ourselves with joy when we wake and appreciate the love we spread throughout our day. We might be misunderstood, but we will surely be loved by many. The misunderstood will be outside looking in. I cannot help that. It is a normal reaction to positive and negative in the same space. Water and oil.

I am not a very school educated person. I do not hold degrees in humanities nor do I claim to be an expert in the human psyche. I have a passion for seeing people being happy. I will not impose a religion on you. I will give you my insights on spirituality and basic humanistic values. I will let you in to my soul if you want to. If you continue to read do not be insulted, If you choose to open this blog then you have some interest in moving forward with me. Discovering together a purpose we are all looking for in this life. Whether it be a long or short life. If my blog stops because I am gone and my journey ended for as long as this blog stays it is yours. I have no control over what you read. I do not email you or call your house to read my words. You found me. If I have invited you and you know me personally, I gave you my card out of love. I felt you need to be loved. This is one of my ways to share myself to people I cannot normally speak to in person for different reasons.

Please enjoy the pages going forward. I cannot guarantee you will like everything I write. My goal is to help you think about life differently. More positive. Work it out with me.

Why Do I Fear Criticism?

I have not written in this wonderful blog of ours for a while. I know many of you have emailed me asking me why. It is not that I have nothing to say, it is I have been distracted lately. I have been distracted from my passion. I have been avoiding creating or focusing on creating. Why? I guess I am my biggest critic. When I create I enjoy the feeling I get. I relish in the high I feel when I put together colors. But I am so hard on myself. I go against everything I believe in when I look at my own works. I tell everyone not worry and just create your masterpieces. Yet when I create I am very hard on myself. I have to remind myself not to fall into the worlds thought of what is nice and what is not. I am blessed to have experienced people in the art world to accept me as one of them. I have been blessed to have sold so many pieces to people that will genuinely enjoy my works. I know there is a market for my interpretations or style of works. I have connected with this community. That is a privilege and honor that is earned. I feel I have done this.

Where do we move forward from this fear we sometimes get. How do we move forward when there is that pain inside of us that does not allow us to be all that we can be. All it takes is for us to let go and just be happy. Create with a sense of urgency everyday. WE should be looking at life for an inspiration to our works. WE should be inspired by the colors we experience daily. Everywhere we look there is beauty. There is beauty in people and things. There is beauty in nature. We should be enjoying these moments of calmness and clarity. Be ready for the periods where there is tragedy and take advantage of the calmness. WE waste time going to and from that we forget to be appreciative of the great moments we are given on a daily basis. Worrying about what is happening around us that we cannot control really distracts us from what we want to do. I want to love. I want to reach out and hold my loved ones hand. Kiss my grandchildren whenever I see them. See them more often. Listen to my children and give them a breath of life when needed, or a good kick in the ass! I want to connect with friends and co-workers and help them open their eyes. I love talking about how we can improve our lives and be happier. Instead we gossip of others and complain.

The world is full of idiots why are we trying so hard to join that group. IS that an achievement we want someone to speak of us in memory? I want my legacy to read that I was giving of my heart and soul. That I loved unconditionally. That I was charismatic with my affection for the human race. I want others to do the same. Why is this world I yearn for so hard to grasp as a possibility? Who are these folks in this train of thought to criticize me in anyway. WHO gives anyone a right to judge?> We are lonely souls traveling in these bodies for a very short time. We are eternal beings using this time away from home here in these bodies. Are we experimenting? IS this a test for something better? There are religions that say we are trying to level up like a video game. Trying and trying again until we can move on to the next level. there are others that say we chose what we were to become. There is the consensus that says we have a destiny and we are to fulfill and find clarity through sacrifice and humility. All I know is that I am aware of this omnipresent life force that surrounds us and is the source of our energy and power. WE all have access to this power. We do not know the extent of that power. We are so afraid to try. We are so afraid to love one another and yet that is the fuel that powers that strength.

Create Joy Again.

There is so much in life to to see. There is so much in life to experience. People to love. Lives to inspire and connect with. Sometimes we get caught in a rut and think we have to rush everything in our life. Sometimes we look for that moment when we can slow down and enjoy our lives because we are too busy right now. Funny. All we have to do is slow down look around and realize that every moment in our daily routine is filled with inspiration, love and beautiful connections with anyone and everyone. I think we have been numb to the world. I believe in my heart that this world is lonely as a whole. I see the news, I see the results of decisions made by our world leaders. I listen to the pain caused by distorted ways of thinking that causes people to lash out in violence against innocence. We watch and hear of stories where world leaders called women and children being killed in war as collateral damage. Young boys, men, fathers and sons being slaughtered because they voice out against oppression. Brave women standing side by side losing their lives. The effects of which children are also orphaned. Most of the worlds tragedies other than natural causes are the result of a human belief. An opinion that is forced upon a society. We watch and think we are helpless. We realize that all of these precious lives are martyrs. because in the bigger picture doesn't change require sacrifice? But the cost is sometimes so high. The media glorifies it to make a great story with dramatic picture. Stunning soundbites. Graphic yet gripping images of war and struggle. They brand these human experience with big strong bold words. They sell it to the highest bidder. War has never been any less destructive nor has it been any more romantic. It has always taken big numbers from this world. It has always taken its toll on a populace(Hiroshima/Germany/Syria/Darfur). But they call it sacrifice for change. there have been genocidal events in our history which have wiped out countless families by the generations. Yet we look back at it as a moment in history. Now the media is so dominant. We have a play by play, step by step. We even influence the outcome at times. So we can use our voice for good. We can communicate to each other against tirrany. where is the improvement? How can we use technology to bring peace? How can we use this opportunity in our human history to gain momentum against hat, destruction, war and so on. These might be my thoughts. These might be words spawned by what I hear see and experience. But what i tell you as my readers, all 3 of you is this. Create joy. We are all creators.We all have the strength and the power to love, create love, create joy, happiness and positivity. Quit making excuses for your misery whatever it is. It is a human experience. We create strength from our obstacles and challenges to be powerful. We love more. We laugh more. We appreciate more. If there is anything else in life to do before we take our last breath is to Love.

spec of sand

At the very least show each other respect for the masterpieces you create. Do not be so selfish as to think you are the only one to create art. Just because you had the privilege and the opportunity to flourish in a learning environment to learn and grow as an artist does not mean you have the authority or the right to demean another and judge someone elses efforts. Do not chastise another creator for their works. Everyone has a voice to express what they feel inside. If art is their passion and it looks different than yours, then let it be so. Who is to say that someone might enjoy the works of the artist that is the target of ridicule and shun. We all have gifts that we love to express. We are all cut from the same cloth and from the same creator whether or not you believe in anything. OR we have evolved from the same fish. We are just but a spec of sand in the worlds sandbox. We are small in the bigger picture. Yet we are large and influence so many. We are important. We encourage. We empower. We love. So why are we having such a hard time to get a long? Let alone as artists but as human beings on this earth. We all pay a price and also reap the rewards for decisions we make. We all reap the results of the thoughts we have. We think like shit we get shit. We love like angels we feel angelic. We act like an animal we are looked at as an animal. You get the picture here. I implore you as artists, as humans, as creators of your life, I implore you to love one another and appreciate each other. Always.