Let it go

Good day my friends.  I’ve been reading lately about the power of positive thinking and how the opposite creates such unnecessary drama in our lives.  All the stress we create begins with one negative thought. One pin prick in the back of our mind that went unchecked, then more thoughts came and more, until stress manifested.  The effect is stress, but the cause was negative thinking, and it all began with one little negative thought, one small crack in the pavement of your mind. No matter what you might have manifested, you can change it…with one small positive thought and then another. Your positive thinking will be infectious and it will spread like wildfire to all those you surround yourself with. Let that negative shit go like a balloon – it will drift away, slowly disappearing into the sky until it’s gone.  Be kind. Be inspired. Love hard…always.

The world is a better place with you in it

Good morning folks and Happy Friday!  I hope everyone’s week was a good one and that it’s off to a great start today. Haven’t really written in a while and feel it’s time to start back up again. Over the last several months, I’ve been focused on drawing, painting and hand lettering. It’s something I’ve grown to love and never really thought I could do until I decided to dive in.  The same could be said about the relationships with my family, friends and the people I love and care about the most…I dove in and focused to make it a priority in my life. Paulo Coelho writes: “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”  Focus on what & who you love and give it everything you got. You won’t regret it. I read somewhere that the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.  Follow it.  The world is a better place with you in it.  Peace. Love Hard. Always.

Living...for the now.

Here we are.  The end of another year.  What a year it’s been.  Lots of firsts.  Lots of loss. Some great people left us too early leaving an empty slot where they once were.  But, that got me thinking over the last several days.  What does it mean to truly be alive?  To live a fulfilled life.  I realized that it’s whatever you make of it.  You have the choice to make it the best or the worst.  You can cheer your success or dwell in what you wished you could have done.  2015 has been a year that I chose to go out of my comfort zone and explore new thoughts, new art, new people and I gotta tell ya…it’s been one of the most rewarding years in a long time.  I shifted my perspective, kept an open mind and continued to move forward. Rumi writes, “Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes around in another form.”   I believe that other form is love.  We find it in so many people and places and when we choose to love openly, the world becomes better. I choose to let people into my life and love them for who they are. I choose to be an honest friend and open minded to their thoughts and ideas.  I choose to Love Hard and live for the now.  Bring on 2016!  Peace, love and happiness to all of you!

Embrace a Darker Side

I've had a lot of people ask me recently  what my fascination with skulls and skull type imagery is all about.  Yes, it's a little dark, but there is a dark side in all of us I believe.  Keep in mind, have a little dark side doesn't necessarily mean it's evil.  It just means that it's not always sunshines and rainbows. With that, why would someone like me, a generally positive and inspired person want to look at, draw or collect this dark image.  In fact, all around my house I have various "skeletal" objects either hanging from my walls, or bottles shaped like them, candle holders...you get it...I like skulls.  It's actually an interesting thing.  For the longest time, I've always looked at our cranium as both a vault and a tomb.  Behind millimeters of bone is our greatest asset...our mind.   It's in there where we can live out and fulfill our dreams or choose  not to try and let the dream die.  The skull protects all of our memories.  Everything we've loved or hated, every moment we've laughed at, every kiss, every heart break..every birth and every death is housed in that shell of sorts.  And sure...there's the whole rock n' roll of it right?  It's bad-ass if only in our minds.  I just think that as dark of an image it conveys, it is equally beautiful.  Look at the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead.  They celebrate those who they've lost in such a beautiful way... They dress up and make their faces up to look like skulls...aka sugar skulls are super vibrant typically.  But it also is a day of support on the spiritual journey for those they've lost.  I believe we are all on a spiritual journey of sorts...figuring things out along the way.  We get so lost sometimes that we forget to stop and smell the roses and appreciate all the people that mean the most to us.  We all know that one day they will be gone...a natural, sad part of life.  But if we choose to celebrate the moments we had with them, then it's not so bad.  We can conjure up the memory over and over again and remember why they were in our lives.  So, I guess, I embrace the darker side because I'm not scared.  I'm ready to give a big old hug to all those around me and know that whatever memory is created...it will live in the vault...behind a few millimeters of bone.

Weathering the Storm

"Who is the happier man?  He who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?" Every time I read this quote by Hunter S. Thompson, I think about the risks and choices I've made and what path it's set me on.  Believe me, it hasn't always been rainbows and unicorns, but anything worthwhile doesn't come easy. Right?  I will admit though, there is solace in staying in the consistent comfort zone of our daily routines and safe harbor.  Wake up, work out, get the kids ready for school, go to work, do the chores...repeat...over and over again.  We go back to the beginning.  But, why is it that we feel we have to repeat this pattern or whatever yours is?   In my experience, there is a NEED for it.  It's about consistency. If you're training for something like a 5K,  the "ritual" is necessary.  And once we get into the pattern it becomes safe to stay on shore.  But what happens when we achieve the goal?  Do we stick to the same routine?  Or, do we venture out and try something new?  For me, the routine is cozy.  It's a soft, down filled comforter of familiarity.  But as the saying goes, "your biggest risk is the one you don't take."  With that, I say it's not enough to merely exist and watch the world idly go by.  We have to take chances...take risks...go on adventures and experience the storms that we sometimes create and grow from that...in a lot of ways that's where it's the best...the most exciting...it's where all the good stuff happens.   So get out there, weather the storm and don't forget your rubbers.  

Get in the Groove or Be Stuck in a Rut

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Boston.  What a great city.  Friendly people, amazing seafood and rich in history.  During my visit, I had the opportunity to listen to a couple of great speakers.  One in particular, Burt White, touched on a topic that made me really think.  Mostly, he talked about the financial world and stuff like that, but during that presentation he asked how do we recognize when we are in a groove or in a rut?  This perked me right up.  Think about it,  physically a groove and a rut in the ground are basically the same.  The earth is split a little, leaving a path of sorts. But, what it really comes down to is perspective.  When we are on a roll with something in our lives, we're in a groove, right?  We ran further than ever during our morning run, Saturday chores got done in record time, the party with our friends was out of this world....everything is clicking together, effortlessly it seems. Take the other side of it though.  The rut.  We're stuck in traffic on a Monday, the boss won't stop bitching, the kids forgot their lunches...ugh, on and on and on. Nothing is going our way.  But, what if we took those challenging moments and used them as a catalyst to change our perspective and make the rut into a groove?  How do we turn a crappy day into an excellent one?  The grumpy boss could present the opportunity to find a solution to a problem at the office, delivering the kids lunches give you another chance to see them and tell them you love them, take the time stuck in traffic and meditate, even if it's for a couple of minutes. Focus on what needs to be done calmly and all of sudden - click!  You're in a groove.  Each and every one of us has the opportunity to turn things around.  I know I have.  We get to a point in our daily lives when the frustrations of living take over and we forget that we all have an expiration date.  Smile more, hug more...simply be kinder in our everyday interactions.  The path will become clearer and a more positive one. So, rather than being in a rut...I suggest we all get our groove on!  

Driven

I'm not sure when it started for me but I'd like to think it did when I was a kid...around 9 or 10.  I remember building model planes and cars, etc.  You know...the Revell kits you'd find at any discount store, I believe it was Zayre's or Gold Circle at the time.  My dad and I would walk through the isles and I'd find the one.  The Mustang, The Cherry Bomb Chopper...No wait...The Aircraft Carrier. Yes!  That's the one. Hundreds of tiny little plastic pieces.  The picture on the box made my eyes bulge. I wanted to be on that ship. I wanted to create this!  I knew I could make it look like it did on the box.  I had the glue, the decals, the paints..everything!  All laid out. Exciting, until I realized glue takes time to set.  The Tester's model glue takes longer to cure than the Elmer's glue you'd use for art class and being 9ish, I didn't have the patience.  Sheesh!  Really?  I had to wait for the plastic pieces of the deck of this masterpiece I was creating to set before I could go on to the next instructed step?  No way...that was a mere suggestion and I just kept gluing everything together...bypassing some of the steps if need be, and if it was a little tacky I just kept building until it was done...record time...finished the carrier in an afternoon when the box clearly said that it could take days.   There it was, my masterpiece...all the little pieces limply held together by soft modeling glue, barely holding on, but I was proud of my "creation."  I guess in a lot of ways I was driven to complete the task, rather than crafting the art.  Sure, it was a prefabricated design, but the dream and drive to create was there and has lived in me ever since.

Fast forward to today...I'm at a new point in my life where I like taking time to create, to write, to inspire, to take chances.  I'm driven by something different then I when I was young. I'd like to think it comes from an inner peace and love for all things...for the world around me...for all my friends. Some part of me thinks that it was there when I was a kid, but now, I want the glue to set and take hold.  I now know that the journey to create and share "me", my art, my thoughts took time to stick.  The drive was always there, it just needed time to cure.  

I saw this quote posted online recently and it made me think about what it takes to keep moving forward: "Even the bravest of creatures have some fear, but it is not enough to stop them from moving in the path they are destined to walk upon."  With that, I realize that I have to be ALL IN. I can't dance around the uncomfortable things and only share the happy stuff.  At some point, I have to expose the reality of my failures and celebrate the successes too.  In a lot of ways, the canvas still has to be painted.  Good thing I have a lot of paint!  

I guess, no matter what your passion is, go for it!  Go out there and pursue your dreams, whatever they may be.  Drive hard toward your goals.  No excuses.  No bullshit.  Just be and be inspired along the way.  Peace. Love. Always.

Declutter your life and make way for freedom

I recently moved...again.  And, as a friend told me, getting to move rather than having to move put into perspective the next chapter...but, what a pain in the ass it can be sometimes. You know what I mean.   Pack, unpack, organize, re-organize...trying to figure out where my "stuff" is going to go in the "new" place when I had finally figured out how it fit in my current place.  With the help of some amazing friends I got all my stuff moved and had the opportunity to look over the landscape of boxes and begin the process of what to do with it all.  Then it occurred to me.  How much time was I going to spend trying to figure out where all this crap was going to go?  Then deeper still, how did I accumulate so much shit?  Over the last couple of years I've been purging the things I thought I needed and realized it was just stuff, occupying valuable space and taking up too much time in my mind to figure where it was going to go...I was held captive by possessions that if I hadn't had, I probably wouldn't miss.  I'm sure at some point when I acquired said objects I thought to myself I "NEED" this. It completes me.  I am happy to have it and feel whole. Ha!  Now, not so much.  So the purging started.  I realized I didn't need the extra remote for the TV in case the one I have breaks.  I realized I didn't need various text books from college sitting on a shelf (although it's fun from a nostalgic point of view to hold on to).  I didn't need all those extra coffee mugs!  I decided to put these things into a box and labeled it with the date I put them in their coffin of sorts with the note on the outside "If not opened by this day 12 months from now - it's not going to be missed - TOSS or DONATE!".  If they resurrected themselves a year from now then It was meant to be a part of my world.  Otherwise - see ya!  And with that, I felt free!  Free of the clutter...free of the anchor holding me down to try and figure out where it had to go.  With less "stuff", we are free!  We are not pre-occupied by it.  We are not worried that it will get lost or break creating sadness. Our minds can relax and be happy.  When I chose to de-clutter my life, and keep in mind I am in no way finished, I spend my time with my loved ones, painting, writing, creating...resting.  I have gained the freedom of time because I am not spending it on the stuff I don't need.  Good luck on your de-cluttering journey :)  Peace. Love. Always.

Balance

How many times do we lay in bed at the end of the day, staring up at the ceiling and stress out over all the things we didn’t accomplish today.  Tossing and turning, creating mental notes of what to do tomorrow for what we didn’t get done today only to discover that what we don’t get done the next day gets pushed out even further and so on, and so on…ugh. So how do we stop this cycle?  How do we find balance to manage all of it?  The daily grind, kids, taxiing people all over town, social lives, relationships?  I believe it all starts with your heart.  If we close our eyes and reflect on all the good things we’ve accomplished, not just today, but everyday… the lives we impact daily, we will find that our hearts guided us on the correct path towards balance.  When you believe in your heart, you will always find a way to make the schedules, the relationships, careers, creative pursuits, whatever it is work out.  The moment you let go and stop caring about what didn’t get done and start caring about what you did is the moment you are truly free and live with balance in your life.  Dream Big.  Love hard.  Discover your world.

stay tuned

Over the next days, weeks and months, I will be posting my deepest, most intimate thoughts, writings, poetry and positive messages.  I intend to use this platform to share my love of creating...about taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary.  I hope that it inspires, motivates and awakens the creative spirit that is in each of us.  Stay tuned...