Good morning and welcome to the Artist Morning.
My name is Darius and this is a 15 minute guided meditation made specifically for artists,
Creators and anybody who believes there is something inside their heart that is longing to be expressed.
In today's meditation we are going to explore the impact of expectations that we hold ourselves up to in our lives.
There are many sources that place expectations in our lives.
Some are placed by society,
Others by our families and loved ones and of course there are expectations that we place on our own lives.
Today we will explore with ease,
Comfort and curiosity and see if maybe,
Just maybe there are certain expectations in your life that you are ready and willing to let go of.
As we begin to go into the meditation I'd ask that you find a quiet place and settle in whether you are sitting or laying down and if your eyes are open I'd invite you to gently close them now.
Bringing your awareness to any part of you that is making contact with your seat or the bed or your floor,
Just feeling your weight being supported in this moment,
Being held safely in this place.
Bringing our awareness slowly inward,
Noticing the rising and falling of your chest,
Just finding the natural rhythm of your breath.
Bringing awareness to any part in your body that is able to sense and feel the breath as you inhale and exhale.
Might be the sensation of breath against your lips or the surface of your tongue or through your nostrils,
Your throat,
Your chest,
Your belly,
Really anywhere in your body.
Just notice and observe where you can sense breath.
Really deepening your state of relaxation,
Of calm with each inhale and exhale.
Breathing deeper and longer with each breath.
Sometimes there is a heaviness that falls upon our days and our lives.
A heaviness that can tire us.
A heaviness that can make it hard for us to stay focused and inspired even.
There are many reasons for this heaviness,
But the one we will explore today is a heaviness that is layered upon our hearts because of expectations.
I'd like us to take a little journey,
Traveling through time and space.
Keep breathing as we go through this journey.
The deeper your inhales,
The further we can travel.
Inhale deep and just let it go.
I want you to imagine yourself as a child,
Maybe four or five years old.
For most of us,
This is when we were first introduced to the notion of metrics,
Ways in which the world told us our lives would be measured.
For most of us when we were children,
This is when we began our education in the concept of pursuing perfection.
We were told in school that 100% was the best possible mark we can achieve to seek out an A+.
A perfect score.
It might have been very gentle reminders or really blunt ones,
But we were told the closer we got to perfection,
The more success and love we would have.
Even as little humans,
This is what we were taught.
And for those of us that played sports,
It continued.
A perfect game,
A perfect season,
A shutout.
This concept of living a perfect life is implanted in many aspects of our existence.
Metrics for how to be human,
How to succeed in life.
My question to you,
Dear artist,
Dear creator,
If you didn't have to be perfect,
What would you create?
If you didn't have to be perfect,
What would you create?
If you didn't have to be perfect,
What would you create?
If you didn't have to be perfect,
What would you create?
If you didn't have to be perfect,
What would you create?
This notion of perfection.
You know,
Just like I know,
It's not a real thing.
It's an expectation that's been given to us from many places by many people.
But mostly,
It's here now with our permission.
It doesn't need to be.
It's only a standard that we are holding ourselves to,
A standard that we fail every single time.
Instead of pursuing this unattainable,
Impossible,
Depleting,
Exhausting standard,
Maybe,
Just maybe,
You're willing to let it go.
Let it go and make room for joy,
For play,
For ease.
Make room for creation.
If you didn't have to be perfect,
What would you create?
Is there something in your life that is ready for expression?
Is it a book?
A podcast?
A blog post?
A meal?
A child?
A conversation with someone that makes your heart skip a beat?
If you didn't have to be perfect,
Who would you be?
Bravo dear artist.
Bravo dear creator.
Wherever you went,
However far you traveled,
Whatever you felt or did not feel,
I honor and respect you for carving out a little bit of time this morning for yourself,
For your heart,
For your human,
And for your soul.
For those of you that are joining us live at the Artist's Morning,
I'll put 15 minutes on the clock and give you some time and space to express whatever came up for you through some journaling this morning.
And if you're joining us on a replay,
I invite you to do the same.
Put 15 minutes on your own clock and use your pen and paper as your canvas and as a tool to express your heart.
Thank you for meditating with us this morning.
It's been an honor.
My name's Darius,
And I'll see you next time.
