Week 15 Of 52: A Journey Through This 1 Universal Year

Welcome AwakenCreative. We take a quote a week-a mantra if you will-to ground, establish, explore, and expand the creative potential in this 1 universal year. You creative, have a voice and a place. Let's make this year the place from which we build a more wholesome, holistic, aligned path.

Transcript

There's been rich discovery in this lesson, And I want to dive right in and share with you, Hoping it resonates and brings some more clarity and conscientious forward motion to you. Michael Cunningham's novel, The Day, Is the contributor of this week's quote. We are well on our way in this one year. And with any luck, You too have completed the shluffing off of the nine-year cycle we've just completed in 2025 and are just about hitting your best stride. Let's dig in. Way back in those first few weeks of this one year in January, In those initial sessions together, I tried to bring it to our attention that, Even though we're in this fresh start year, The nine-year, The closing out of the previous nine-year cycle, Was still lingering. Shluffing off, As I like to say. Shluffing off. In my best form, I wanted to believe that that January month, Maybe a little bit of February, Would complete that shluffing off, Would finish out that cycle. Here we are, Week 15. And I start into this recording a little chagrined, But also giggling at myself. I know better. Nothing is truly ever complete, Because wherever I go, There I am. If you've been along with me for any amount of time, You may be aware that I've taught the art of painting in encaustic for the last two decades. Now, My audience hasn't come to me by way of a university or any formal platform of education. I've manifest the workshops and the retreats through my own will and creation. Everything was extremely timely. I had that in my favor. Encaustic was in vogue, As I got to write those initial books and then have my name out there and travel the world teaching, Creating Encaustic Camp and the Encaustic Castle. It was easy, But of course, Never easy. In 2019, I put down that mantle. I started using the property here, The Encaustic Castle compound, In different capacity and exploring ways of maintaining my livelihood while being able to dig into my work, My own personal creative practice. And with any luck, Avoid working for anybody else but myself. It was keeping a lot of balls in the air, But so it always is. For the past year, Yes, That closing out nine year, I've been re-envisioning the retreat platform and how to bring myself back to that space in a new way, With the five years of wisdom acquired since quitting and laying it down in 2019. Now, Why I can recognize that as a nine year, Even though I was treating it a little bit like a one in my invention of things, Was because in that invention and visioneering, I wasn't creating anew. I was trying to pick up the mantle or pour new wine into old wineskins. That never works. I could see this as the year started to close out. There's a bit of mourning. What do I do now? I tried and it's not going to work. But also, A little bit of hint at invigoration, Way through. I was receiving hints of ways to transform and remold and massage what I'd created in 2025 and put out there into a form that would be new and would hold that new wine. Yet now here I find myself, 15 weeks into this one year, Spinning my wheels once again. This is what happens when impulse trumps intuition, Or ego takes the microphone from soul. I knew better. I have the tools. I've trained for this, Studied what the world is doing and the rhythms that can guide me. And still, I let ego turn up the volume and drowned out what soul was telling me. I mentioned at the beginning that I was doing a bit of giggling. I can see my soul doing that laughing at my ego, But not shame-facedly. It's more of a dance. It's an acceptance. It's a moving forward without shame and yes. It's the final shluffing off. Oh I know, As I said, There's never a final. But the debris and pieces I'm carrying get smaller, Lighter, And much easier to put down. That's what's happened again. To that launch I just launched, I giggle and take it back. Put it down. Leave it alone. For you see, It still contains the dust of the before. And it needs the full power. The full ingredient list of the forward. So I take it down. I leave it be. And I wait again. The way forward is already in motion. I'm choosing again. Reminding myself. That ego that wants to impulsively drive forward. Then it's safe to wait. And that brings me to this week's quote. Michael Cunningham, A novel called The Day. Here, There's something I can only call immaculate. Some state of sacred suspension. I'm letting that be the waiting space right now. A sacred suspension. It is safe here. And it is immaculate. Dust free. Awake and creative. Today. Today.