Monday, December 31, 2012

Speaking Your Truth

One of the languages with which I express is photography. This is one of my photo's taken at an outdoor Asian market in Toronto.  I thought everything looked so beautiful, fresh and colorful. 

The chakra's are energy centers in our bodies. The fifth chakra is located in the throat area.  It's about communication and expression.  At a young age I remember wanting to talk to those closest to me. Yet, growing up I heard often that children should be seen and not heard.  I could never understand this expression, not even as a child. Now I realize it was simply a way for the adults around me to control an oftentimes chatty child.  I didn't have siblings, so those same adults were my only sounding board.  I didn't realize that after a while, they didn't want any longer to hear a 5 year old carry on.  They too needed a quiet place to go within and process their own lives and not only mine.
 
However, what others say often sticks to us like drops of hot melted candle wax on a table. What children hear over and over, quickly becomes their own internal dialog and reality.  And unlike hardened candle wax, which may take but a few moments to scrape off, our internal beliefs can take years of "inner work" to peel away. 
 
I think when life pushes us hard from the outside, we must, for our own survival, give our "inner voice" outer expression to create balance.   We must speak and be heard, and, no matter what the language, be it music, writing, painting or other forms of expression, we just need to keep putting it out there.  If we ever stop expressing, I think it would be like turning off the lights and sitting in the dark.    


Saturday, December 29, 2012

A Poem Called "The Artist"

 
I took this photo because I loved the contrast between the light outside and the dark inside and the symmetry of the composition.  However, I could also see that by opening the door, the light is allowed to stream in. 
This is a wonderful metaphor for life.  All we have to do is open the door and the Light will come in.
I recently came across this poem written by Jack Boland, the founder of Renaissance Unity.  As the New Year approaches, I want to remember that within me is an Infinite Wisdom and a Creative Intelligence that has a perfect plan for my life.  As the poem states, this Creator is constantly expressing through each of us in glorious, wondrous, beautiful and exotic ways. My lesson in life is to remember that when I am expressing, it is really not I, but the Artist within that is doing the work.

I share Mr. Boland's work with you:

The Artist

"Are you aware...
That within you dwells an Artist...
A Creator?
Your life is its handiwork...
A living canvas spread for all to see.

The Artist in you is destined to
create a masterpiece...
But, the Craftsman's work
Is not yet finished
Nor shall it ever be.

In Truth...
The work has only just begun.
Glorious, wondrous, beautiful,
exotic forms
Are being imaged now
In the Artist's mind.

Mighty new brush strokes
Will soon bring
new shape and color
to the canvas you know as your world."
Jack Boland