Receptivity: Light

Musing….

“The creative spirit creates with whatever materials are present. With food, with children, with building blocks, with speech, with thoughts, with pigment, with an umbrella, or a wine glass or a torch. We are not craftsmen only during studio hours. Any more than a man is wise only in his library. Or devout only in a church. The material is not the sign of the creative feeling for life: of the warmth and sympathy and reverence which foster being; techniques are not a sign; art is not the sign. The sign is the light that dwells within the act, whatever its nature or its medium.” -- from Centering In Pottery, Poetry and the Person by M.C. Richards

Kate’s Turn: 

One of my most memorable magical times was experiencing bioluminescence on the sea.  As we left an anchorage at 4am in order to make our destination that day before sundown, we were carried out on a magic carpet of shimmering, vibrant light – truly a wonder to behold!  These tiny microorganisms shine their light when disturbed in the water; and their doing so becomes a wondrous gift to those who notice.

Our creative expression is a manifestation of our inner light.  No one expresses their creativity exactly like another; everyone emanates their creative light uniquely.  Claiming our light within, coupled with receiving inspiration  (think: deep breath to quiet the mind and receive wild imagination) can carry us on a magic ride of creative expression.  Marianne Williamson says: 

We were born to make manifest

the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And when we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give other people

permission to do the same.

Get Fired Up:

How are you inspired to let your light shine?

Say “YES!” to what you behold…..YES….YES…..YES…

“This little light of mine……..”    Keep singing!

Receptivity: Turn On Your Imagination

Musing…

Where your imagination leads you may be the most inconvenient or impractical place for you to go.  It may also work on you like a tug, tugging on you, not letting you alone, because it offers more than you can actually think through or logically figure out.  Imagination requires your utter devotion at times.  Einstein puts it this way:  “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Charise’s turn:

My friend Karen, artistic director of Ancient Rhythms Dance Company of Washington, DC, has decided to bring our company to her ancestral hometown of Rockport, Massachusetts to perform. The idea began with only two available performers (herself and me), no funding, no support, no local audience, no storyline for a 90-minute production, and again no funding (!). As she began the phone calls to dancers to see who was in, began talking about the theme for the production, and got permission to utilize Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, she still had to face the fact that the only way to move forward would be to put money up front for everything that was needed prior to the show. The turning point in making this decision was that momentum was building, indicating that the energy was there to accomplish what was imagined. 

We are about to take a road trip to Rockport to promote this 4^th of July dance theatre production of The Crowning of the Woodland Queen, and to meet with local dancers who are excited about taking on a supporting role in the show.  It turns out that Karen’s original idea is a tribute to her father who told stories of fairies who leave gifts for children in the garden, and her memories of the surprises she and her siblings would find along the garden paths of their Rockport home.

Get Fired Up:

Give yourself permission to set the practical aside and turn on your imagination;

turn where creative energy beckons, turn toward that energy -- an idea that gathers energy matters.