Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Art Adventure Experience

 Just in case you’re wondering what we do on our Saturday Art Adventures, here’s a little sneak peak…
While we’re waiting for everyone to arrive, we play “kiss a fish” at the pond: We lay down on the rock pier and put our faces near the water and then throw some fish food in.  When the fish come up to get the food they make a little splash.  It takes a little bravery and gives a little thrill.

Art Adventure 042 Art Adventure 068

We take a short 10-15 minute walk up the hill to the pavilion or Yurt, depending on the weather…

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We introduce ourselves with a warm-up game….

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Then we get down to business with different art materials, often exploring the environment to find natural items to help us create.

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Art Adventure 233Art Adventure 142
We usually need time to let things dry, so we play group games while we wait.

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Then we finish up our projects….

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We get a little messy, but that’s part of the fun….

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brian

And we always end with a sweet game to give us the energy to get back down the hill.

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Art Adventure 285
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Down past the trees and horses, to the real world again…

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Many thanks to Orenda Springs for hosting our events, Beverly Karsteter for dropping in to lend a hand and Dru Nordmark for being our roaming photographer.

Saturday Art Adventures will be back in September for more art and games in the wild! 
 
Check our Events Page for September Dates.


Sunday, June 23, 2013

Offering Possibilities

I am addicted to possibility.  



It's why I love ideas.  Why I make endless plans and live most happily in my dreams.

I can see the possibilities and they get me really, really excited.


"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential, for the eye which sees the possible.  Pleasure disappoints, possibility never." 
-Soren Kiekegaard"

If you can tickle that sense of possibility in me, you have me.  You have me for a $4,500.00 teacher training or a pile of czech glass beads on Etsy. You have me because I believe that what you have to offer is going to move me toward my dreams. Those beads are going to help me get what I really want (and it's not the beads).

What I believe is in the promise of those beads. That I can take those beads and make some great earrings that I can then sell.  And if I can sell those, maybe I can make more jewelry and turn it into a thriving income stream.  I start to envision how those beads will get me closer to building a life around what I enjoy and living freely.

I don't think I'm the only one who thinks like this. Every major purchase from my house to my Master's Degree, I made because I bought into the possibilities I saw in them.

So I ask you, my friends who are putting your work out there, who are offering classes and products for people like me...

Where will your offering take me? 
To answer this, you need to know where I'm really looking to go.  What are my goals?  What do I really want?  What do I envision for myself?  Is it the same as what you're dreaming of?  How will your artwork, class, product or e-book help me see the possibilities of what I can create for myself?  Can you show me, teach me, empower me, inspire me, hold me accountable, hold space for me to figure it all out myself? You don't have to do all of these things, but I need to be able to see and feel where you will take me.

What does your offering make possible for me? Paint me a pretty picture-what will I be able to do, what will I know, what will my finished work look like if I try it your way? I really want to be improving and moving forward and maybe you're just the person to help.

I'm very willing to invest in myself-in education, in resources, in tools.  But I need you to paint the possibility for me.  Get me feeling it.  Get me forming all kinds of pretty sugarplums dancing in my head of what could be.

What separates you from slimy advertising-type people is the possibilities you describe are rooted in a genuine desire to help people live the lives they imagine (not just sell them a pile of dung).  It's about seeing wants and deeper needs and responding with your own strengths and possible solutions to move people forward. 
 
Here's a site I love that doesn't sell a thing at the moment, but accomplishes exactly what I'm talking about.  It gets me dreaming.  It shows me what's possible through real stories of women who have begun to make different, radical changes in their lives.  Women who are setting down the expected and moving in the world in a new way.  It shows me it's never to late to choose beauty and joy and the possibility of where choosing differently can lead.  




Thursday, June 13, 2013

Blog Rules

I hate rules.  And I'm coming to hate "the online success" rules.

Sometimes the advice I find when I sign up for one of the gazillion free advice systems out there on how to generate traffic or make money or build your online business makes me feel like I couldn't possibly do all of what's required to succeed at this, so why bother?

Things like if you want to be a success online you have to build your list and comment on people's blogs and have a social media presence and give your own webinars and a host of things that are likely great advice.  Problem is, all of these "shoulds" snatch the fun right out of why you wanted to do this in the first place.

To share.  To connect. To draw what you most enjoy doing into your life.

Not to drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with all these things you feel you must be doing and that make it feel so daunting and like a chore.

Maybe I'll just make jewelry or teach or paint.

And as soon as I think it, the thought arises that this is the path that feels best to me-sharing my experience online and helping others to see what's possible.

I've been judging myself against all of these ridiculous standards when really the truth is (and this just really sank in deeply for me today):

The only way I can fail is if I give up.  

Just like with painting.  If you want to get to the good stuff, you have to keep going.  Even and especially when quitting seems easier.

I've committed to action in whatever form it shows up for me.  

And if breaking the blogging rules is what feels right, then that's how I'll do it.  

I might not post on a regular schedule.  My photos aren't going to be perfect.  I don't have as much time as I'd like to comment on other people's blogs and be on social media.  But I think I can find a way to make this work.

What if you could find a way to create an online presence that flows naturally from where you are?  Hmmm...what would be possible then? (Oh, and I'm going to post this at 8:30 EST which is not the optimal posting time, but now that I'm a rule-breaka, I can do whatever I want!)
 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Taking Action

Painting In Process


There is so much happening and everything is showing up because of one thing:  committing to take action.

I was stuck for a long, long time.  Doing lots of research.  Holding up ideas with so much potential and then tearing them down.

It's embarrassing to say that I pulled out an old journal of mine from 1999.  It had exercises in it about what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go.  What I wanted to accomplish.  And you know what?

I still want many of the same exact things. And I'm only starting to create them NOW.  (It's 2000-freaking-thirteen!)

In those journals, I promised myself I would take action, but I always got stuck when it actually came time to REALLY do something.

I would consistently conclude that the ideas I thought were spectacular, were certainly way-way-way out of reach.  Just not possible. I didn't know enough, have the skills or the money I thought I needed to begin. I needed to study more, learn more, save more money, have a business plan, really know exactly what I was doing and what the specific outcome would be.

And that's when I would start to tear apart that idea.  It seemed much nicer to stay right here where things were tolerable (but not really fun or interesting or exciting in any way.)  And then I would get the next big idea and the cycle would begin again.

The funny thing is that many of the women in my groups now praise me for jumping right in.  Taking risks.  Moving quickly.   I find that a little funny considering it has taken me 14 years-and if I were to be really honest, it's been much, much longer.

If you know alot about being stuck and circling endlessly around ideas without ever doing anything, I've got a secret to share with you;

Get clear and get moving

You can start on a small scale and you have everything you need right now. Watch what begins to happen. Watch the dreams start to take shape when you commit and start doing something tangible and real. 

Transition is exciting and terrifying.  Your inner Ms. Perfect will not rest and will still scream at you as fear leaks in and tells you it's not going to work-you'd  better quit while you're ahead. 

But if you're like me, you already know what happens from inaction.  You may find that once you get started, it's a lot easier than you thought it would be. 

You can make a good chunk of extra income each month, doing creative things that you enjoy, not to mention the little part about shaping your life to be exactly how you want it.  Commit and begin.

I'll be sharing what's been working for me so check back in or join the mailing list for more in-depth ideas.  

It's time to take action.