Category Archives: transformation

Because of layers.

You never truly know yourself because of  layers.  Sure you’ve heard it before.  Like with an onion you peel off one layer and find there’s another one underneath, shiny and glistening and mocking somehow.  But, an onion does not worry about its layers!

At the core we are all one, but if we look at the “baggage” there are any number of variations of bullshit that we think is important.  Let’s excavate and release!  But….

I don’t think it works that way.  You can work with layers, but where you end up is not perfection.  You can never get to the bottom of the layers, but you can experience the river of perfection that keeps you alive.  Forget about the layers; they lead nowhere.

Here’s a painting / mixed media I just finished.  It’s a good example of putting ON the layers instead of taking them off.

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Broken Dreams 12×12″ mixed media

I started out with no idea at all.  I sprayed some paint on the canvas , rubbed it around, and let it dry.  Added some more layers, but I couldn’t see a picture emerging at all, so I glued on some papers (the only one showing now is the crinkly tissue paper in the corner.)  The papers led to nowhere, so I decided to just paint a face.  Faces are always tricky because you never quite end up where you plan to end up.  They take on a life of their own.

This one ended up with a slightly disdainful expression, but also with lots of inner power, so I accepted her.  Then I couldn’t get anything to stick on the right side.  I painted birds, leaves, a big flower.  They all looked wrong, so I scraped some paint over the whole and buried them.  All the layers add energy to the painting, so nothing is lost.

I have been into square shapes lately, so I added some of those.  At that time I had some dreams broken in my life so I “saw” them there.  I had to add a solution so there is an exiting square in the corner that says Let Go.

The art didn’t turn out like anything I envisioned, but I allowed it to emerge.  These kinds of paintings are tricky.  I never know if I like them or not.

The point is:  With every stroke of the brush, or any addition of paper, I altered the course of this piece of art. I didn’t know if it would work, but I could only move forward until I felt it was done, but far from perfect.  I had to accept it.

It is what it is.

What does that have to do with layers in life?  How can you know what will emerge as you remove layers?  Is it even possible?  Aha moments can come, and they often do, but what do they change?  On a good day, we might walk in a different direction and leave something behind that burdened us.  That is all good.

But, basically, isn’t it enough to accept ourselves exactly as we are today?  Trust that you are enough. Connect with your inner flow and just “BE YOU?”  When you do, something good emerges, the authenticity and power of who you are, layers and all.  Who gives a shit about layers?  Maybe psychoanalysts do, but I say, go for it, warts and all!   Be authentic.

Be your frigging AWESOME self, right now.  I have stopped trying to change or fix myself and there’s a lot of peace in that.

Peace out,

Maria

P.S. I often look at my paintings and think aliens painted them. When we allow flow, something much greater than the little self (shrouded in layers) comes out to play.  It is a path of mystery and curiosity.  If you want to try some art journaling, please sign up for my art newsletter for a primer and a mixed media tutorial.  CLICK HERE.

Discovering the epic.

Dear reader,

It is about discovering the epic, the truth of who we are and what we can share with the world, not just the small stuff, but that which is truly grand.

I was asking myself that question this morning. I have no problem producing artsy things to share or sell, but I thought about the perspective of my sphere of knowledge. I have lots of experience, but in the big scheme of things, what I know is small, not anything epic by a long shot.

I share where I’m at now. It’s like walking down a dark road with a weak flashlight that also flickers. Stuff out of scary movies, right?

But I take one step forward, and that’s as far as I can see.

I guess that’s living in the now.

And that’s all there is.

My fearful little self doesn’t like it, not by a long shot. Maybe the only epic action in life is to step off the proverbial cliff and see what happens. (I’m afraid of heights.) Epic is to do “it” no matter what. Maybe you have to risk is all to have it all?

I look at people who have epic concepts and I wonder how they came across such knowledge. I believe we’re all made to be epic in the best possible way.

What is the divinely inspired “thing” that sets me apart from others and allows me to create epic shit that only I can create.

I honestly don’t know.

I want to know. I go within and ask in meditation, but the Universe is strangely quiet lately. To my ears at least, or maybe I’m not really listening. I’m multi-tasking writing this blog post in my head and planning out my day. I’m just thinking of the few paces I can see ahead, and they are mighty small from an epic perspective.

So I miss the point of stepping into epic. However, I can only act from where I am right now.

What is epic anyway? I don’t know. It’s a concept. Frodo’s struggle to bring the ring to the Mount of Doom was epic. In that sense epic is something that is greater than us. Frodo could not do it alone. He got help along the way.

To create something massively awesome that affects a lot of people in a good way is beyond one person alone, but it can be done with a little help from your friends.

To dare to create something, however small is an epic action since most people never create anything, just live day by day in zombie land.

Say you get an epic inspiration for something so big it scares the pants off of you. It’s not like you can turn your back on that. It’s like a “knowing” and once you know, you can’t un-know it. But you have no idea how to implement it into 3D living.

All you can do is take one step forward and as the whole plan is slowly revealed people will show up along the path to help because it’s epic. They can see the value of your inspiration.

Or maybe it will hit you in a flash!

Truth is you’re the driver; you’re the one who takes action every day.

I’m good at taking action.

Until epic strikes I can take one step forward, and then another one until I’m ready. Yeah, I guess that’s it. It’s very likely the steps actually lead to epic but I can never be certain.

 One step at a time, and I’m golden.

What are you doing that is worthwhile today?

xo

Maria

P.S. Check out some of my non-epic stuff, but still good, lol. HERE

For an epic gift (only kidding, but great,) sign up for my newsletter! HERE.

Get unstuck!

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Get unstuck!   I can help you move from limbo to purpose. When the kids are gone, your job is gone, and life feels empty, it’s time to take some good action!

I’ve been going nuts playing at being a techie and getting WordPress plugins to work.  It’s a nightmare, but I’m learning something new every time I tackle the never-ending computer tasks.  The secret is to never give up or work until your eyes can’t focus any longer or you drop from sheer exhaustion.   Yeah, that’s how I roll sometimes when I’m on a mission.  Life is short.

I’m really excited about my freebie e-course coming up. I put up a video today to introduce the program, and I think it will be well received.  It going to happen in email so if you’re not on my email list for this event, go over and read all about it  HERE. 

It is going to involve some art, but nothing that will be super challenging.  Anyone can do it.

I use art as a transformational tool. As I transform myself I can also inspire others to get going and never look back at the life that didn’t work very well.  I created a Facebook page for people who sign up, but if you’re interested in art and learning more about it, you can join.  Click here.  The more the merrier I say.

It is going to be fun!

I’m signing off now…

xo

Maria

P.S.  If you want a good challenge, you can sign up for my e-course Visionary Art Journaling.  I went in deep on that one, and so will you. GO HERE!  Art can truly transform your life.

….because life happens NOW!