Tag Archives: motivational

art, asskickery, inspirational, life, motivational, purpose, 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.

inspirational, life, motivational, writing

Discover your inner fire.

Discover your inner fire.  It’s not that hard, but we tend to live in the lies we tell ourselves.  We all have Ph.Ds. in excuses, like family and other things we have to attend to in this 3D-existence.  But there is always time if we make it.  We also tend to not listen to the inner urges, labeling them as woo-woo or generally uncomfortable or ridiculous, like dreams at night.  Ninety percent of all the women I meet live for and through their families, but what about THEM?  What is their own outlet of happiness?  Nothing wrong with being focused on family, but not to a point where that’s all there is.

I feel kind of blah today, not very fired up, but I know what makes me happy.  Every day I sit down to listen within and every time I find my true north.  Then it’s all about will to make stuff happen in accordance to my inner direction.

How do you tame your will?  You don’t.  Will is like a cat, contrary at best, or outright belligerent at worst. Cats know how to be motivated, especially at meal times, lol.  Cats are also super lazy and they don’t give a sh*t.  Sometimes I wish I was more like them because they truly act from supreme indifference and detachment.  That doesn’t mean they have no feelings, but everything is on their terms.  You know immediately about your transgression  when you take a wrong step, like taking them to the vet.

So basically, you have a cat in your head.

There is a way to tame cats, sort of.  You have to coax them along with something alluring, like tuna treats.  When you love something, it has a kind of golden allure.  Your passion is like that; that thing you keep putting off.   Throw some treats at it!

Once you allow yourself (with some coaxing) to attend to that passion, you feel great.  That feeling is the tuna treat.  Basically, the more you allow yourself to experience that special feeling, the easier it gets to choose to be a participant, not a sideline observer.

Step away from the sideline.  When you don’t feel like it, apply some discipline (which is also an acquired skill) to push yourself forward.  One whiff of that tuna will get your right in the mood to pursue.  I know it works for me.

For me the tuna is the joy of creativity.  Writing this fires me up, and seeing a pile of painting brushes in my studio gives me an inner smile.  If you don’t know what yours is, do some digging for gold inside that murky mine of yours.  “I can’t find it,” you say??  Frigging BS.  Don’t be lazy, dig deeper.

Just accept that there is a special path waiting for you; the one only you can find.  Don’t you want to go on adventure?  Don’t you want to find out?  Live your life as an adventurer, not like a predictable hamster running on its wheel.  I have to say I prefer cats to hamsters.

Don’t you want to have your tombstone say you lived with passion, that you inspired others?

The habits can get so ingrained it can be hard to break out of them, and most people don’t even try.  I speak to YOU who wants to find out, who knows there is no other way to live.

That the same ole, same ole is not good enough.

My inspiration today: take positive action, no matter how much the resistance says no.  Engage will and discipline and get into your life.  You won’t look back because you know it’s true.

I’m doing the action right beside you, so let’s go!

Because life happens NOW!

xo

Maria

fireinthebelly2

Google images captainkyso.com

P.S.  My e-course Visionary Art Journaling offers many exercises to go within to discover your inner truth.  We will be working with art and the six senses.  It’s a self paced e-course.  The link is HERE.

If you’d like to receive my newsletter, sign up HERE.

art, ecourse, inspirational, life, motivational

Never say die.

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Never say die, said the little palm tree my neighbor carted home the other day.  She picked up a bunch of free plants and one of them was a small palm tree that grew in an ugly little container.

I wanted the palm tree, and we decided to plant it on the property line.   Someone had planted it in a cut off water drinking bottle, left it there until it was choked with roots, and then set it on top of the soil in the tiny planter.  When we got it, it was so choked in the bottle I had a really hard time cutting open the plastic.  I got a slit cut and then I had to use a pair of pliers to “roll” the plastic away from the roots.

Then came the effort of pulling it out of the pot.  It had somehow busted through the bottom of the plastic and sent roots into the pot.  I had to use all of my strength to pull it out (not kidding!)  The roots had been curled around the bottom, all thirty-six inches of them.  They were hanging on for dear life.  It took me another fifteen minutes to release the roots from the rest of the plastic.

I wonder if it would have busted through the plastic in the end.  It had been trying real hard.

This is a puny palm with two leaves.  To get it to stand straight in the ground I had to plant the root ball  sideways since it had been growing sideways out of the plastic.

The point of the story?  Never say die, no matter how difficult and constricted your situation may be.  Nature is a great example of resilience and purpose.  There is always that dandelion growing in the crack of the concrete sidewalk.   Where there is a path to light and rain, some greenery will always sprout.  People thrive when they pursue their heart’s desire.  What is YOUR heart’s desire?

I was amazed when I planted that palm  It has been a week, and it already has a new leaf coming up.

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I have a feeling this palm tree will do great from now on.

Are you going to bust through your plastic bottle constraint?   I hope so; there’s a whole world out there to explore.

xo

Maria

P.S.  If you want some art inspiration, check out my e-courses at http://ecourses-mariagreene.org  Try something new today. 🙂

…because life is happening NOW!

asskickery, inspirational, life, motivational

Is life kicking your ass?

 

asskick

It’s time to kick the hell back and set some perimeters of what is acceptable.  First of all, look around.  What do you see?  Either you see a world full of promise or one with lots of problems.  But it all starts with us as individuals.  What do you want to experience in life?  I, for on, like to feel peace inside, but I also like  some asskicking action to make me feel I’m interacting, inspiring, and exploring joy and purpose with the world.

For the most part we don’t live life on our terms.  We get our asses kicked by the system via fear and herd mentality.  There is false security when we rely on the system to take care of us.  That may alleviate some fear, but why give away LIFE for others to decide what you want to experience?   Where will you be when the rug is pulled from under you?

I could never enjoy the 9-5 rat race, and God knows, I’ve had many jobs and worked my butt off for others, but not for myself.  Well, that has ended.  I choose to support myself by stopping to abuse or treat myself like a third class citizen.

And we do!  We always give to others first. Don’t you kinda feel left out??

I can feel peace whenever I want by going within to meditate, but what is it that I put out into the world?  I need to put out there who I truly am.  It’s a journey of discovery, but I’m frigging tired of living according to other people’s ideas.

Who is the best judge of what is good for me?  I am.  Heeellllooooooo.

We, as humanity, have to lift the pillow cases from our heads and take a good look around.  Take a frigging good look around!  How happy are you as a sheep?

Not very.  I know.  I used to look at the clock all the time and wish the day was over.

Is this what I want to share with the world, more misery and unhappiness of every form, or do I want to stand up and be who I truly am and take charge of my life, get a buzz from living fully?   Yes absolutely!

Once you see the whole picture there is no going back to being a sheep again.  I want to live fully, not be a shadow of who I am.  As every action becomes inspired, I inspire others (hopefully) to take some inventory of their lives.

Habits are hard to break, yes, but a slow death while being alive is worse.  Life is an uncertainty, no matter how much we ignore that fact and live under false security.

What kind of legacy do you want to leave?  How do you want to feel?  I choose fulfillment and joy.  I know it’s an inside job, but it’s important how I show up in the world.

It’s hard work to develop yourself and your passion, but nothing is more rewarding in this physical life than doing something worthwhile and feel great in the process.

Everyone will have an opinion of what YOU SHOULD BE DOING, but don’t listen.  What does your heart tell you to do?  If you don’t know, just do one small thing that you have always wanted to do.  Record it in your journal (yes, get a journal going)  and the feeling you got while doing it, and keep doing more things like that.  Before you know it, a path opens up, one you didn’t know was there.

What do you long to do?  Take steps in that direction every day and burdens will be lifted and you’ll feel good about waking up every morning!  How about that?

You would rather think about it or find fault with my reasoning?  Go ahead, no skin off my nose.  It’s your life just cruising  by while you’re watching from the sidelines.

Now, go and kick someone else’s ass!  I’m going to make some art.   My art blog: http://greeneearthoriginals.blogspot.com

xo

Maria