Quotation: Living In Imaginary Worlds

"After a decade of studying topics like vulnerability, shame, and courage, I’ve come to believe that our lives are a powerful collection of stories – truths about who we are, what we believe, what we come from, how we struggle, and how we are strong.

When we practice the courage it takes to own our story, we gain access to our worthiness – the feeling that we are enough just as we are, and that we are worthy of love and belonging.

If we spend a lifetime trying to distance ourselves from the parts of our lives that don’t fit with who we think we’re supposed to be, we stand outside of our story and hustle for our worthiness by constantly performing, perfecting, pleasing, and proving.

Hustling is all about shame. When we understand shame and start to cultivate shame resilience we can start to stand strong in the center of our story."

- Brene Brown -

"I was imaginative, a bit of a dreamer but quite a timid child. I wasn’t confident – I think childhood is one of the most uncertain and terrifying places to be. I don’t know if I’d want to go back there. But I do remember being completely involved in imaginary games that would last for days, weeks. It was always magic, sorcery, living in trees. A lot of just living in imaginary worlds. I don’t think I’ve lost that. It’s just now I’m doing it as a job."

- Florence Welch -

"There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you're trying to be like somebody else, then there isn't."

- Tori Amos -

Imaginspiration: We Are Shining, And We'll Never Be Afraid Again

She Cannot Fly In A Cage by Pip Gerard

Spectacular by Angi and Silas

Spectrum

Purveyor Of Prancitude by Aimee Stewart

Tokyo Typhoon by Tiffany Atkin

Quotation: Sounds Of The Universe

“To overcome perfectionism, we need to be able to acknowledge our vulnerabilities to the universal experiences of shame, judgement and blame; develop shame resilience; and practice self-compassion. When we become more loving and compassionate with ourselves and we begin to practice shame resilience, we can embrace our imperfections. It is in the process of embracing our imperfections that we find our truest gifts: courage, compassion, and connection.”

- Brene Brown -

“To have uncategorized feelings and emotions. To make or do things that don’t sometimes necessarily make sense. “Art” is all just perfectly imperfect. Once the word “Art” enters the description of what your up to it is almost like getting a hall pass from perfection. It thankfully releases us from any expectation of perfection. In relation to my own work not being perfect, I just always point to the tattered box behind the couch and mention the word  “Art” and people seem to understand and let you off the hook about being perfect and go back to their business.”

- Nicholas Wilton -

“Music is something that chooses us, and it’s truly an elixir. I’ve never experienced anything in my life like music. Because it doesn’t make demands in the way that a relationship does. I do feel like it’s boundless and endless. And when I read that there’s tone out in the galaxy -- I was reading somewhere the other day, that there was a place that had a b flat – that was it’s tone[one of my favourite keys] - and I was just thinking to myself, the idea, the sounds that the universe makes, creates… and WE are a part of that. When we want to give up and have a hard day, when we feel like we don’t fit here on the planet. We have this opportunity to be part of creativity, and that is just- that’s why we’re here.”

- Tori Amos –

Imaginspiration: Across The Oceans Of Time

My Untold Stories by Pip Gerard

We Just Became More Clearly Ourselves

Dream More... by Heartschallenger

Across The Oceans Of Time by Angi and Silas

Love Is A Big Hug by Karin Taylor

Quotation: Hidden Silences

“One of the tasks of true friendship is to listen compassionately and creatively to the hidden silences. Often secrets are not revealed in words, they lie concealed in the silence between the words or in the depth of what is unsayable between two people.”

- John O'Donohue -

“You can only write your biography once, so you have to start having new experiences. You have to constantly develop as a person and see sides to yourself that you might not want to see. Even if you're the observer in your work, you are in there, and if you don't keep finding out the different beasts that live inside, then you just become this stagnant character." 

- Tori Amos -

“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning and purpose to our lives.”

-  Brené Brown -

Imaginspiration: Remnants Of Magic

This Wild Life by Bec Schopen

The Yellow Brick Road by Aimee Stewart

From The Heart by Karin Taylor

Nurture

Remnants Of Magic by Angi and Silas

 

Quotation: Colours On The Palette

“There’s a point in your life when you know who stays forever and who’s just around for a while. People change, but so do you. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Bad things happen to everyone, you’re not in it alone. People lie and some people just don’t care how you feel. Your heart beats no matter how much pain you’re in. Everything will be okay eventually. There are always people in your life that just make your day no matter the miles. I’d rather stay in touch with the people I love than just drop it and forget about it. You don’t forget about the ones you love, it doesn’t work like that. Give it all you got, and live your life to the fullest. People would kill to have what you have. Someone always has it worse off than you, but that doesn’t mean your pain doesn’t count. That’s okay. “

- Samuel Effron -

“Until we have seen someone’s darkness, we don’t really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone’s darkness, we don’t really know what love is.”

- Marianne Williamson -

"If you're living a full life, pain is one of the colors on the palette... It's one of the things that makes you remember you can feel. One of the things. Humor's another thing. They all work together. When you negate any of these emotions then you're not working with a very complex palette, you're just working with a couple of colors."

- Tori Amos -

Imaginspiration: Smile More Often

The Mirror by Patricia Ariel

Restrained Love by Bec Schopen

Smile More Often

Live Out Loud by Angi and Silas

Guilty Little Pleasures by Tiffany Atkin

Quotation: Listen To Your Senses

“Indeed our hearts are golden treasures, but a true tragedy would be to conceal your inner gold because you are afraid of someone stealing it or it falling and breaking. There is no love in fear. The great wisdom of the ages always tells us the more you are Love the more of it you receive. Love is not a giving or a taking, it is a state of being – a one way street of allowing, accepting and holding a space for all things to be exactly as they are. Fear not that your heart will be broken or stolen. Love becomes loves. Give it away with no expectation of return and soon you will be having a love affair with the whole world.”

- Jackson Kiddard -

“Let yourself be influenced by what the music does to you. Listen to your senses. Your feelings. The music tells you all you need to know, because the emotions in the music go beyond words. The lyrics are merely a pointer in the right direction. Every sound, every note contributes to the character of the song and is thus a link in the bigger whole.” 

- Tori Amos –

“Be not the slave of your own past- plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience, that shall explain and overlook the old.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Imaginspiration: Beauty Is...

I Rented An Opinion by Steve Leadbeater

Hippy Chicks by Karin Taylor

I Am Loved by The I Am Project

Beauty Is...

Be Still by Angi and Silas

Quotation: Believe In The Fairies

“I believed in fairies and other spiritual things, was sunk in my own world of imagination, believed in the unseen world, what I still do today. But over the time I started to feel like a nitwit. I mean, when you smoke dope, it might be normal, but like this? You sit in your English lesson and you are talking to a fairy. The people did not want to understand that, and when you are 13, you don't want to be faced with a pityful smile all the time. So I began to destroy the part in me that is actually creative. Instead, I became very cynical, disguised myself to become popular, to be loved by everyone. But actually that was nothing else than a game of hide-and-seek. You can be a bigmouth without having anything to say. At that time, I definitely only had the wish to be an in-chick. Today I know that you should have your own thoughts and that you have to stick to your point of view. Today I accept that not all people like me, that's all right.”

- Tori Amos -

"Compassionate people are boundary people... The heart of compassion is really acceptance. The better we are at accepting ourselves and others, the more compassionate we become. Well, it's difficult to accept people when they are hurting us or taking advantage of us or walking all over us. This research has taught me that if we really want to practice compassion, we have to start by setting boundaries and holding people accountable for their behavior."

- Brene Brown -

“Release the need to be upset with others. Remember that anytime you're filled with resentment, you're turning the controls of your emotional life over to others to manipulate.”

- Dr. Wayne Dyer -

Imaginspiration: It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn

The Beautiful Positive by Natalie Perkins

Don't Be Afraid To... by Angi and Silas

Music Box Dancer by Karin Taylor

It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn

The Summer Queen by Aimee Stewart

Quotation: You Are Not Who You Were Yesterday

“Creativity burns like a fire through the stuckness and dis-ease held in our bodies and turns what doesn’t serve us into ash. It dissolves the layers of conditioning that were put upon us and brings us closer to knowing who we truly are, our absolute nature and what we are capable of.”

- Lynn Zavaro -

"But unless we are creators we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint of clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career."

- Madeline L’Engle –

"You are not who you were yesterday; whoever you were before this moment is literally a construct of your imagination. At this moment you have the power to choose whatever quality of personhood you desire. And because all minds are joined, whatever decision you make will in time be the way others see you as well..."

- Marianne Williamson -

 

Imaginspiration: Bouquet Of Light

Daydreamer by Aimee Stewart

Bouquet Of Light by Angi and Silas

Dragonflies and Orchids by Vitta

The Calling by Patricia Ariel

Quotation: The Secret Door In The Wardrobe

"Of course, you can listen to a record or go and see a piece of art, but there isn't a short cut to being initiated into the mysteries of 'Woman,'" she continues "It's not like you can go somewhere and study being a woman for a month you have to locate the secret door in the wardrobe and figure out how to open it."

- Tori Amos - 

"The Artist creates something out of nothing! Without the thoughts and feelings of the Artist, there would be no art. It's their particular creative mind in contemplation that links to intention to give birth to what we call an artistic creation. This is how the power of intention worked in creating you, someone new, entirely unique, something out of nothing. Reproducing this in yourself means encountering the creative impulse and knowing that the power of intention is reaching for the realization of all that it feels, and that it is expressing itself as YOU!"

- Wayne Dyer -

"The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins."

- Bob Moawad -