Quotation: Faith Is A Place Of Mystery

"When a cupboard is full to overflowing and the doors are opened up, that which is within comes tumbling out and nothing can stop it. When floodgates are opened, the water rushes forth with tremendous power and force, carrying all before it. So with the spiritual power within you; once it has been recognised and released, nothing can stop the flow. It pours forth, sweeping aside all negativity and disharmony, bringing with it peace, love, harmony and understanding. It is love that will overcome the world; it is love which will unite all humanity. Therefore the sooner you release that tremendous power of love within you and allow it to flow freely, the sooner will you behold world peace and harmony and the oneness of all humanity. When you have love in your heart, you draw the very best out of everyone, for love sees only the best and therefore draws forth the best. Be not afraid; open up, hold nothing back, and let it all flow freely."

- Eileen Caddy -

“Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty.” 

- Brene Brown - 

“I’ve been racing my boat lately. It’s really small—fourteen feet. I’m trying to learn the skill of taking waves and weaving in and out of the water. I just love being out on the water and having all of these massive boats pass by and get me all wet. I did something a couple of days ago that was totally humbling. I went out into the big ocean in my tiny little boat because it was very calm. And it was such a good feeling. I’m a bit cynical about religious deities right now, but sometimes you go out to the ocean and it’s really simple, “Ocean... big.” In a sense, your faith gets restored because if a storm kicks up, then a storm kicks up. It’s not personal. With religions, I was taught if you do x, y, and z and you confess and you pray and you ask to be absolved and you do all these things, then God will respond. And that’s a lie. There’s no guarantee that God will do anything. I’m really learning it’s a free will planet and certain things are going to happen to certain people. No matter how loving you are or giving you are, you might face loss-tragically. And there’s no “get out of loss free” card, just because you go to church.” 

- Tori Amos -

Quotation: No Pre-requisites, Just As Is.

"A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching."

- Sivananda -

“There’s the inner world which is a reflection of the outer world, and when you think of all the billions of worlds that are going on out there - we are connected with that, we’re not encouraged to think of our connection as why we are on this planet. Is our life just functional; is that all that is? Getting up, going to work, having kids, to just populate the planet? I mean there have to be reasons we do things...”

- Tori Amos -

"Men and women who carry a deep sense of love and belonging, believe that they're worthy of love and belonging. The trick is no pre-requisites. Just as is, right now, worthy of long belonging. Not when I make partner, not when I lose 20 pounds, not if I get pregnant, not when my husband comes back, not if my daughter gets into Yale, not if I make the fortune 500. No pre-requisites. Just as is, right now, worthy of love and belonging. And the last thing is a resilient spirit. That is an absolute outcome of being able to live in your story. We get to re-write the endings of our stories if we're willing to walk into them and open them. It's a powerful thing."

- Brene Brown -

Quotation: Oceans To Fly

“Intuition is not a single way of knowing – its’ our ability to hold space for uncertainty and our willingness to trust the many ways we’ve developed knowledge and insight, including instinct, experience, faith, and reason.”

- Brene Brown -

"I’m obsessed by the sea. For me, writing music is like jumping off a cliff and then deep-sea-diving among new coral reefs. I think women are like water, while men are much more like clay, like earth."

- Tori Amos -

"Everyone has Ocean's to fly, if they have the Heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?"

- Amelia Earhart -

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 -

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 –

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 -

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 -

Quotation: Find The Beauty First

"What do you see when you look in the mirror? Stop. Don't turn away. Stay a while. Let's look closer. No. You are not allowed to find the faults first, not in my game. We will find the Beauty first."

- Clyde (Tori Amos) - 

"The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt." 

- Leo Buscaglia -

“There is a line in Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem” that serves as a reminder to me when I get to that place where I’m trying to control everything and make it perfect. That line is, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” So many of us run around spackling all of the cracks, trying to make everything look just right. This line helps me remember the beauty of the cracks. It reminds me that our imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together. Imperfectly, but together.”

- Brene Brown -

“The act of surrender doesn't mean we give up on the goal/dream/vision. Surrender = actively releasing the tension and resistance that keeps us knotted with anger, frustration and grief. Surrender that shit!”

- Kris Carr -

Quotation: Imagination Running Wild

"Think about it: we get told all the time to stop daydreaming, we get told all the time it's just our imagination running wild - it's one thing to have lost your ability to see the truth, but it's another to have lost your ability to imagine"

- Tori Amos – 

"No-one can define what is meaningful for us. Culture doesn’t get to dicate if it’s working outside the home, raising children, lawyering, teaching or painting. Like our gifts and talents, meaning is unique to each one of us.”

- Brene Brown - 

"You get to decide what energy you choose to download in any moment. No one but you gets to decide who you wish to be."

- Marianne Williamson - 

“To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest.”

- Unknown – 

“I align myself with people who support my growth; if you meet someone whose soul is not aligned with yours, send them love and move along.”

- Wayne Dyer - 

Quotation: Perfectionism Is A Twenty Ton Shield

"It's about realizing, painfully, you've kept that voice inside yourself, locked away from even yourself. And you step back and see that your jailer has changed faces. You realize you've become your own jailer."

- Tori Amos -

"Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame. It’s a shield. Perfectionism is a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us, when in fact; it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from taking flight. At its core, is about trying to earn approval and acceptance.”

- Brene Brown -

“The human spirit is truly unconquerable. But the will to win, the will to succeed, to shape one’s life, to take control, can only be harnessed when you decide what you want, and believe that no challenge, no problem, no obstacle can keep you from it. When you decide that your life will ultimately be shaped not by conditions, but by your decisions, then, in that moment, your life will change forever…”

- Anthony Robbins -

Quotation: Life Will Break You

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could." 

- Louise Erdrich -

"Authenticity is a daily practice. Living authentically means cultivating the courage to be emotionally honest, to set boundaries, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable; exercising the compassion that comes from knowing that we are all made of light and darkness, strength and struggle; and nurturing the connection and sense of belonging that can only happen when we let go of who we are supposed to be and embrace who we are. Authenticity demands wholehearted living and loving—even when it’s hard, even when it hurts, and especially when we are wrestling with the shame and fear of ‘not being enough.’ Mindfully practicing authenticity during our most soul-searching struggles is how we invite grace, joy, and gratitude into our lives.”

- Brené Brown -

"Your spiritual and physical self working together so that all facets of your wheel - your emotional body, your physical body, your mental body and your spiritual body - are all communicating. Because we all have desires. To rid yourself of them is an odd thing for me. That you have to transmute, that's very different. A transmutation of something that you have and you get it to work for you. It's really important. I mean if you look at a garden, there are all kinds of things within the garden that make it exist. If you don't have serpents, then you will have rats that will destroy your garden. The serpent, yes can be a dangerous element, but it can also save your garden. That's why Jesus always said, 'you must be as wise as a serpent.' I believe that. We look at mother nature as our teacher, all kinds of devouring essences exist, but I really believe it's how you utilise parts of your being in your life.

- Tori Amos -

Quotation: Music Is Everything

"There has already been much too much music that doesn’t express anything at all and is only good for dulling your senses like a bad drug. Music should do the opposite, it should open your senses. When you compose you’re dependent on these channels being open, and you have to learn to keep them open and let the energy that’s flowing through and filter it into something that’s your own." 

- Tori Amos -

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." 

- Plato -

"I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality. "

 - H.A. Overstreet -

"Music expresses feeling and thought, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words." 

 - Robert G. Ingersoll - 

“Laughter, song, and dance create emotional and spiritual connection; they remind us of the one thing that truly matters when we are searching for comfort, celebration, inspiration, or healing: We are not alone.” 

- Brene Brown -

Quotation: Whether you notice it or not...

“Insight may come in a flash, but it's the result of accumulated noticing -- whether you notice it or not. 

The 'I just knew it' moments in life are often triggered by little things. Annoyances, nuances, subtle incidentals--soft inklings so seemingly flip that we're prone to discredit them. Poo poo on that intensely intense but fleeting emotion--lovely or harsh. Miff miff on that big vision that just cycled through your consciousness. Pshaw on that white flash of passion--the lusty-love kind and the flare-of-rage kind. But those spins and flashes and pangs are being felt because you're ready to feel them--and they matter. The trick is to pay attention to them. Imagine sand streaming in an hour glass, each grain forming a pyramiding pile of sand. Until one grain punctuates the pile and the tall triangle collapses into a flatter triangle. It only takes one grain of awareness to shift everything.”

- Danielle LaPorte -

"Love will never be certain, but after collecting thousands of stories, I’m willing to call this a fact: A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all men, women, and children. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong.When these needs are not met, we don’t function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We grow numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick. There are certainly other causes of illness, numbness, and hurt, but the absence of love and belonging will always lead to suffering"

- Brene Brown -

"The real power is in honoring ourselves and each other. Now if someone isn’t ready to do that, then you can’t have a relationship with them. It’s not our job to dictate to them what their choice should be. If somebody doesn’t want to respect you, then it’s about boundaries, saying how far you are going to go, and probably move on. I really believe that there isn’t a resolve with everybody on the planet. Not all of us could sit down at the table and work stuff out today, because not everybody wants to honor each other. We can’t be hurt by this, we have to accept it. Still, it’s challenging when relationships don’t work out, it can be painful. I mean there is a sense of loss, and I’ve had to move through that. Still sometimes you love certain people very much, but you just aren’t ready to work things through. You have to go away from each other, maybe for a long time, and take your own road.” 

- Tori Amos -

Quotation: Fill the glass with champagne

‎"You devise ways to add some magic to the places you’re going. You have to. Otherwise you’d drown in the negative very quickly. It’s so easy to say the glass is half empty. You have to force yourself to say: no, wait a minute, there’s a few more sips in there! And all the time you have to think up ways to fill the glass again. Preferably champagne!"

- Tori Amos -

"Just like a sunbeam can't separate itself from the sun, and a wave can't separate itself from the ocean, we can't separate ourselves from one another. We are all part of a vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind."

- Marianne Williamson -

"Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments - often ordinary moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we're too busy chasing down the extraordinary moments. Other times we're so afraid of the dark we don't dare let ourselves enjoy the light. A joyful life is not a floodlight of joy. That would eventually become unbearable. I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments gracefully strung together by trust, gratitude and inspiration"

- Brene Brown -

Weaving a creative life balance

No matter which side you look at it from, our society seems set up to make living a creative life and doing meaningful work mutually exclusive. The fact that so many people struggle to incorporate both into their lives in a balanced way would seem to support the idea that only the lucky few can have it both ways. But I don’t believe that’s true. I don’t think the problem is that the two are exclusive from one another; the problem – or a part of it - is that our definitions of both are exclusive.

“We all have talents and gifts. When we cultivate those gifts and share them with the world, we create a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives" ** 

Creativity goes beyond just paint on canvas and words on paper. It’s not just ‘artists’ who are creative, and this idea of their being creative and non-creative people really doesn’t work, because ALL people are creative – creativity begins with thought, the only difference is if and how you choose to use that creativity. And yet we still talk about artists and ‘creative types’ as though they’re a rare species. 

“The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist”
- Eric Gill

Meaningful work is similarly narrowed down to something done by an elite group of people – Doctors, Lawyers, and professionals. We seem to confuse meaningful with ‘important’ – and what society considers important – forgetting that only we can define what is meaningful to us. It comes from the heart - not a rule book that says so.

“No-one can define what is meaningful for us. Culture doesn’t get to dictate if it’s working outside the home, raising children, lawyering, teaching or painting. Like our gifts and talents, meaning is unique to each one of us.” ** 

It doesn’t matter which side of the divide you fall, this is a problem, because despite what the straight suits may say - we need BOTH creativity and meaningful work in our lives to thrive both personally AND professionally.

For those whose creativity IS a part of what they define as meaningful work, it can seem like an impossible equation to balance. But I also think they’re more aware of how important those things are in their lives and I think it’s a part of why phrases like ‘the struggling artist’ exist. Because people who are fully engaged in their creativity become acutely aware of just what it brings to their lives, and for many the things it does bring are of far greater value than the dollars it doesn’t. So it’s not so much that they are choosing financial insecurity, it is more the case that they are choosing to ensure the personal paradigms that their creativity nurtures. They’re unwilling to endure the pain of suffocating their creative spirit.

“Squandering our gifts brings distress to our lives. As it turns out it’s not merely benign or “too bad” if we don’t use the gifts we’ve been given; we pay for it with our emotional and physical wellbeing. When we don’t use our talents to cultivate meaningful work, we struggle. We feel disconnected and weighed down by feelings of emptiness, frustration, resentment, shame, disappointment, fear and even grief.” ** 

One of the problems is that this can also come at a cost – and not just a dollar figure. A lot of creative work is unstable and under-appreciated; it may be personally meaningful, but it often falls outside the box of what our friends, family and/or society defines as ‘meaningful’.

“Using our gifts and talents to create meaningful work takes a tremendous amount of commitment, because in many cases meaningful work is not what pays the bills. Some folks have managed to align everything – they use their gifts and talents to do work that feeds their souls and their families; however, most people piece it together.” ** 

And it’s that piecing it together part that a lot of people find to be the biggest struggle. But I think that one of the main reasons is that we don’t bring our creativity to the process of cultivating meaningful work and a creative life. Instead, of looking for outside the box to create a workable balance, we try to fit our creativity into the boxes that society labels ‘meaningful’ – in some cases we settle for merely ‘acceptable’. And I think that sometimes in the process, we amputate the most meaningful parts to fit inside these narrow definitions. The fact of the matter is that not every artist will find Graphic Design rewarding, stimulating &/or meaningful; not every writer wants to be a journalist. So it’s little wonder that when we do squish our lives into these rigid boxes we often find ourselves uncomfortable. What we need to do is to use our creativity to expand the dimensions of the spaces we live our lives in. Not only does it provide greater comfort for our current selves, it also allows for growth and broadening of our perceptions.

Personally, I don't believe you can last long in a soul-destroying job without feeling the effects in other aspects of your life; but I DO believe that you can balance doing work that may not be your life passion, by weaving creativity through everything you do. Living a creative life is not about the number of hours a day you spend painting or writing or singing; on the most basic level, a 'creative life' is a way of thinking. And one that is valuable to art as it is business, and most importantly - to you individually. Creativity is the heart of innovation and growth; it's also how we solve all problems. Solutions come from creativity and knowledge, and almost all knowledge is the documented result(s) of previous creativity. So by operating from this mind set and bringing creativity to every task, we make the mundane more enjoyable; the challenging more easily resolved; and when we DO have that dedicated creative time to write or paint or play we're able to make the most of it, because we don't have to warm up or switch on the creative brain - it's already fully engaged.

So how do you keep the brain in that space all of the time? I think that the answer to that question is probably different for all of us. Practice is the very simple answer. In more specific terms, these are some of the things that I personally find helpful.

- Get clear on what inspires your creative thought and what drains it. Write down lists for both with your ideal life in mind, and identify the barriers that get in the way of living it. The things that inspire me I try to weave into my daily life - even in small doses. And the things that get in the way I try to eliminate shift or minimize.

- Be mindful of your environment and the effect it has on you. Personally, I cannot work amongst clutter and disorganisation - but I also find if things are too clinical it kills inspiration. It comes down to comfort & belonging - the mood, music, temperature and personal touches all play a part in cultivating that.

- Create an inspiration wall, pin board or blog. Whether its photos, artwork, quotes, fabric or trinkets - creating a visual reminder of all the things that inspire you can have an incredibly powerful effect. And I personally find that it has me expanding my list of what inspires me and adding or changing the visuals constantly, which also keeps it all fresh in my mind.

- Notice the little things. Nature truly is the world greatest artist. For me, there are few things that bring a smile to my face faster than colour and light - I have been known to almost walk into telegraph poles mesmerized by the beauty of pink camellias on bright green leaves, against a clear blue sky! A lot of people find photography really helps with this – you begin to look at the world through an imaginary viewfinder. I can certainly say that when I discovered the Hipstamatic iPhone app I did find myself wearing 'will this make a good lomo imitation photo?' goggles. The beauty of things like camera phone apps is that it makes it so easy to find a dash of creative inspiration in any moment.

- Don't always schedule creative time last on the list after the days work - make it a priority. One of the things I've discovered is a huge barrier to using my free time to be creative is exhaustion. By the time that point of the day(or night rather) arrives I'm exhausted, and when my brain is over-tired the creative flow stops. It was a realisation that actually took me by surprise, because I can't count the amount of times I've been so wrapped in a drawing or piece of jewelry I was making that 3AM would arrive without me even blinking. The key difference is that in those instances I started whatever I was doing before exhaustion took over. And this highlights one of the other reasons dedicated creative time is so valuable and essential: Engaging my mind creatively energizes me; the effect is not unlike meditation, leaving my mind clear and at peace.

- Step outside your comfort zone. When confronted with the unknown or unfamiliar we can’t rely on what we ‘know’; we don’t have a rehearsed or automatic response as we do for so many situations. What this does is forces us to think outside the square of what we do know, and explore new thoughts, ideas, feelings and solutions. Once the stream of new thought is flowing you never know where it may take you. Often when I come up with new creative ideas I’ll wonder why on earth I didn’t think of it before, and so often it’s because ideas pop up from the most unexpected places.

And stepping into the unknown is exactly what I’m about to do. I’m returning to work in a job that isn’t the sort of meaningful work that is most important to me, and it isn’t what I want to do forever - but it does create a solution to my present situation. It is meaningful to me in some sense, and it does offer me the chance to use my creativity in different ways that will help me get to where I’m going - and that makes me smile.

How do you weave creativity and meaningful work into your life? Have you been able to find a balance, or is it still a struggle? I’d love to hear how YOU stay inspired and on track.

** Quotes come from the book The Gifts Of Imperfection by Brene Brown.

Quotation: Gratitude & Gold Dust

"Authenticity is a daily practice. Living authentically means cultivating the courage to be emotionally honest, to set boundaries, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable; exercising the compassion that comes from knowing that we are all made of light and darkness, strength and struggle; and nurturing the connection and sense of belonging that can only happen when we let go of who we are supposed to be and embrace who we are. Authenticity demands wholehearted living and loving—even when it’s hard, even when it hurts, and especially when we are wrestling with the shame and fear of ‘not being enough.’ Mindfully practicing authenticity during our most soul-searching struggles is how we invite grace, joy, and gratitude into our lives.”

- Brené Brown -

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

- Melodie Beattie -

“The music always comes in my darkest hour, and the music is always so giving. I have this picture of an endless well somewhere, I don't know where it is -- in the star systems out there. And the more that you're open to it the more that it keeps coming.”

- Tori Amos -

Quotation: Heading in the right direction

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. 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 as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson -

“In life, sometimes everything falls into place, and sometimes everything just falls to pieces. The key is to begin creating with these fallen pieces. By improvising, you’ll create something magical that might be the best thing you’ve ever accomplished.”

- Tori Amos -

"I now see that owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we will ever do. I now see that cultivating a wholehearted life is not like trying to reach a destination. It's like walking towards a star in the sky. We never really arrive, but we certainly know we're heading in the right direction."

- Brene Brown -

Imaginspiration: Blog Blessings

Affirmation by Karin Taylor

The Notebook Doodles for Enlighten

Fantasia 3 by Steph Granshaw

Brene Brown at Ordinary Courage

Why On Earth Are You Writing A Blog?

This is a question I am sure my self of a couple of years ago would be asking right now. And perhaps a few other people too. There are also some of you who have have a fair idea of why I’m writing a blog as you’ve encouraged, suggested, supported, and patiently waited for me to do this, and you may perhaps wonder why it’s even a question? Let me explain…

Firstly, I’m not a writer. That might come as a shock to anyone who has exchanged emails with me, but by nature, as a creative outlet or means of expression - writing has never been my thing. Writing has always been my sister’s love, something other people do, and something I did only if I had to. It was also something my therapist suggested I try on a number of occasions, which I responded to with less than luke-warm enthusiasm, emphasizing my previous points. Until I found myself in the unfamiliar situation of having a swirl of thoughts in my head, yet being unable to verbalize a single one of them. Before I knew it the cyclone in my head was a flurry of words on paper, and somehow they seemed to align themselves in a way that made sense, where previously I could find none. Gradually I have come to understand the value of writing as a tool of communication and expression; a way of clarifying thoughts and ideas. In a purely creative sense, I will always favour pens, pencils and paintbrushes - but I now also appreciate the power of words in the written form.

The second thing you need to know is that I’m not by nature an online person. Something that you might find that hard to believe knowing me now, but stepping back just a few years I didn’t even have a permanent email address! The internet was simply a tool that I had little time or use for. As different things in my life changed, so did the purpose I found in the online world. Today it’s plays a part in everything from my work, to my creativity and inspiration to staying in touch with friends all over the world.

The internet cops a fair bit of flak where friendship’s concerned. And not without reason. When we count friends as a number, and refer to ‘real life friends’ and ‘online friends’, as though there isn’t actually a person behind a screen typing away, we instantly devalue these connections and invest less in these friendships we don’t call ‘real’. There can be a frightening disconnect from words and actions online, but just because someone isn’t standing in front of you, it doesn’t mean that what you say and do and the way you treat people doesn’t matter. The truth is that the internet at it’s most basic level is just a communication medium –  NOT a measuring stick indicator of friendships. The value is in the content of communication – NOT the medium over which it’s communicated. And when there is value in the content, the internet also becomes the facilitator of connections that distance would otherwise make almost impossible.

The things through which we form connections online are not so different from the things that connect us offline: The music we love; the art we create; the words that inspire us and so much more. The difference is that the internet is boundless; yet at the same time, it can bridge the distance that may separate like-minded souls who in the physical world may never meet. In sharing the things that move us most, we share parts of our story – who we are – and this truly is the heart of connection.

Brene Brown at Ordinary Courage

And that is largely what this blog is about. Through the things I love, the experiences I’ve had, and the beliefs I’ve come to hold, I’ve stumbled across universal connections with people I’ve never met, yet almost feel I might have known my entire life. All of these things that make up my unique story, are also what connects me to countless other people on this planet; this is a space to share and grow that connection and inspire life, because as the amazing Brene Brown says, “Connection is why we’re here; it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”