Thank You

July 5, 2010

WOW. I love my life. Thank you God for revealing to me how great I do have it, thank you for opening my eyes.

All those minutes turned to hours, turned to days, turned to weeks, turned to months – wasted on wishing I was someone else or LIKE someone else. Shame on me.

I am so glad to be me and not someone else. Discovering that I don’t want what others have, after all, is a blessing.

Whew, thank you God.

A lot has been revealed to me lately. God has opened my eyes wide open on some things that I’ve been pondering and wanting and coveting. Not all caterpillars turn into butterflies. I’ve experienced that sometimes it can be quite the opposite; when it MIGHT look beautiful from the outside, it can be in a deplorable state on the inside.

Really, it has nothing to with “them” but instead has everything to do with believing in something bigger than myself – and believing IN myself, having that confidence to rest secure in my own skin and quit wanting what others have, or what I perceive they have. I’m like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz; I’ve had to power to “go home” all along.

Dorothy pleads: “Don’t go without me,” but the mortal Wizard can only wave goodbye as he floats away – powerless to control it: “I can’t come back. I don’t know how it works.” Dorothy cries: “Oh, now I’ll never get home,” although her friends wish her to stay. The Lion tearfully tells her: “Stay with us, then, Dorothy. We all love ya. We don’t want ya to go.” Dorothy loves them too but she is still homesick and depressed for Kansas – her home:

That’s very kind of you. But this could never be like Kansas. Auntie Em must have stopped wondering what happened to me by now. Oh Scarecrow, what am I gonna do?

Before he can answer, he points to the Good Witch of the North (“Look, here’s someone who can help you”) who makes one final appearance. She descends to the ground in her familiar, shimmering, rainbow-hued bubble from the sky. Glinda steps out of the ball of light and kindly tells Dorothy that she has always had the power to go home with the magical power of her ruby slippers, but she had to discover it for herself.

Dorothy: Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
Glinda: You don’t need to be helped any longer. You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.
Dorothy: I have?
Scarecrow: Then why didn’t you tell her before?
Glinda: Because she wouldn’t have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.

Dorothy insightfully explains what she has learned from her experience – during her dream of being in Oz. In a self-revelation, she realizes that everything she could ever have wanted was right in her own backyard – IF she had wanted it hard enough.

Sometimes taking a break, or retreat, does wonders for your perspective.

BOTTOM LINE: I should quit focusing on what I think I don’t have – when all along I’ve had it within me to experience the great things I do have.

Pulled quotes from Filmsite.org

Posted by: c.a. Marks in Beauty No Comments » -------------------

The Artist’s Way, An Artist’s Date

June 21, 2010

So I have re-discovered The Artist’s Way, with Morning Pages and most importantly the Artist’s Date. I used to do these things religiously, a long time ago – especially the Morning Pages. But somewhere along the way I stopped, then I completely forgot what they were. I don’t know what happened recently to make me remember this exercise but I am glad and thankful for the “muse” tapping me on the shoulder and whispering, “Hey, remember me?”

My attitude has totally changed since starting the Morning Pages again. I started back on June 1st and I must say my outlook on life has started to look up. I am much more positive. One result of rediscovering the Morning Pages is that I have given myself three goals each day:

• To compliment someone, in person
• Only positive words out of my mouth that day
• Read/write some fiction (even if it’s just a paragraph)

Now, do I hit all three of these goals each day? No. Sure, they should be easy enough to complete but I have not yet hit all three in one day. I’ve come close. The important thing, here, is that I am more aware and at least put forth an effort.

I shared these goals with a friend the other day and I liked the way she re-phrased it. She said, “Be kind, have faith, and be creative.” Very good!

The Artist’s Date is something I will have to work on – I’m not used to doing something like that and will have to get creative with coming up with some ideas. I haven’t a clue. But it should be fun trying to figure it out.

There is so much I could say about The Artist’s Way but I will leave it up to you to discover it for yourself. You are on your own journey.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron – Barnes and Noble Link
The Artist’s Way – the website

Posted by: c.a. Marks in Creativity No Comments » -------------------

What Are You Reading?

June 6, 2010

Me? I’m trying to get through Beach Music by Pat Conroy.

To be honest? I’m having somewhat of a difficult time getting into it. I know! What is wrong with me, right? I mean come on, The Great Santini, right?! And The Prince of Tides?! Come on.

I wanted to get and read South of Broad but decided to read Beach Music first. I want to finish it before I get South of Broad. But dang, it is taking me forever to “get into it.”

A whole slew of other books sit on my shelf waiting to be read too. Believe me, I want to read all of them but finding time is tough. I reckon I need to stay up later than normal, read in the bathroom, read during my lunch hour, and/or get up at 3:00AM to read?

Tell me, how do you find time to read?

Google Books
Pat Conroy

Posted by: c.a. Marks in Reading 6 Comments » -------------------