Since my last post:

1. My mother, Ruth Claire Berry passed away (Feb 28, 1933 - April 2, 2017)

2. I lost my job.

3. I got a new job.

4. My daughter moved out and we are now officially empty nesters

5. I became a Grandmother - My son and his wife gave birth to a beautiful, healthy little girl.

To me, change is an occurance in my life that has forced me to stop, reflect and listen to my inner voice.

It's also a catelist to renewed creativity. It can be amazing, life altering, difficult, challenging, surprising, scarey and tramatic. You may need time to recover from it! One thing is for certain... what ever has happened, whether by your own decision or some force outside of your control, it will pass! As my Mother use to say " Time stops for no one... it marches on".

The best kind of change can be something you choose. For example, I've decided I'm going to lose weight and from this decision, I hope to reap the many benefits - like better health, more energy, and look better.

Sometimes when we are forced to change by a decision someone else makes - even if you know it's the absolute best for you - it hurts your heart and makes you feel sad. I left my job in May and although it has worked out fabulously it was an incredibly stressful time. My new and amazing day job is wonderful! I love the place and the people and know I'm exactly where I need to be. I trust in the universe that this is my path. I know that once things calm down... I'll have the time and space to begin creating again. I haven't been in my studio for several weeks and I feel the NEED to create filtering through me. I believe I'm about to enter into a highly creative time in my life.

The trick is to carve some time into my day to open up the door to create. This blog is my way to measure that creative force within me and if I'm truly listening and making time.

My next post will be about "the plan". Stay Tuned!!!

I believe in magic! Do you?

I find the concept of creativity intriguing. When I am not creating I am thinking about creating... sometimes the thinking takes me away from the act and I wonder if there is something holding me back...

Elizabeth Gilbert's New York Times Bestseller, BIG MAGIC Creative Living Beyond Fear was an enlightening read for me and really did change my way of thinking and living... I read her book about two years ago and it was "magic for me". This book jumped off the shelf at Indigo and made an instant impression on me. Its what I needed to read - right at the perfect time in my life, I was open to hear the message and I'm better for it in many ways. Since then I've reinvented myself and adjusted my attitudes. I feel less fear about dying before I can finish my lifes work... create the masterpiece or getting too old and not having time to enjoy my art... I thought I needed to stop work at my paying job and jump into my life of creativity headlong!.. I was a chicken and didn't believe in myself enough to trust ... if I make it "they will buy it"

When I went home and curled up in bed to read my new book - I felt sure I would learn what Big Magic is and how to let go of this paralyzing fear and quit my job and get working on my creative life and art. As I read I discovered hidden in the pages a message just for me... " stop fretting and worrying about what may happen". The future is now and I've heard this and read this countless times before - learn to live in the moment for today. Something clicked and living in the moment meant - being creative and trusting in that every day. Right away I started to work in my studio in the evenings and on weekends. I was challenging myself to create something... and stop makeing excuses. I'm too tired I need material, I need to clean up or make dinner or whatever...

I often remind myself of something a teacher once said in a workshop I attended. Her name is Sharra Frank an amazing artist and teacher, she said, paraphrasing here: " whenever she had an idea that she decided to run with and she worked really really hard on it - she found she was paid back in spades but sometimes not in ways she expected. https://sharrafrank.com/ . In a nutshell, work hard and you'll be rewarded... for me - this usually means working long hours with no pats on the back or encouragement... and yes I have been rewarded, sometimes financially but usually in other ways and always significantly.