Tuesday, June 22, 2010



"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without." Buddha


Thursday, June 17, 2010

"m" is for mantra











Being an artist can sometimes leave me swimming in self-consciousness due to the immense amount and level of sharing I do with the world around me. Of course, I can be no other way, because what makes me an artist is my intense and unwavering desire, need and drive to express and to create. I could write for ages about what that means to me....but, I'll save that for another day.

What I'm thinking about today is the spectrum I bounce up and down pretty regularly. On the one hand I cannot live without expression, because it is the ultimate release for me. I find myself lost in "being," uninterrupted by thought, worry or outside opinions. It's blissful and magnificent....I wouldn't give it up for anything. And the final leg of the process (and joy) is being able to share my expression or end products with the world...or perhaps even just one person. This is what I live for, what I get out of bed in the morning for (fyi: expression and creation includes love in my world, just another form of art as far as I'm concerned).

But, sometimes it hits me: I'm out here, exposed, naked, soul on display, imperfection and beauty dancing together for all to see. And that can be terrifying.

This existence of mine isn't always easy to live. It has dramatic ups and downs, and my creative ability and talent ebbs and flows along with those ups and downs. Knowing this, I have a toolbox full of survival techniques. One tool that I pull out every day is the power of mantra (and affirmations, which I find interchangeable). I have a list of mantras I have created for myself and repeat constantly, I have a list of mantras created for me by others, and I admit that I also love the Affirmation app on my iphone (it's amazing and free, check it out). But today, I remembered that I have a pile of Yogi tea tags that I collected and forgot about years ago to use for a mantra art project....hence, the new prints shown above.

The words you repeat to yourself daily are a more powerful tool than most human beings realize. As Buddha said "we are what we think." So why not make those thoughts a vehicle for positive change and the life you've always dreamed of?

To that end, I am working on a few projects for my Etsy shop. I will be adding a section devoted to positive words...a visual reminder. One such example is my collection of mantra prints shown above. These will be sold in sets, and also individually. They will also be printed on canvas. Look for them soon!