Today was the first day of the art workshop in Santa Fe. I am tired out after 7 hours of painting but feel so joyful! It was a treat to play again with color and brushes and the sweep of my arm moving across the canvas. This a picture of the class where the teacher facilitated. He found that term more accurate than teacher. He did facilitate with such grace and kindness to everyone. Truly, that is what we all need. Art carries a heavy baggage in some ways in that we have so many expectations of how it must be done and who is allowed to call themselves an artist. So many people have had terrible experiences when they were told they could not draw, could not sing, could not dance or play an instrument. All of these are areas of natural expression for us as humans. Yet, we have been fed the lie that only some people have the talent to be an artist, whether that be as a singer or a painter or a musician. If we were not part of that elite group, we were not to participate at all. How silly and sad that is.
Art is a place to express our dreams, our fears, our joys. Our bodies naturally move when we feel joy. Playing with colors allows emotions to move through us. Beating a drum can heal our hearts……these are mediums for all of us to participate in. They are all things that can bring us into communion with ourselves as well as with a group. There are plenty of professional artists in all these areas and I am grateful for the beauty that they create in the world. But we can all find joy by allowing ourselves the opportunity to play. It is so great that my friend and I have found a facilitator for our few days of play who understands how important it is for each to find their own “voice’ with paint. He loves to use glitter and sand and texture which resonates with my heart. So I am gifting myself this time to play, simply enjoying the arc of my arm throwing sand across the canvas and the creation of new shades of colors or the jiggling of my upper arm as I scrub the canvas with a rag.
I know how freeing it was for me to call myself an artist about 4 years ago. A big leap of faith but there is power in naming what we desire and showing up as that. We do not have to do everything, be everything. I used to feel bad about myself that I did not know how to deal with money or did not know anything about politics. We are taught that we should know and care about everything. But we each have a song, a note that is ours to add to this beautiful world. Mine is to vision the new earth, to hold the vibration of oneness and love. To affirm the beauty in others. To teach of love. That is more than enough!
Allow yourself to breathe in your own beauty. Allow yourself to name yourself as your deepest desire. Allow yourself to play with a drum. move your body in a way that makes you feel alive, take a box of crayons and color, sing at the top of your lungs. Let the energy of life move through you like the wind. Stir you up like a lightening storm and lay you down like the most magnificent sunset. I loved this portal in the clouds today….an opening for my heart to fly through. Honor the beauty of your being. I am in wonder at your beauty!
