How You See Your Truth

 One of the paintings I was working on the other day was on the coffee table when some folks came by. A lady picked them up and was looking at it when my son said "that's one of mama's Goddesses!" The lady replied with a "yeah, she always paints this face." Completely harmless statement...but for some reason every bit of wind went out of my sails and I completely deflated. She had absolutely no idea that what she said affected me. No one was aware that anything happened at all, I however, haven't painted, sketched or written since then.

 And then I realized- Duh, that's her opinion - not your truth!

 Yes, I paint the same face over and over, that's my STYLE and also, that's what I look like. I paint myself: sad eyes, wonky teeth, happy heart. It's me, over and over...and i'm okay with that. Had I not thought long and hard about this as quickly as possible, I could have been left in an artistic slump and spiral for a really long time. Some folks are always going to say things that deflate your soul. The ability to surpass that, move on, and create even more is where the challenge lies. You are the only strength that you can lean on in this creative journey. No matter how much praise you receive from the outside world, if you don't believe in yourself and your own abilities, nothing else is going to matter.

PS-That lady was my mom... 

Sticks and Stones- Giving Yourself Permission

cannot  (ˈkænɒt, kæˈnɒt)
— vb
	an auxiliary verb expressing incapacity, inability, withholding permission, etc; can not The hardest lesson I had to learn was one that was defeating me before I even started. The word CAN'T. As in- "I can't do that pose!" "I can't write" "I can't paint like that" "I can't fix that" I was defeating myself before I even started! And for what?!? Well mainly, fear. Fear of failure is what generally holds me back, but what I didn't understand was that I was failing myself before I even started by making my mind so pessimistic and final. CAN'T.   Part of the definition resounds loudly with me. Permission. And can't is 'withholding permission'. So right there you are telling you conscious and subconscious brain, "you don't have permission to do that, therefore your body and mind will not cooperate and you will not succeed." The end. So I failed, a lot. And then, I quit trying. Sound familiar? And then one day, I was watching a kid do a cartwheel, and walk on his hands- just fooling around, playing outside. And when he came near me I said "wow, you're really strong, how did you learn to do that?" And he replied like this-"I don't know, I've never done it before, but I wanted to see if I could." It was that simple. What?!? I had so many questions, but I'm sure I was already creeping his mom out.  I went home and really started to think about it. I'm a big supporter of mind over matter. But at the time, I really didn't consider the fact that my brain and spirit are ALWAYS listening, hearing and responding to what I say negative or positive, and almost immediately. I just assumed, if I told myself something positive, my energy would know it was for me, and If I made a negative statement-"I feel so fat today; I don't feel so good; I'm tired" my energy would know that I was being whiny and let it pass. But that's not how it works.  When you make a statement, it's out there, resonating and creating waves even if you don't believe so. There's such strength and energy in words- and they manifest when said with conviction, quickly.  So instead of saying "Gee, I don't know, I'm too ___________ to do that, I don't think I can, I can't do that."  Say- "That looks challenging, maybe I can do ________" "I think I can do ____________" The worse thing that could happen? You could accomplish something you've never tried before. You could start a practice of something difficult  and get better over time. You could even impress the hell outta yourself. The easiest way to accomplish anything is to be positive, give yourself permission, try hard, and keep trying, and for goodness sake- quit saying can't.

Fight Fear in the Face

Fear

Fear is an emotion induced by a perceived threat that causes animals to move quickly away from the location of the perceived threat, and sometimes hide.

                                                 Take a  chance!        Try Something new!!

                                                                  Spoil Yourself!

Fear is not REAL! It's just an idea, a WHAT IF. If you don't try you'll never grow or achieve anything! I've found, the easiest way to conquer your fears is to FIGHT IT IN THE FACE. What I mean by this is... you scared of public speaking??? Sing Karaoke! The applause will give you strength and open your eyes to your real power. Don't ever let fear keep you from trying anything...

I have a client who was facing trouble if they didn't put themselves out there and do a few things out of their comfort zone. It took me calling them and harassing them (and finally realizing that they were mortified of being seen as 'not cool'.) every day to finally get them to do their work and stay out of trouble. The fear was literally paralyzing them! And that fear was another's perception...how silly! Others opinions of you make no difference on your real and true life. To think otherwise is unrealistic. 

Whats really going to happen if you face your fear? Will you be turned away? Will you get emotionally hurt? Embarrassed? Those are IDEAS, not realities. You can grow and get over anything. I would rather be told no, than to resent the fact that I never attempted to TRY.

Try these badass fear fighting cures-

Speak your truth

Follow your heart

Skinny Dip

Go on a solo date

Cut your hair

Sing out loud

Dance like no ones watching

Admit your mistakes

Risk takers always seem to be having fun...guess why? They are! YOU control your destiny, The Universe gives you what you need, but also, what you ASK for. Start by reaching just beyond your comfort zone. Then inch your way into full on bliss!