Tag: creative

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A Love Story

She finds herself in a place that makes no sense. The people around her do things, mean things, thoughtless things all the time. Why did they act this way? Where is the Love? She knew in her heart that Love was key – the juice of the Universe. But she couldn’t find much love here. Just confusion and fear and pain.

Spirit Bear 🐻 came to her and comforted her in this crazy place. Bear stayed with her for years, protecting and comforting her whenever things in this crazy place got too painful and confusing. But gradually, over time she got sucked into the confusion around her. She made the mistake of thinking that the adults around her knew what they were doing and she started trying to do what they did, act how they acted. Bear was still there close, but she simply lost touch somehow. 🐻 Bear slowly faded from view.

After years in this place, she acted like she belonged. She was still so confused but she pretended that she knew what to do. She forgot about Bear. And she forgot about the power of Love. She became caught up in vying for power and status and money.

But one day she looked around and saw how empty her life was. The power and the status and the money didn’t fix anything or make this place any less horrible, any less confusing. What was the point of all this?

She began searching for “the point”. First at church, then in meditation and spiritual books  and healing modalities. 🐻 Spirit Bear drew closer then, but she didn’t really notice. She was too busy searching for “the point.”

One day in the midst of meditation, a beautiful, ethereal light being 🌟 came to her and showered her with love, so much love. She was left shaken and wide awake. Oh yes! Love was the point! She remembered now. She connected with this beautiful star being ⭐ many times and felt better. She began to write ✏, filling journals with thoughts and feelings about  her life  and all her questions about this crazy world. But sadly over time, she got distracted and pulled back into the chaos and craziness of the world again. She stopped writing. She stopped connecting with her star being. She forgot.

This remembering and forgetting happened again and again to her through years of living in this crazy place.

Then the dreams came. She dreamt of another life as a Native American woman who lost her love and wandered grieving until she was healed by Mama Earth 🌎.  In this other life, Mama Earth taught her to open up and love again.

She dreamt of this other life again and again. She LIVED an entire other life in her dreams!

The dreams shook her to her core. And they loosened the grip the crazy world had over her. She wanted to know more about this dream woman and her life. She learned how to explore dreamspace so she could explore this other life, this other reality. And her Spirit Bear soon showed up there in dreamspace.

She wept when she saw 🐻 Bear again. She held on and melted into Bear’s fierce softness. She began consciously calling Bear to her every day. And she began taking her troubles and questions into dreamspace. There she found answers – specific answers that fit for her. She began to slowly unravel her confusion and get glimpses of “the point”, her point.

She began to 🖌 paint and dance 💃 just for the joy of it. And the more she did those things, the more she felt like herself – her real self. She began to sing 🎶, first humming then joyfully making up little melodies that she sang to herself. She remembered how much she had loved painting and dancing and singing when she first came to this place. She remembered. And she began to love again.

And one day while she was happily playing with paint, her star being ⭐ returned showering her with love – Big Love that cleared away even more confusion. And she could remember who she was and what mattered when she first came to this crazy place. She remembered her point. ❤

Image: Goldi Goddess by Nancy L

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Frog Song

Mosswood Pond
Pond at Mosswood Hollow by Nancy L

I attended a writer’s workshop near Seattle last week. I camped in a little tent in the middle of a beautiful forest. I was camping alone, but I didn’t feel lonely. The frogs of the nearby pond serenaded me nightly. I would lie each night in my tent beneath two huge old spruce trees and revel in their chorus. Here’s what I learned about frogs…

Frog timing is impeccable. Each night, one or two tiny frogs begin the frog chant and then another 2 or 3 will join in echoing the melody of the first perfectly. Then a third group joins, echoing the same melody. They join their voices and build a master symphony piece by piece, until their ultimate harmony rises and falls, undulating and echoing off the pond. Each masterpiece only lasts for one moment, maybe two. And then silence. Each serenade abruptly stops as if a maestro has cut the air with his baton to signal cease! Yet there is no maestro conductor on this pond. Only a few tiny green frogs magically harmonizing together.

At times, the nightly frog serenade would get so loud that I would literally have trouble thinking. But I was actually ok with that. Witnessing their creation up close was my compensation. It was fascinating to me that each frog sang out his piece of the symphony so loud and proud. I sensed zero hesitation and not an ounce of shame. One night as I listened to the symphony, I wondered to myself what I might learn from these little frogs. There had to be a reason my tent was positioned on the front row at this frog concert. It was too serendipitous to be an accident.

On my third night in the front row at frog symphony hall, I finally received the lesson frog was offering. I realized that I had been lying in my tent each night, debating with myself about how much of my story to write. I had been debating how much of me it was safe to share with the world. Meanwhile just outside, a tiny little frog sat on the muddy bank of a tiny little pond and bellowed out his song. He bellowed out his offering to the Gods with joy and gusto, night after night with little hesitation,  Frog refused to be silent. He just belted out his creations for all the world to hear.

Frog didn’t waste time worrying about who was listening. He didn’t worry about what his audience would think of his song. He just sang his song night after night. He sang it with gusto. Maybe, just maybe I was lying there in a tent next to frog’s pond to receive a lesson in the art of expressing myself with joyful abandon?

Joyful abandon… I love the sound of that. Juicy green joyful abandon! I could definitely use more of that in my life. 🙂

—

A·ban·don   əˈbandən/
noun – complete lack of inhibition or restraint

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Ride the Flow

Ride the Flow
Ride the Flow

“There is nothing of significance that you can do by yourself.
Sustained ehthusiasm brings into existance a wave of creative energy,
and all you have to do the is ‘ride the wave’.”
~Elkhart Tolle

Every part of our Universe shifts and flows and creates with the energy of Tao, the energy of Source. The Tao is the energetic mother of all that is. This sacred flow thrums and buzzes with pure creative potential. And whether you realize it or not, this Source energy flows within you and connects you to all that is in every moment.  

Creative Flow

Every life begins in an act of creative flow.  The sperm of the male penetrates the egg of the female… or is it that the egg allows the sperm to enter?  Either way, the result is a merging of two separate energies into a completely new human being. In a single magical instant, the egg of the mother and the sperm of the father flow together and create a juicy new being. 

“Creating is the essence of life.”
~Julius Caesar

And the joyful dance of elemental flow continues as we grow in size and complexity; in just 9 short months we literally transform from a tiny single-cell into a juicy baby human with a multi-celled miracle body.  Flow is the creative “magic” that drives our transformation from one cell into billions of cells working in synchrony as one body.

We are like waves dancing with the shore; at birth we rise up out of the Universal ocean of energy. Then we dance and flow our way through our days here on Earth, until it is time to fall back into the Universal depths. We rise and dance. We subside back into the ocean. 

Life is meant to be a creative flowing dance.

Wired to Create

Every living being is wired to flow and sing with creation. Creative energies flow and drive this Universe.  And creativity spontaneously flows whenever you connect with the Song of Soul within yourself.  When you learn to align with this flow, you can create with grace and ease. 

How much potent creative energy will course through you if you dare to reconnect to the flow you were born with? When we open ourselves up to more flow, more and more Soul expresses joyfully and naturally in our life.

“Creativity is the mother of all energies,
nurturer of your most alive self.
It charges up every part of you.
When you’re plugged in, a spontaneous combustion occurs
that ‘artists’ don’t have a monopoly on.”
~Judith Orloff

Creative Soul

Connecting to the flow of Soul is wildly creative and joyful. It is also deeply healing.The word healing originated from the ancient Anglo-Saxon word “haelen” which means to be or become whole. Balance, resonate and heal are all words for the same concept.

In order to truly heal, we must reconnect to the deep yearnings of our Soul. True lasting healing is about transformation; digging in, and bringing flow of Soul to the surface. Healing happens naturally whenever we tap into the creative juice that flows through our core. 

“Every creative act is also an act of healing.”
~Nancy Lankston

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The Smell of Spring

Spring Crocus
First Bloom by Nancy L

Last night it rained. This morning when I walked the dog, there was a scent in the air that took me a moment or two to place… Then suddenly I remembered; it is the smell of soil waking up, coming alive after its long sleep.  It is the smell of spring.

Go outside and sniff the air. Do you smell it? Listen. Perhaps you can hear the gentle whispers? Mama earth is beginning to stir. All winter, she has quietly held the seeds of spring in her soil body; she has coddled them and kept them safe, waiting for the time to sprout. And now spring is almost here and the seeds are stirring, preparing to crack open and grow new life.

The chickadees know; they whistle to each other from every treetop in my neighborhood. My dog knows; she sniffs at the soil with new interest. And the sheep know; they birth their lambs in February, knowing spring is almost here. My Celtic ancestors celebrated Imbolc at the time of lamb birthing. It was their way of honoring the end of winter and the promise of life returning to the land. Modern man has turned Imbolc into Groundhog Day, but I personally prefer the celebratory air of ancient Imbolc.

It has been snowing and snowing here, even more than usual. And I had begun to worry that winter might decide to go on and on and on. But then, on a cold, wet day in February, I hear earth’s whispers and I get a whiff of her soil coming alive. It feels like I just received a message from a long lost lover. And I instantly know that the spring I crave is on its way back to me.

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Seed Time

Trail to Mt Sanitas

On Winter Solstice, we officially entered into Seed Time in the northern hemisphere. The sun moved into the sign of earthy Capricorn, the master of building and manifesting.

Winter is the time in Mama Earth’s cycle when she becomes still and appears to be lifeless. But beneath the surface, our earthy mother is very much alive; she is quietly gestating  seeds for the new year, loving and holding them safe in the dark. This time of holding in the dark ensures that when spring arrives, the new seeds will be ready to sprout and grow.

What is yearning to come into your life now?

How does the Universe want each of us to sprout and grow in 2015?

Let’s get still and listen in the darkness…

☾ ☽

“Creativity – like human life itself – begins in darkness.”

~Julia Cameron

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Winter Solstice Dreaming

Winterscape

Many adults have lost touch with the power of dreams. We get in such a hurry to reach that next goal… and then the next, that dreams can seem like a colossal waste of time. Yet, if we can slow down enough to connect with and listen to our dreams, they will help us find our way home. 

Dreams provide a window into each Soul’s deepest yearnings. Connecting to your dreams is an amazing way to learn more about who you are and what you really want.

On Sunday December 22nd

Come play in a space of tree dreams and moonbeams.

Learn how to connect with your deepest dreams and self

And celebrate the seasonal return of the Light!

☼ ☼ ☼

Winter Solstice Dreaming
Location: Boulder Community Acupuncture
Cost: $22
Time: 4-6:30 PM

You can register for Winter Solstice Dreaming by contacting me by email: nancy@nancylankston.com or phone: 720-378-1729.  Want to know more about conscious dreaming? Click on Dream Flow

Coming in 2014…  Celebrate the World Day of Active Dreaming on May 10th, 2014 by attending one of the many dream events that will be held all over the world. Visit  ActiveDreaming  to find out more about dreamy events near you.

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Light Floats

Flatirons at Dawn

“There is a moment in every dawn when light floats,
there is the possibility of magic.
Creation holds its breath…”

~Douglas Adams,
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Image of Flatirons by Nancy L