Revelation - Creating in Faith

Revelation - Book mark prayer holder

Over the past few weeks I had been trying to push myself for change.  There are many things I want to accomplish and many changes that have to be made so that these things can come into fruition.  I shared in my post yesterday about staring fear in the face and acknowledging your feelings, and that is exactly what I have been trying to do!.  I am not and would never say that it is an easy feat, it isn't, it is not an overnight thing either.  There are somethings that I find easier to do than others.  When it comes to the practical sides of planning and sorting out others I find this much easier to deal with than if I were to do the same thing for myself.  

We can constantly be fighting to change how we think about ourselves and then out of the blue some random person says something and that opens a door up to our understanding.  Every now and again I do compare myself to those in my field asking myself "what do I think I am doing?".  I want to add value to my work and for it to be of quality, speaking to the hearts of others, yet as I type these words I am reminded that I first need to value myself and not sell myself short, embracing all that I am, all that I was and all that I am yet to be.  

This 'perfect', 'got it all together' person doesn't and will never exist.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and at some point we will all have a moment when we release an offering in the world that might be less than perfect - so what - we pick ourselves up, we have taken that important step, we learn from it and then we move on.  This is so much better than to not have tried at all and be asking yourself "what if".

As we delve into getting to know and understand ourselves better, we need to give ourselves a fighting chance and we will reveal the hidden treasures that are waiting to come out.  We all have treasure within, it's whether or not you feel your worth the time. My encouragement today is to spend the time searching, seeking, asking those difficult questions,  and most of all listening.as you learn to turn down the volume of your mouth and open up both of your ears to hear,  your brain will process the information and your understanding will increase.  Sometimes it will feel uncomfortable, but the benefits that will reveal themselves to you will far outweigh anything that you think you are going through .......

God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind.  Does He speak and then not act?  Does He promise and not fulfil? Numbers 23:19

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, Ephesians 6:14 

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me  Revelations 3:20

Feeling upbeat and Inspired?

What do you do when you’re feeling upbeat and inspired and your checking out other artists work, leaving encouraging comments on their site and then you start feeling a tinge of doubt about your own work creep in.  It feels like nothing you do is right, then the only voice you can hear is the one telling you ‘you’re not good enough’?  How have you dealt with the self doubt and the under currents of anxiety that dismisses your accomplishments or efforts and leaves you insecure and wanting to climb into bed with the covers over your head.  How have your dealt with the opinions of others that appear to come from way ‘off base’ and while feeling hurt you try and explain but your not given a chance to give your point of view and you ask yourself ‘just what have I been doing all these years?

I think that we all at sometime feel these things or hear the quiet murmurings of ‘really’ or ‘you call that art’ or the niggling ‘whatever it is you do your never going to be as good as that person down the road.....’  In fact I know we do, the difference is how we deal with it and whether we allow ourselves to be paralysed. 

I am not one of these people that go around waiting for the next tragedy to strike and I normally deal with challenges looking at all the positive things, making the necessary adjustments and seeing how it can turn it round for good.  I looked at the problem and try and see how we can make some lemonade out of the selection of lemons and limes in my midst. That being said there are sometimes where you can’t stop yourself from being paralysed in the moment and my 'take' on it is that you do have to embrace the fear/doubt/discouragement and the rest, really sit down with them and allow them to voice their opinions.  It’s not a ‘let’s throw a pity party’ that last for days but let’s sit down over coffee’ or in my case ‘spice tea’ and let’s hear what you have got to say about my life and the things I want to achieve. 

As I get older, I am learning to use a variety of tools to enable me to stop myself from sinking into the 'doubt spiral' but I accept that it will come.  It can be that thing that either carries us down with it or allows us to step up and over and make the next achievement. My spiral of down though didn’t come after a series of unfortunate events - through there have been several that were standing in line waiting for their moment in the spotlight.  It actually came as I was in the throes of planning and organising my work. I am taking part in The Challenge and one of the questions last week was to list 20 people you admire in your particular field, so I did and I will share them with you in another post. As I spent time with the list and revisiting their sites I began to feel a passing cloud, very subtle, but distinctly filled with a series of questions that started with... ‘you’ll never...’  I was admiring all these artists work and there I was feeling bad about myself and my abilities. Calling a general emergency meeting, I called on 'Current' and 'Past' achievements.  I allowed 'Doubt' to state its’ case and it seemed that as I was being encouraged connecting with different artists and making plans of my own it had been met with some resistance.  'The Critic' in its' efforts to protect me from the world was unsure how these so called positive changes would be perceived by others.  'Vulnerability' wanted things to stay the same and 'Insecurity' was by no means shy at stating what a bad idea change could be. I know change can bring up a whole range of issues that need to be addressed and it can either be supported through the process or hijacked.  

I called on Achievement to do a ‘past and present and potential futures’ presentation.  This was met with some trepidation and murmuring as they tried to allow Comparison the floor space. Needing to have the final word I had been taking notes of the proceedings and began to remind myself of all the things I had achieved, both big and small.  Like Marmite - not everyone will want to hear your story or experience that you have to offer but you know that there is at least one person somewhere around the world who wants to hear what you have to say, or would love to play your videos, take your courses and buy your art work.  I had to remind myself that I had come a long way in the last 5 years, and that Comparison does not play on a level field.  

When someone presents their work, you don’t usually see the trials they have been through to get to that point.  The technique videos they made before you saw the ones you were inspired by.  Other artists continue to share their vulnerability but they too have to fight and work hard to get to where they are despite how they feel. 

So despite how I feel in the moment I can still encourage, I can still look for the gems hidden by the dirt and the dust, I can still feel the rays of sun on my skin or feel the breeze and hear the chattering of the birds or the rain on the window and be inspired.  Despite how I feel there are still things I can do to get where I want to go -  from learn a new skill – take a course.  Despite how I feel I am still going to try my hand at those technique videos, write and illustrate those stories, complete those large paintings I started over a year ago.  Despite how I feel, I am still going to write those posts and hit publish cause I know I am not alone in the way I sometimes feel.....  

I will remind myself of my previous achievement both large and small and keep moving and share my story with the world.  I remind myself and would like to remind you if you get this far in the post that what you have within you is a gift that the world deserves to be part of.  Each thing that you create, be it art, a poem, a song, whatever it is, was not meant for you to hide.  You were meant to shine your light!  

Everything you create out of love is meant for a home and someone somewhere in the world is praying for the miracles that are coming out of the creative gifts that you are supposed to share in whatever form that it takes. Alongside the reminder of what I have done or what I can do, the gratitude’s and celebration journal has kept me grounded and whilst the spirals of doubt will come, finding the tools and using them appropriately is the key.  Yes you know you have gifts, talents and abilities, but what are you going to do when out of the blue doubt and his friends show up? Here are some examples of things to try: 

• Acknowledge how you feel 
• Try and identify where it is coming from, 
• Identify what your needs are – do you need to learn a skill or get support in stepping out.  
• Find someone you trust to share your feelings. 
• Acknowledge where you are  
• Look back on how far you have come, identify the triumphs amidst the trials, look at the changes that have been made, look at the challenges you have faced and that you have come out the other end with a story to share. 
• Acknowledge what you really want;
• Be truthful about where do you what to go, what support systems need to be put in place, and most importantly what steps can you make today? 

Recycled 'cereal bag' journal

Get yourself a journal or create something, that you can be honest in and write or draw about how you feel and look for the solutions.  When the fears and doubt come take a step back, hear what it is that they have to say, note it down, but once you have addressed them move on.  I would love to hear your comments of how you deal with your critic and the doubt spiral and what creative activities do you enlist to support the process.

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal Week 10 - Miracles

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal Week 10

It has been one of those days where 'stuff' happens and it is all related to the care of my mum and waiting on others who have to make decisions that affects her care.  I will share next week as this is to just focus on the celebrations and gratitude's of the week and I know the miracles are around the corner..

The page reads ....What miracles await you

Here is the page once I have noted some of the things that I celebrate and am grateful for....
 

 
Take a moment to think about what you can be thankful for today and what potential miracles await you!  - and then go out and do an one small thing for someone else!  Blessings for the weekend! 

Reflection - Thought for the Week - 52 Weeks of Colour and Inspiration

Who would have thought that a year would pass by so quickly - and it has, it does, and will continue to do so.  We have to remind ourselves that if we don't do anything time will pass without us, and so you might as well do something that can not only bless you, but others as well.

I have been blessed taking photographs and altering them digitally and have a year's worth of work to look back on, and possible do something else with.  Are there things that you started out last year and have come to the end of?  It is a lovely feeling to see how I have grown and developed, and I will now make plans to develop even further

 

 

Half way through the year I started doing the 'Thought for the week' which allowed me to really reflect on the words that I was using in the post.  It would be great to hear how some of the words have impacted on your life and what changes you will be bringing to your own routine.

 

If you missed any of the links before, come and join me and look back over the year of images, quotes and scriptures!  Click on a links below...

 Knowing your treasures, Happiness, Joy, Awe, Kindness, Gentleness, Openess, Attention, Light, Choice, Friendships, Change, Growth, Shine, Passion, Tranquility, Peace, Progress, Trust, Comfort, Beauty, Creativity, Delight, Adventure, Courage, Health, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Authenticity, Diversity, Humility, Freedom, Listening, Clarity, Generousity, Leadership, Commitment, Community, Savour, Justice, Integrity, Connection, Willingness, Artfulness, Spirit, Nurturing, Recognition, Knowledge, Forgive, Shine,  Prayerfulness, Release

Persistence - Creating in Faith

 

Prayer bookmark covers - Persistence

‘Never give up’, 'keep on going’ 'endure' and ‘stay on course’ are all phrases and words we have come across and can think of ways we may have applied it in our own lives.  There is that ‘something’ we do, despite the odds or what others are going to say (positive or negative) in order for us to reach the finish line and achieve our goals.  If we think about the times when we have given up on a goal or dream we see that it can be a culmination of the naysayers even words and thoughts from our own mouths that predict failure.  For some, though there is something they can draw on that is deep within that keeps saying ‘pick yourself up, start again, keep on going.

Being persistent can often see some go through unimaginable hardships for their loved ones, so that they may have a better life. There are people around the world who despite their circumstances and situation, through adversity and hardship answered the call deep within to strive for making the changes and the actions necessary.  They didn’t give up but kept going and their actions not only impacted their own lives, but the lives of those they came into contact with and even the wider community.

When I look at my own life there are many things I want to achieve.  I can see some things in the past where I either talked myself out of doing or allowed myself to be discouraged due to negativity of others.   One thing that has been consistent with me is my desire to bless others dispite how I feel, to see them use their talents and abilities and grow.  As I delve deeper as an artist I know that it is in the creative field that I want to work and see others not only be blessed by my work, but to find where they fit, where they can bloom and shine their light.  I love encouraging others to step out and find their passion using their talents and abilities, and I hope that comes across in my art and the things I post.

We will come across challenging situations or circumstances where we will  wonder whether it is worth persisting and is our time spent better somewhere else, but it could be like oncovering the gold that lay covered the more you sift and clean it,  the clear it is to see the gold that lies beneath.  So with persistence we can truly say we gave it a chance.  It says in Matthew 7:7 ask and ye shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened.  What do you need to do to open some of those doors?

..greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.... 
1 John 4:4

Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do... John 14:13

 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.  Romans 13:4

Gratitudes and Celebration Journal - Week 9 - There is so much to be thankful for..

Gratitudes and Celebration Journal - Week 9

The page reads ....Inspire -There is so much to be thankful for...

Take a moment to stop and just sit in all that you are blessed to see and do.  Be that someone who goes on to inspire others.  Here is the page once I have noted some of the things that I celebrate and am grateful for....

Take a moment to think about what you can be thankful for today - and then go out and do an one small thing for someone else!  Blessings for the weekend!

Release - Thought for the Week - 52 Weeks of Colour and Inspiration

Thought for the week

Right this moment, everything is where it should be, step out of the way, take a deep breath and get ready to live your life - right now!

This is the 52nd week of posts.  The year has gone by so fast and it has been a pleasure not only taking the photographs but also altering them digitally.  The main aim being for me to learn how to create interesting images with the tools.  There is still so much to learn and I am exited about what I will be doing next, I have always wanted to do my own poster series, so I may do a series of inspiring images to share alongside some more quotes and scriptures.  As I grow in my abilities I hope you also grow in the gifts that you have been given to share.  As always take time to think about your plan of action this week and be a blessing, as you too will be blessed!  Amanda

Quote

Tell me, what is your plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver 

Scripture 

There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love