"You're off to great places.
                                                                   Today is your day.
                                                                   Your mountain is waiting.
                                                                   So get on your way."                                    Dr. Seuss

 Every time I read this quote it makes me feel excited like something wonderful is about to happen.  I hope that it makes you feel the same.  It is almost 2013 and there are lots of things I want to do, lots of mountains I want to conquer.  Some are exciting things, like getting to meet and coach lots of wonderful people.  Others are a lot more mundane like conquering that mountain of laundry that keeps reappearing each week.  Life is made up of all types of mountains.  Some big, some small.  But they are our mountains to conquer and to enjoy as we do.  Remember as Dr. Seuss would say, "You're off to great places.  Today is your day.  Your mountain is waiting.  So get on your way."  I would love to know what mountain is waiting for you in 2013.

This morning at the end of our yoga class there was a short guided meditation.  We were asked to think of a short sentence that we could carry with us throughout the day and to share with others if it felt right.  The sentence that came immediately into my mind was , "Remember all that you have accomplished."   I thought this was such a powerful reminder for me especially at this time of year.  It is so easy to move on to the next thing that has to be taken care of that we forget about all that we have accomplished not just during this day or year but during our lifetime.  So I would like to share with you my mantra for today, "Remember all that you have accomplished." 

I hope that you will enjoy, share, and celebrate your accomplishments not only today but every day.  I do believe that when we share our hopes, dreams, and accomplishments with the world magic happens.  One of the strategies that I was taught in my Kaizen-Muse classes was to keep a reminder journal just for this purpose.  Each day I write just one sentence on a page to remind myself of a thought, quote, or accomplishment that happened that day.  It's easy to forget but so important to remember.  Keeping a Reminder Journal is an easy way to remember all that is special!

I have linked this post with Paint Party Friday and Creative Every Day.  Both are wonderful places to visit.

                                                                     The Magic of Christmas
I love this time of year. No matter what season of the year, I love the way a house looks when I see a light in the window. The light always makes the house look warm and inviting and not just a house but a home.

 There is house not too far from us that is incredibly decorated each year.  The homeowners spend months preparing for the season and each year add more and more decorations and lights.  I always wonder what their neighbors think and feel about the elaborate display of lights and animated cutouts. This year as we drove by, I noticed that many of the houses on the street were also elaborately decorated.  So rather than resenting the stream of cars that drive by their houses during the holiday season, they are contributing to the fun that the rest of us enjoy.

I hope that your holiday is filled with many special moments this year.  It is so easy to get caught up in the shopping and decorating and craziness.  I hope that you will take a minute for yourself to remember what is special about the season for you and enjoy the thought.  Each day is made up of many many wonderful experiences.  I hope that you will take time to enjoy and remember them all. 

It is cold and windy and the rain is hitting the windows.  It's a perfect night to stay home and wrap presents or read a book. I love this time of year.  I like the colored lights, the Christmas trees, and the songs that play on the radio.  I like to drink a hot cup of tea with a cookie or two or maybe three. And I like to think about the year that is almost over and what I have accomplished. 

This year many of the blogs I read suggested ways to celebrate the year that is almost over before moving on. Many of them suggested questions that you can ask yourself such as," What is something that you would like to bring with you into 2013 that you did in 2012?"  That one is easy for me.  I want to continue to create.  I want to play more with my pastels and learn about other mediums as well.  As we get closer and closer to the new year, I am so grateful for all of the things that I have experienced and learned throughout 2012.  Each year brings with it new opportunities and new challenges. Both have given me opportunities to stretch and grow.  For that I am very grateful.   What are you most grateful for this week?

I want to wish everyone a very happy holiday season.  I hope that you take time to enjoy each and every very special moment!

Please take a minute to visit all of the wonderful artists at Paint Party Friday and Creative Every Day.  It is a wonderful way to start the weekend.

Monday I was listening to a psychologist on TV and was just about to turn the channel when I heard him say that one of the things we can do for our children is to encourage their creativity.  It teaches them, as it does for us, to build things up rather than tear them down. Think about how many ways each day creativity plays a part in our life.  So many people say, "Oh, I'm not creative."  But, we all are.  The way we comb our hair, choose our clothes, and solve our problems are all part of our creativity if we are present when we are doing them and not thinking of other things..  Creativity comes in all shapes and forms.  It is the journal we keep, the painting we paint, the songs we choose to listen to.  It is the action we take to help a friend, the thoughts we have to make the world a better place, the way we volunteer to help others. 

So I think it is important that we all acknowledge our own creativity and what a difference celebrating it and allowing others to share in that celebration can make for the world.  It is very normal to be critical of our own work and to find that one tiny flaw that keeps us from sharing our writing, our painting, our cooking with friends and family.  But if we can model for our children how much fun it is to create something, how it is ok if it is not perfect, and how much joy we give others by sharing the things we create maybe they too will be able to share this part of themselves with others and the world will become a brighter and happier place for everyone. 

Ask yourself today, "How can I share my creative self with others?"   You don't have to answer your question right away.  Be patient and see what answer appears.  But ask the question so the answer can come.

                " You don't need diamonds to help your light shine brighter and brighter.  It comes from knowing who  you are, what you love to do and sharing your dreams and yourself with the world.  Then it is easy to sparkle."
                                                                          Ginny Lennox, Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach                               

                                    "I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet simple things of life which are the
                                      real ones after all."                               Laura Ingalls Wilder

I have to agree with Laura Ingalls Wilder.  It is the sweet simple things of life which are so important.  It is not the biggest tree or the fanciest presents that make the holiday season special.  It is spending time with your family and friends; just being together and sharing a special moment or two.  It is recalling a special time from the past or sharing dreams and plans for the future.  It is taking the time to thank someone for holding the door or smiling at a stranger just because your eyes meet as you pass on the grocery aisle.  It is watching the birds or feeding the ducks or looking at the beautiful clouds in the sky. 

For each of us what makes life sweet and simple is different.  Sometimes it is a nap on a Sunday afternoon or the day off from work just because you need it.  It may be the perfect run early in the morning or sitting at your kitchen table with a cup of tea just listening to yourself take a deep breath.  Once we begin to look for and appreciate the simple things that make up our lives, the list goes on and on.  The simple things are most often the things that don't cost a lot of money but are worth their weight in gold.  I hope you will have a week filled with simple things that make you feel safe and very happy.  I would love to know what simple things you plan to enjoy this week.  Sometimes just writing them down or saying them outloud makes them more than just a wish.  When we realize what is really important to us in life, it is easier to create a life that really makes us happy.

I feel like I should be creating something snowy and Christmas like but when I started to paint with my pastels this is what appeared.  I have not had a lot of time to paint this week, or maybe I should say I have not made the time to paint, but when I put the chalk into my hands today everything fell into place.  I am so grateful that I gave pastels another chance.  The first time I ever painted with pastels was in a class filled with people who had been using them for years.  The teacher was great and encouraged me every step of the way but I was too busy comparing my work with everyone else's to really enjoy myself.  The next time I took a class and we used pastels I had stopped comparing my work to others (well not completely stopped but I was better about it) and I found that I loved the feel and the look of the pastels.  Now even if I just have ten minutes, I can start to paint and the world disappears.  It is just me, the pastels, and whatever happens to appear.  So this week I am very grateful that I have stopped comparing my work to the work of others and that I gave pastels a second chance. Now rather than compare my work to someone else's I am inspired by what they have accomplished.  This shift in perspective has helped to open up a whole new creative world and for that I am very grateful. I would love to know what you are most grateful for this week.

I know that this is a very busy time of year but I would like to invite you to visit the artists at Paint Party Friday and Creative Everyday.  It is a gift that you will be so glad that you gave to yourself today.

It is Wednesday.  Time to ask a small question and take a small step two of the strategies that I have learned from my Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach training.  After completing my certification on Monday, I asked myself the question, "What next?"  I realized that because I am so excited about what I have learned I can't wait to share the information with others.  When you find something that is exciting and that you are passionate about it is hard to keep it to yourself.  I have also come to realize that the strategy of asking yourself small questions is really an important one.  It helps you to focus on what you want to know or do so that when an opportunity arises you are comfortable making a decision.  It is easy to go along with life and the things that happen on a daily basis; but it is exciting to be holding the reins and leading the parade. So I ask you today, What next?  What would you like to do next?  And what very small step could you take this week towards making that happen?
 
For me, the next step is to continue to work on my blog and website. It has been such a great way to meet and connect with awesome people all over the world.   I also want to begin to work with individuals and small groups to help them take the small steps necessary to make their dreams come true. 

I would love to know more about what is next for you.  Remember:  When you share your dreams with the world, magic happens.  What magic would you like to see happen this week?
 

                     "Life is a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint on it you can."  
                                                                                                                       Danny Kaye              
The above painting is something I did with watercolors years ago. I have been going back over some of my paintings just to remember how it felt to be a beginner and to see just what kind of progress I have made.  It has been fun because when I started painting I used to be so critical of my work.  I always felt like an imposter and could see all of the mistakes and flaws in what I was creating.  Now, I realize there are lots of mistakes and flaws but I don't care anymore.  I realize that my paintings aren't about being artistically correct but about evoking memories for me and hopefully for someone else.
 
The painting above represents how much time and love my husband put into teaching me how to ski.  At 50 I decided I was going to learn to do something I couldn't do at 21.  Every year we would fly out to Keystone and spend an incredible week on the slopes.  It took three years before I could ski but I finally did it.  So when I look at the painting above I see a special time in my life.  I see snow, and gondolas, and snow mobile rides.  I see them slowing down the ski lifts because everyone knew if I was getting on it wouldn't be pretty.  I see lots of smiles and hugs and of course a few tears after falling down 100 times.   But most of all I see fun. 

I agree with Danny Kaye - life is a great big canvas.  Some days the canvas is filled with bright colors and lots of movement.  Other days it is covered in soft pastels and quiet moments.  There may be times when my canvas has a cloud or two covering it.  For me, the key is to realize that each day is different.  Each day brings with it opportunities to create and enjoy something new.  Each day is a blank canvas just ready, for as Danny Kaye would say, "to throw all the paint on it I can."   So I hope you will join me this week in creating one big, beautiful and memorable canvas after another. Let's throw some paint and make some memories!

As I sit here getting ready to write, I stop and take a deep breath.  It is so nice to see the two dogs calmly sleeping nearby and hear the voices of my husband and his friends downstairs playing cards.  The house is decorated for Christmas and the presents are waiting to be bought.  We have simplified our wish list, our decorations, and now we get to enjoy the season without the hustle and bustle.  I cannot think of anything better and for that I am very grateful. 

But across town, at my son's house it is a different story. It is so much fun to visit and to watch our grandsons get ready for Christmas.  A house filled with young boys is a house filled with excitment.  They can't wait to get up each morning to see where Jack, the elf, has landed that night.  Everyone remembers that Jack has the magical ability to converse with Santa and let him know what each boy or girl is doing every day leading up to Christmas. So good behavior abounds.  I am sure their parents are very grateful for that.  And I am grateful that I get to experience the best of both worlds. 

Our art class was lots of fun this week.  We were each to create an abstract using the medium of our choice.  Abstracts are out of my comfort zone and of course my painting had a landscape in it but I did try to do something different. I used watercolors as my base and then added pastel.  The above picture was how I began but with a little encouragement and lots of help the painting ended up like this.  I think I like it best before adding the peephole but it was fun to try something new. 

 

“You don't need diamonds to make your light shine brighter and brighter. It comes from knowing who you       are, what you love to do, and sharing your dreams and yourself with the world. Then it is easy to sparkle."
                                                                                              Ginny Lennox, Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach

As I do each Friday, I am linking my post to Paint Party Friday and Creative Every Day.  I hope you will stop by and visit all of the wonderful and supportive artists.  Both are great places to meet new friends.