It’s time to look back over the year as you give yourself much needed self-care this month.
Ask yourself what worked; what not so much. Which challenges inspired change for the good (gifts in the challenge)? What did you celebrate small and large? The most important question is – where could you focus more attention and nurturing in 2018?
I’m claiming the New Year as creative renewal, liberation, and rebirth. Out of that comes magic in life.
You with me?
Looking back on 2017, I had no idea what this year would bring except I intuitively knew something was up and in a big way. Early February I felt the rumbling of change and I was scared of the unknown. I’d gone through one of these phases before and it was overwhelming.
One thing for sure – I know I did not want the changes all at once. I planted that seed immediately to the Universe and then remained open to what was next. I couldn’t define it but I felt out of sorts, off center, and honestly numb to my own vitality.
Was it the harried pace of life? Was it my health? Where was I not listening? That quiet whisper of discontent became louder as the months rolled by.
By May, I hit the proverbial wall and sunk down into a depression asking myself “what needs my attention?” I was done with how I was operating, living, and how I experienced the world. My heart ached. I felt like my spirit had abandoned me or I did abandon it?
I listened carefully to the pain with compassion and love.
I chose to invest in my well-being and hired my mentor to help me recover my dreams, my light, and my direction. June 1, 2017 became the turning point that led me living and working in Florence, Italy for the full month of August. I flew out of LAX on July 30th for an adventure of a lifetime. All by myself!
During the month, I reignited my heart and found my spirit buried deep below the angst, stress, and the manufactured life I created.
I had the most incredible EAT PLAY LOVE journey in Italy re-opening my love for life, humanity and artistic expression. I learned how to live like an Italian – quality first – quantity second. The people, art, food, wine, culture, language, architecture, pace of life, and beautiful landscape turned my black and white into technicolor.
I then reluctantly returned in late August to the life I left behind only to find the evolution was hardly over- it had just begun. I met my old life with resistance as I attempted to integrate the renewed Marla with the old life. The discovery continued through November when I found the cause of my pain, discontent and depression.
I had abandoned my artist for years. I neglected the creative spirit in me. I stopped listening to the writer and visual artist in me who was always curious about life. I found my renewal; my artist was seeking a voice.
I claimed I would live a creative life giving my creativity love, attention, and nurturing much like a mother to a child needing empathy and presence.
Although this is a shortened version of what happened, the core message is CREATIVE RENEWAL and REBIRTH is the pathway to living a vital life regardless which beautiful talent you possess.
Living a creative life is living an amplified life.
As author Elizabeth Gilbert says so eloquently from my favorite book, BIG MAGIC, “I am going to spend as much time as I can creating delightful things out of my existence, because that what brings me awake and that what brings me alive.”
AMEN.
I love that so much that I’ve been intuitively called to provide a safe and inspirational space for all creatives (even those who don’t think they are) to talk about their creative blocks, fears, challenges, secrets, celebrations and what it takes to live a creative life for real; not manufactured.
Starting mid-January I’m launching a GLOBAL Free Virtual Book Club Series beginning with the none other than the remarkable BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert. For now if this sings to you make a comment below and email my team your email to support@marladiann.com.
Updates will be soon on the way. Tell your friends to join us too! Let’s live the real creative life without the demands of society breathing down our necks. Let’s create art for art sakes and see what magic you begin to create in all parts of your life as a result.
3 Tips to Begin Your Creative Re-Birth:
- Listen to your discontent. It can feel like numbness in your heart. It disguises itself as fear, shame, or uncertainty. It feels like an inner nudge asking you to pay attention. Do not ignore this any longer.
- Be compassionate, loving, kind, nurturing and above all patient with your artist self. Ask it questions. Listen for answers. She (or he) is asking to be cared for just like a child needing attention and your presence. This is your entry to your magic. Be consistent; no matter what. There is pure transformation on the other side that will delight you.
- For two weeks consistently, take your pen to a journal and begin to write and write and write about the discontent. No judging. Just pour it out on the page after page after page. Let it flow. Don’t make light of this. Make time. Do it early morning before the world interacts with you.
As you seriously take these three steps, life will become more alive, playful, vital and certainly more peaceful. Remember to sign up for the free Virtual Book Club Series to support your renewal for 2018.
I’m here for you.
