Summer Muse - ings

Mother Nature perfectly times Summer after Spring.  It's a time to slow down a little, take a breather after the burst of growth and life in Spring. 
Yet the movement is constant, always moving forward, onward.

There is a great message in this for us humans.  A reminder to keep moving through life, physically, mentally, spiritually.  On a path, off the path, or back to the path, as long as we keep moving.  The human spirit craves growth, enlightenment.

This summer I have had the great honor and blessing to be called upon by inspiration.  I'm back to producing art and jewelry for a local boutique.  I am also studying a new healing modality.  I've expanded my possibilities for even more life to flow to me.

I believe these gifts have come to me because I did the work.  I meditated, got still, opened my mind and stayed grateful - even when I was at my lowest.

So if a muse is a source of inspiration, and musing is to ponder, then I have created the perfect vacuum for growth.

I was recently visited by a dear friend I consider to be a muse.  Every time we visit she reminds me what a free spirit I am - or could be.  That possibilities are endless.

If you are on a transformational path I highly recommend the movie Eat, Pray, Love.  She reminds us to believe in love again.  That God dwells within you, as you.  That balance is not too much God, not too much selfish.  And, that balance is not letting anyone love you less than you love yourself.

What I Learned From Overdoing It

(imported from my former photo blog)
OR:  How to kill your inspiration.

For those of you who do (or did) work a day job that was different from your passion, you can probably relate to this.
Last year in December I took on some extra work, two more days a week.  Seemed like a great idea at the time and more money is always appealing.

I don't always know what's best for me, but I try to stay intuitive and balanced.

I'm going to share something personal with you.  About a year ago I discovered I was a Highly Sensitive Person, this shed a whole new light on my life;  my past, my present, and gave me tools to move into the future.  With this, comes a lot of responsibility to take extra care of myself.  Minimize stress, structure my responsibilities, get plenty of rest and down time, and pay attention to how I feel.  I call the latter my emotional barometer.  I'm still learning how to use it.

Even though I only added two days to my four day work week, I became completely unbalanced.  Apparently I need more down time than I realized. 
Everything was off; my energy, my digestion, my sleep.  I thought I had lost my mind!  More importantly, I had lost my inspiration.

Before all this I had just finished a six week course in marketing and was ready to apply it to several of my endeavors.  I reorganized my office and creative space, got my files in order, calendar and project list ready.

Besides photography as art, I also make things from recycled fabrics, an idea I formulated last summer out of  another project I called my Mission Quest (I'll write about that in another post).  That project inspired the idea to take white cotton thrifted t-shirts and make circular scarves from the bottom half - hand dyed in various colors.
I was able to get about 30 made, some sold right away, some were gifts and the remaining are consigned in a local boutique.  (See my page New Pioneer Style here .)

So obviously I was on a roll, fired up and inspired.

When I took on the extra work I basically just pulled the plug on my inspiration.  I had two personal traumas and some bad weather during this time to add to it.  While I had no control over those, I realized that I did have control over my day job.

I read a great book during this time:  Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person by Barrie Jaeger PhD.  Not only did I learn how to balance work, but how to recognize what kind of work I was doing - or rather, what it was doing to me.

I do not have the luxury of being a full time photographer, or artist, and I am my sole supporter.  I'm OK with that, I like a little challenge and am proud to be independent.  But I have learned a very valuable lesson about savoring inspiration.  It's a gift and should be treasured.  If you're creative you know what I mean.  It can mean the difference between a good day and a bad day.  Inspiration makes you feel good, and wonderful things come out of it!

So obviously once I came to my senses and realized I had upset the delicate balance of my life, I let the extra job go.  But that took four months.

Soon I will be back to my former schedule which was working for me for the most part (one step at a time!).  After some healing I hope my inspiration returns - if it's not too offended at how I treated it.  For what?  Money?  Money isn't always the answer.  Sometimes it's the quality of life that is the most fulfilling.

Have you had a similar experience?