Unlock Yourself

I wonder where you are right now as you read this.
Is it warm (do you have sunburn peeling?), or is it chilly
(enough for another cup of tea, a throw blanket?)  Are you reading these words on a big screen or a tiny pixellated square?
What has your day been like so far?  Buoyant with blessings, heavy with sorrows? When you awoke this morning did inspiration kiss your cheek?

If you are reading this, where ever you might be in the world – I know that there is at least one thing we share – stretched between us – as I write you from the edge of the Pacific Ocean.  We share a red thread.

According to legend - from before birth
a red thread of fate
connects those destined to meet… 


Is our destiny to meet just for these words?  If so, what could I write to you, right here, and right now – that would be a blessing worthy of a one time connection?  Or is our destiny more – are you one of the circle of legend listeners, carriers of women’s wisdom, red thread gathers, one of those self-declared cosmic cowgirls who feel the wing of the crow as song and the weight of poetry as smooth black stones?  Are you one of us?

We who know ourselves to be Cosmic Cowgirls have a handful of similarities and many, many differences.  That’s what happens when you build a collective caravan out of creative wildish, far-flung women who choose to think for themselves.  There are just no religions, beliefs, customs, no orientations wide enough to unanimously orient towards!

We are founded on poetry (from the fluid pen of  Shiloh Sophia)
that goes like this:

Take up the Red Thread by Jenafer Joy 2011

We are a tribe of truth tellers
Revolution makers
Movers and shakers
of things that need moving
and shaking
Like hips
And old ideas that need
shaking off.

and like this

A Cosmic Cowgirl is
a woman with her head
in the stars,
her cowgirl boots planted
firmly on the ground,
and a dream in her heart.

We use words like revolution, stars and cowgirls boots as metaphors and invitations. We ask questions as alchemy – “For what do you stand? What wide and wild dreams live in your heart?” We are a culture of witness – a collective agreement that we are for you and with you.  Whatever you that you are- today.

So tell me. In the words of Alice’s Caterpiller – Who Are You?

My answer today is this: I am an artist, a poet, a wife & mother.  I love the bustle of chicken feathers in a mad dash and the rustle of cookies “stolen” from the cookie jar.  I am a holder of the red thread of community, a tender of story.  I am a woman crow-called, in love with the muse and well versed in the beauty of the ugly underbelly.

And who are YOU?
Do you have words that sing the song of you?
Words that your bones sigh for? 
The raven’s harsh caw repeats outside my window as I write to you – so I know this is important.
What symbol, what word, what poetry, could you
share
in this moment
to
unlock yourself?

Unlock Yourself by Jenafer Joy 2012

__________________________________

Known in the straight-faced world as Jenafer Owen, Jenafer Joy began her art career with dualing backgrounds in Alchemical Acupuncture & Chaos Transformation (otherwise known as Accounting).  She is now convinced that Artista is the “A” career she was looking for. Jena believes passionately in individual genius, in the innate wisdom of the body, and in the transformative power of mythic context. She is still pinching herself at the luck of being a part of the Cosmic Cowgirl Community and is honored to be at the helm as Director of Education for Cosmic Cowgirl University. You can find more of her paintings at www.jenaferjoy.com

Tags: articles for women and girls, cosmic cowgirls, Cosmic Cowgirls University, features, identity, poetry, red thread, Tribe, Who are you?, women's online university, wonder

Wisdom for Drowning Painter from Grassroots Rose

Wisdom for Drowning Painter
by Grassroots Rose

If you want the sure-shootin, git-r-done kind of truths only Cosmic Cowgirls will tell you, just ask Grassroots Rose.

Dear Grassroots Rose,

I started painting two years ago, thanks to Cosmic Cowgirls. I love it! It makes me happy and each new painting teaches me something. I’m still an amateur, but I’m really proud of what I paint and that I’ve stuck with it. The problem is that my husband is starting to get nervous about how many paintings I’ve got tucked away here, there, and everywhere. He thinks it’s great that I’m being creative and loves to see me happy, but he’s got a point. I don’t think I could sell them and can’t imagine getting rid of them, but what in the world am I going to do with all of them? I have this image of me in 10 years unable to walk from one room to the other because of all the paintings stacked up! What’s a Cowgirl to do?

 Drowning in Paintings

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear Drowning,

Honey, I feel your pain. Right now I’m using a painting as a desk and two more as curtains! I’m curious, though, that yours are “tucked away.” Each of those paintings is a picture of you in some way, a truer picture than a camera or a mirror could ever give. (Mirrors are slippery friends. Why, mine told me the other day that purple gingham and pink silk were a no-go. The nerve!) So lemme ask you this: If each of your paintings is really you, how does that change where you’ll put them? Are you tucking yourself away or letting the world see you?

Who you were two years ago is not who you are now. I say you sit down with each of your darlings and ask it where it belongs. Sometimes we hold onto things that have taught us lessons when the only thing we need to hold onto is the lesson itself. Ol’ Rose has had a collage of family photos in her hall since she was in pigtails, but the other night, walking by it for the millionth time, I realized I don’t want to look at those folks anymore! So I’ve asked around to see if anyone wants ‘em. If not, I’m going to use my paint and glue and glitter to change them into new people, ones I want to holler at and laugh with. Or maybe I’ll toss ‘em out with the purple gingham and admit that I’ve outgrown both.

You could figure out some fancy organizing trick, but I bet you’ll have a lot more fun if you take it painting by painting. Y’all could invite each painting to supper or breakfast or a cookout. Ask ‘em if they want to visit other folks’ walls. Pop one on the couch and see if it feels like a friend. Find out which make you feel good and which are ready to grow into something else or move on. Lemme know how it goes. I gotta go turn a bratty cousin into a bronco buster!

Thanks for writing and tell your mama I said, “Hey!”

Grassroots Rose

_____________________________________________

Grassroots Rose is here to tell you – no, really, she’s here to tell You. What you need to know, want to know, already know and ain’t admitting to no one, no how. She knows you’re way smarter than you think and if she can help you see that, she’ll be the happiest girl in the hollow.

So holler at Rose at GrassrootsRose.CosmicCowgirls@gmail.com to get her four cents. (Used to be two cents. Ain’t inflation a crank?)

Tags: advice for women, articles for women and girls, change, Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine, features, grassroots rose, identity, space, storing painting, studio space, too many paintings, Tribe, women painters, women's classes, women's member tribe, women's online courses, women's online university, women-owned online community

The Sunny Side of the Shadow

The Sunny Side of the Shadow
By Mary MacDonald 

I wonder…a lot. I wonder why this is like that. I wonder why that isn’t like this. I wonder whether I’m too old to wear that deliciously sheer top. I wonder whether I’m just….well, too old, or perhaps, too tall. I wonder why he still does a comb over. I wonder what I want to be when I grow up. I wonder. I wonder if that hadn’t happened, if he hadn’t died, if only she had loved me more.  I wonder about who I really am, deep down where no one is looking. Ahh, the ponderance of wonder – at times it can feel too heavy, at others too much like ruminating, or sometimes, simply, a curiosity, and again at others, merely a lightness of, hmmm, I wonder. It’s funny how a word can hold so many meanings, feelings, ideas. It’s why I love words – the way they look, their sound as they roll off your tongue, the way they meander and weave into story.

I wonder often of my shadow side. You know the one. The Dark Side. The side where the nasty shit resides. The side we try to keep hidden. The side that if anyone finds out about they will no longer like us, or love us, or will finally know what a fraud we really are, and then the shunning will begin. And, of course, we will deserve it because The Shadow is ugly, and angry, and mean, and shallow.

Well, I’m here to say that The Shadow Side has gotten a bad rap.

Yep, you heard me. There is a sunny side of The Shadow. It’s where truth sometimes hides out because she fears you might not like to hear her rants and raves. Your Muse has been known to hang out on the wild side with her friend The Shadow. She hopes to lure you there so you can dig deep, composting the knowledge learned on the shadow side. The tears of women so often shade the anger of the injustices suffered, imagined or real.  Anger that needs to be witnessed and released.  The Shadow Side holds the secrets and lies you’ve been told by others of who you are, or who you should be. I believe The Shadow Side is responsible for PMS. Come on, you know of what I speak. That day, or days where the anger rises to the top, not willing to be contained any longer, where we spew words, and thoughts and feelings. We blame it on a tide of hormones when really it is your truth that has been hiding out, waiting, knowing that once a month she has a chance to catch your attention. And then, if like me, when the tide has gone out we smooth the hurt feelings, kiss the dented ego better and blame it on those damn hormones. No, no my friends – we have yet again dampened down the truth. Yes, perhaps our delivery could be worked on, but the facts remain – he or she doesn’t see you, or hear you or ignores your heart calling to theirs. The Shadow only wishes for you to shine your light upon her as you walk through to the other side.

My Shadow Side has multiple identities or personalities if you will. I read this fabulous, funny, poignant novel called Set My House in Order: A Romance of Souls while in Oaxaca, Mexico as I whiled away my days at the Zocalo. The protagonist had multiple personalities and they voted on which personality should be in charge since they had to know when it was appropriate to let each of the other personalities out to play, or run amok if the protagonist happened to imbibe too much alcohol.

Image © Mary MacDonald

Through this book I recognized the characters residing in me. It changed the lens through which I viewed my life. I began to know the different roles I played depending on which personality decided to burst forth.

I have that small child who hides behind the skirt of the Masai Warrior because she is too scared to come out as her memories are ones of her joy and laughter being squashed and her safety uncertain. She takes over the house when crushing fear appears. If I’m quick I can soothe her furrowed brow, otherwise days under the covers can occur. I have the 5-year-old who knows she ROCKS. She wears a style all her own, has adventures in the wilds of Northern Ontario, hangs with other chicks, who think they’re cool too.

Image © Mary MacDonald

She’s also the one with the deep puncture wounds that sound cruel even with the wonderful and most times, useless hindsight. It’s guaranteed to be a messy time when she makes an appearance. But she’s also the one I saw so much of the world with, the one that got me on a hang glider, into the racing rapids, involved me in love affairs that made my heart beat faster and my loins be satiated. And she’s the one who knows not to speak her truth because she will lose everything. But I gotta tell ya – she knows how to show a gal a good time.

Then there’s that young woman who seeks answers to the deep and the spiritual. She is so serious and wishes only to live the life of the ascetic, cloistered with her books, and prayer, and meditation and learning. She could disappear into the woods to wonder. Okay perhaps her idea of ascetic is comfort in all its crowning glory and with no apology offered.

And then we have the adult. Again, you know the one. She is oh-so-appropriate, knows what needs to be done in all situations, with a work ethic that would choke a horse, smiling and charming and ever so gracious. She moves through the world with such apparent ease, offering you a shoulder and comfort at all times. I would long to be like her when I grew up except I know the price she pays. Though I truly do appreciate when she glides into the room at the perfect moment.

And then there is my personal favourite – The Activist. She doesn’t care how loud she is or how angry she sounds or how much she annoys you by sending you the list of banned places you can no longer shop at, foods and clothing that must be omitted from your household and marches that need to be marched. She believed Coretta Scott King when she said:

Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.

And she knows you should believe it too.

I have many more lurking in the shadows like the pushy dude who thinks he knows best. The Critic of course who moans and groans about my inadequacies and who tells me I am both too big and too small for my britches. But as I delve deep into The Shadow Sideand sit down and chat with my different identities, I realize they are really cool dudes and dudettes who believe they have my back. And I’m beginning to believe this to be true so now when I’m in a situation and the teenager pokes her head out doing this:

The Scream, Edward, Munch

If I’m present and aware, I can usually spot her antics and understand that my internal Teenager was lit up by the situation and reacting in only the way she knows. Hopefully I, the wise one, now know a better way  most of the time and can talk her down from the ledge.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wander over to The Dark Side willingly. Much like Shiloh metaphorically dragging me to the canvas where  information will come from the wielding of my paintbrush because that is one of the gifts of creativity, The Shadow Side grabs me when I’m in fear, exhausted, depleted or hurting because it knows its reputation is not based on a rollicking good time so it needs to use the tools that work. And then as I roll around in the muck, lost in the wilderness I cry out to all I believe to be Holy – which is usually everything because I want to be absolutely sure to cover all of my bases. And then the sun begins to peek out from behind the grayness. It might be the call from a friend, a book where meaning lies, the sound of my rusty laughter, a poem written in anguish that sheds light. What I know for sure is that after I visit The Shadow Side I feel lighter, I am wiser, I speak my truth a little easier, I have forgiven yet again, hope arises and yes, the Sunny Side of the Shadow is a wonder to behold.  My, oh my, here lies yet another view of wonder – the wide open astonishment at the sheer, uncompromising beauty of the world.

And you, my precious ones – what do you wonder? What personalities call your being home?

The Holstee Manifesto © 2009

_____________________________________

Mary MacDonald, aka StellaMac, is the Countess of Curiosity and the Queen of Questions whose Muse prods, cajoles and believes in her without condition. StellaMac gives new meaning to the word versatile. For the past 30 years she has boldly gone forth in the not for profit, artistic, educational and for profit worlds where she has used her extraordinary relationship building skills to achieve success for her clients in marketing, fundraising, public relations, communications, training and development, and writing. She is now working in California as a teacher, coach and consultant.

Mary is passionate about innovative education and business through the lens of a feminine paradigm that incorporates creativity, story telling and conversation. As a Consultant for the past six years in Canada and the United States, Mary is an expert at supporting individuals and organizations in achieving their goals in a way that is uniquely them. Mary is the Director of our Cosmic Cowgirls tribe where she gleefully applauds the reverent and the irreverent existing side by side. She is proud to count herself among the revolutionaries creating opportunities for women and girls to transform their lives through publishing healing journals and transformational teaching at Cosmic Cowgirls University. You can find StellaMac at www.thestellamacreport.wordpress.com

Tags: articles for women and girls, Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine, creativity, creativity as healing, features, Inner Critic, Shadow, Sunny Side of the Shadow, The Dark Side, The Shadow Side, Wisdom, women's member tribe, your muse

Living the Aspirations of Which Self?

How are the ways you currently understand yourself intimately linked with your past understanding of your self? When does the past no longer serve us? When do our aspirations of our self look like who we thought we were “supposed” to be versus who is really showing up? And if we don’t draw from the past, where do we draw from for our personal aspirations?

Inspiration © Steph Cowling

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. As I look at my changing body in the mirror, as I look at my shifting priorities and how my time is spent, I find myself comparing to a long past self.  As I consider my priorities: shifting from exploration and personal development to crafting partnership and creating healthy balance, I wonder how to integrate what was important before with what is important now.  Do I draw from a former self to craft my new identity? For example, do I recall old health practices that used to work, old dreams and goals that I wanted to reach, or past benchmarks that I wanted to meet? Or do I seek a future self to pull wisdom from, etch new rituals with, create new routines around and craft more relevant benchmarks for now.  Perhaps, it is a little bit of both.

Light © Steph Cowling

I believe as we all change, we are constantly  creating new practices and new understandings of ourselves, while also comparing to what used to be.  Does this sound true for you? Perhaps not, perhaps you have a way of drawing from only the present and future, without pulling in the past. I wonder, as what self do we aspire to live and love and how do our actions reflect that aspiration? In reading a recent article sent by my friend, “30 things to have and do before 30,” I wondered how these measures applied to my self who seeks six months of savings; healthy symphonic relationship to work, play and pleasure; mentorship from older women whom I trust and guidance on serving the folks and causes I am here to serve. I realize the self I used to be, while she still resides within me, is not wholly the self I am becoming. 

Life Bursting Forth © Steph Cowling

I’m wondering, have you had this experience? An identify of your self that you have loved and held onto that sounds so good and yummy, but just doesn’t fit anymore? And if so, then now, what does fit?  What new maps and blueprints are you creating for yourself? How do you let go of and honor what was and how do you become the new self that is bursting forth?

___________________________________________

Steph Cowling is an artist residing in New York City.  While she spends much of her time earning an income as a non-profit program coordinator, you can find her snapping away a photograph, jotting down notes in her journal, dancing towards her office or singing along to her latest favorite song.  She lives with her partner and tabby in Brooklyn.

Tags: articles for women and girls, balance, Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine, features, guidance, identify, self, women, women-owned online community, wonder

Full Moon Coming – Cycles and Spirals

Full Moon Coming – Cycles and Spirals
By Ti Klingler

When I read Mary Schilder’s poem, Full Moon Coming, I was struck by the contrasts and how she ties them together. The light of the moon draws out the darkness within her and the crows and vultures, traditionally depicted as harbingers of doom, help bridge the darkness of night and the illuminated release of the poem’s central character. While most of us use sunrise to mark a new day, Mary uses moonlight to call forth an internal “new day”.

Mary’s poem and her bio are both testaments to cycles, how energy rises and falls and seeming losses lead to creative breakthroughs. Sometimes the only difference between a downward spiral and a creative cycle is the way you frame and express it. Is there a spiral in your life that could be transformed by framing it as a cycle? What darkness can you lighten and explore through creative expression? Let Mary inspire you!

More creative expression from Mary – her painting “Sophie Rose” from the Legendary Life course!

Full Moon Coming
by Mary Schilder

Full Moon coming
pale outline rising
over the hills
I feel the excess energy
and darkness rising
from within me
another day or so
it will be completely full
another cycle completing

the crows gathering
high above in branches
dancing in the wind
they too seem restless
several turkey vultures
soaring through the sky
making patterns in the
early stages of darkness

the light of the moon
touches the prisoners
held captive in my soul
illuminating, reminding me
the generosity of forgiveness
of self and others,
the need to be free
from living from fear
free from carrying the
burdens of the past

time for restoration
for opening up to love
building bridges
creating community
environments of trust
opening to possibility
creating beauty
forgiving debt
starting over
it’s a new day
each and every day

Mary’s Bio: I started painting with Shiloh Sophia McCloud about a year ago and art has transformed my life.  I am so grateful for the circumstances that led up to my unemployment because I got a life!  I
have never known such amazing, talented, dedicated people and I love that I finally found my tribe.  I love to paint women and because of the teachings, love, and support I have received I am putting my artwork out into the world, which was unimaginable a year ago.

_________________________________________

Ti is on the lookout for Cosmic Cowgirl poetry she can feature in this column. Won’t you send her your poem?

Cosmic Cowgirls can submit poems and a brief bio directly to Ti at ti.cosmiccowgirls@gmail.com. (Submissions may be edited due to space constraints. Please limit submissions to 250 words.)

Ti Klingler

Ti is an Intrinsic Coach® and artist who lives in the East Bay. A graduate of Shiloh’s Legendary Life and Medicine Wheel mentorships, she has been writing a poem every day since April 1, 2009. Ti enjoys coaching others to find their best thinking and is passionate about women seeing their own beauty and trusting their desires.

Tags: articles for women and girls, beauty, cosmic cowgirls, Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine, cycles, features, inspiration, living a creative life, loss, moon, moon wisdom, new day, poetry, possibility, spirals, starting over, women's member tribe, women's poetry, women-owned online community, words of women

Who Are You?

by Michelle Fairchild

One of the gifts of belonging to the tribe of Cosmic Cowgirls is the way we are encouraged and even challenged to open our minds and think about things in new ways.  In courses I have taken with Cosmic Cowgirl University I have continually been reminded of our ability to write our own legendary story however we choose.   I have been going through the process of doing this work with Cosmic Cowgirls for the past four years.  When you explore your legendary self and your legendary story you contemplate “Who am I really?”

It is also helpful to open yourself up to wonder as you contemplate and explore your identity.  What exactly is wonder you may ask?  Wonder is defined as a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. It is also to desire or be curious to know something.  Some synonyms for wonder are: marvel, miracle, prodigy, astonishment, amazement.

Scrapbook page by Michelle Fairchild

Normally wonder comes quite naturally for children.  They wonder about so many things and are eager to explore this big and fascinating world of ours.  Quite often as we grow older we grow more sure about what we believe, and while there are good things about this, it can also limit us and keep our thoughts in smaller boxes.  It can lead us to grow more rigid and more determined that certain ways are right and others are wrong.  I have come to suspect that if we remain open to wonder it can help us remain more open to new ideas and thoughts.  It may even help us stay more open spiritually and free our hearts to feel more love and compassion for others in this big beautiful world.

The image above is a scrapbook page I made for my daughter Aubrey in 2007 because I was in awe of the wonder she and her twin sister Maya showed on their faces so regularly.  Aubrey and her twin sister Maya were about to turn one at the time and the letter I wrote to her, which appears in the left hand corner reads:

“Aubrey this photo makes me smile.  You are so expressive.  Here you are on a typical day in the family room.  Something has caught your attention and the look of ‘wow’ on your face is priceless.  You look at everything around you with such wonder.  It reminds me to do the same.  This is just one of the priceless gifts you give me.  I so look forward to sharing with you so many more days of wonder and amazement.  I love you with all my heart.  ~ Mommy 5/30/07″

What comes to you when you contemplate the word Wonder?

What makes you think or say WOW?

What leaves you in awe?

 

Who are you?  

Speaking of contemplating who you are, come explore more about this fascinating question with wondrous Cosmic Cowgirl Mary Schilder.

Who Are You?

by Mary Schilder

Buried Treasure © Mary Schilder

Who are you?

Who told you who you are?  Or what you are?

What do you tell yourself about who you are?

Do you identify with your identity?  Does it define you?

Is it the color of your skin?

Is it how much money you have?

Is it where you live?

What language you speak?

Are you attached to being beautiful?

Do you feel unattractive and/or invisible?

Are you a creative person?

Do you long to know yourself better?

Is it what you do to make a living?

Is it your past history?

Is it your religious or political beliefs?

How do you sum yourself up in words?

 

Do you label yourself as “yes, I’m that.”

Would your world fall apart if your identity faltered?

Do you cling to an old worn out identity?

Do you long for a new definition of self?

 

Identity … we need a drivers license

we need a way for people to identify us

Identify … to fix the identity

To become the same … no, not that!

No wonder we want to be different

I rebel against homogenization

We need to relate but not duplicate

We need to know who we are,  really are

Know thyself

Be true to thyself

Love thyself

Expose thyself to thyself

I find this a fascinating subject because we can be in such denial about things in our lives.  We can be chameleon-like in order to fit in, say things we don’t believe in or agree with … because we want to be accepted.  We squelch parts of ourselves that might make others uncomfortable, we make ourselves small so we won’t intimidate people, all because we think it makes us a nice person.

Oh here we go, do you think you are a nice person?  I was raised and taught to be a nice person even if it was at my own expense.  I thought people couldn’t handle the truth of things or just plain reality.  I smiled a lot, swallowed a lot of words I shouldn’t have, allowed things to happen that shouldn’t have … just to be nice.  I am thinking I am going to eliminate that f**king word from my Queendom and vocabulary.  How nice can you get?  Oh please!  What is wrong with being real?

Of course being a Cosmic Cowgirl is an identity too … I am a Cosmic Cowgirl minus the cowboy boots … so I am not totally tied into that identity … I give myself a loophole if I need it.  I don’t have a horse, or a lasso, or a cowboy hat … but I do identify with the heart of Cosmic Cowgirls.  I love that it lifts us up out of our ordinary life identity that others know us by … allows us to have handles … but if you’d been at the last HoDown in March … you’d know that we are a bunch of wild women who are in love with creativity, painting, and lifting up women and girls way above the ordinary.  Yahoo ladies … your reputation precedes you and there we are … back at identity.

So who are you anyway?

_______________________________________________________________________

About Mary Schilder

 

I have been painting with Shiloh for a little over a year now.  Art informs and transforms and has changed my life in so many ways.  I love Cosmic Cowgirls and all it represents and am so happy to have found my tribe at long last.

 

My website is http://www.uppitypaintedwomen.com  and it is still new and evolving as I learn more.

 

I have a blog at http://www.paintingwithmymuse.blogspot.com/ that is called Women of the World Evolution Revolution.   Come on over and say howdy.

_______________________________________________________________________

Michelle Fairchild is married to a middle school science teacher and is also mommy to identical 6-year-old twin daughters, with whom she loves to have dance parties regularly.  She is a writer and artist who has a business called Red Boa Productions. She is in the process of writing her first book.  She also works for a non-profit foster-adoption agency in Northern California.  At Heart she is a soulful and sensitive intuitive, a courageous creator, a resilient visionary, a self-esteem fluffer, a marvelous music mixer and one who offers up bridges of connections to her fellow travelers. She believes that We Are All Meant to Shine!  Michelle has been a Cosmic Cowgirl since October 2008.  You can learn more about her vision and read more of her writing on her blog The Red Boa.

Tags: awe, cosmic cowgirls, Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine, features, identity, intentional creativity, legendary, michelle fairchild, painting, self love, women's member tribe, women's online courses, wonder, words of women

“What’s the Buzz from Glitter W.A.S.P.?”

Treasures of Glitteracy from the studio of the Bejewelled Baroness(a.k.a. Glitter W.A.S.P.)

A veil of wonder has enveloped the Universe for the month of May and I do hereby decree that it is National Month of Glitteracy!!!!! From the Royal Court of Embellishment Queens, Glitter W.A.S.P. is calling out to all Divine Divas of Sparkle, Shine and Shimmer!! The time is here to overcome the commonness of our lives and to give birth to the expansive transformational spirit that dwells in the wonderment of our SOUL-SHINE!!!!!!! I invite you to awaken your divine spark, your creative fire through the gateway of cosmic sparkle! I am calling to you to follow me and my magnificent  soul sister students across the rainbow bridge, the bridge that connects spirit and matter, into the Palace of your Soul. Here to lead you into that Land of Enchantment this month, I am featuring and celebrating four Royal Embellishment Queens who have been honored with Certificates of Glitteracy!!!!!!!!

Glitter Bar at the Palace of the Soul created by Glitter W.A.S.P. & Fast Freddy

You may be wondering what is Glitteracy? It is a way of seeing the world through the lens of enchantment, a revolutionary language of transformation for igniting your divine inner sparkle with playful creative self-expression.  It is an awakening of your inner child’s sense of wonder, enchantment and joy and it is NOT OPTIONAL!!!!!! It is a necessity for living an en-souled life.  Now you may be thinking well, not all of life is fun and enchanting and frankly this last month you may have felt as if you got bucked off that bucking bronco on this ole Rodeo of the Soul called life.  And I would have to agree with you that life is full of those moments as well as the magical ones.  Then I would go on to tell you about Glitter Grit (Thank you Chief Laughing Cloud!). When the tears are flowing and the heart is aching, your medicine basket (or golden chalice) needs to include, chocolate, a circle of beloved women friends and GLITTER!!!!! It is a multi-purpose alchemical remedy for all ailments!! If you don’t believe me, please read on to see what these glitterate, legendary, gorgeous women, Kelly Morgen, Marie Howell, Jennifer Mantle and Susan Risse have to say about how sparkle has inspired their creative practices and their legendary identities as artistes!!

Royal Embellishment Queen Kelly Morgen wearing her crown

Introducing the magnificent and beautiful Kelly Morgen…….

Can you share with our readers something about your glitterate and sparkling artistic offerings and what inspired you to work with these materials?

I work with the ‘original glitter’ materials: 18k gold, sterling silver, and precious gems!  Metals and stones have been used since humans could pick a shiny thing off the ground, and I love the rich history behind my materials (most gems themselves are millions of years old). When I create a necklace, I’m taken back to the first fires flickering on the cave walls, as I use this ancient silver and gold to tell a story: from Diana, the Roman goddess of animals, to Pele, the Hawai’ian goddess of fire and volcanoes.  As people, there’s nothing we love more than a well-told tale, and I hope that my jewelry weaves a compelling story of both mythology and metals, silver as the moon and gold as the sun.

Can you share something about your experience of becoming a Royal Embellishment Queen at the Palace of the Soul?

“Persephone” Goddess of Change, necklace by Kelly Morgen

Gaining ‘glitteracy’ was a highpoint in my 2011… When I envisioned the Virgin of Guadalupe with Shiloh, I truly felt the magic of the goddess come into my heart and hands, and when Elizabeth helped us bedeck her with glitter and jewels, it reminded me that all beauty is sacred and deserves our time and reverence.  The Palace of the Soul delighted my soul, and made me remember that delight is a rare, precious, and necessary part of daily life.

 How has working with sparkling gemstones, glitter and light reflective materials transformed your identity as an artist?

Working with beauty creates beauty in your soul.  As William Morris says, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”  We are here on Earth to share our gift with the world, and leave it a little more beautiful than it was before we came… and when I work with the sacred materials of metals and gems, I feel as though I’m giving the true gift I have, creating sparkling images of the goddess and her many stories.

Gaia Mother Nature necklace by Kelly Morgen

My website: www.kellymorgen.com
My upcoming show:
FINE ART IN THE PARK: THE LOS ALTOS ROTARY ART SHOW
Los Altos, California
May 19 & 20
Saturday & Sunday (10am – 5:30pm)
Located in scenic Lincoln Park

___________________________________

Introducing the spectacular and talented Marie Howell……

Royal Embellishment Queen Marie Howell a.k.a. Grandmother Bee

Can you share with our readers something about your glitterate and sparkling artistic offerings and what inspired you to work with these materials?

I currently have work at Work of Artists Gallery in Phoenix and Montage on Mill Gallery in Tempe AZ (and Faces of Grace is still at Shadow Rock Church in Phoenix)

I love to incorporate rhinestones and vintage jewelry into my paintings and sculptural collages because they are unexpected—they command attention by their sparkly nature and also viewers are naturally attracted to them and therefore linger over the art longer to take in the entire piece including the embellishments. Adding embellishment is very healing and meditative for me and it adds a depth of mystery and completeness to my work.

www.lettersfromgrandmotherbee.com

marie@mariehowellart.com

How has working with sparkling gemstones, glitter and light reflective materials transformed your

“Our Lady of Expectation” by Marie Howell

identity as an artist?

I’ve noticed in my own life that as I continue to embellish my art, I add more layers of jewelry and adornment to my personal fashion style. I now wear multiple necklaces, scarves, or statement jewelry pieces at the same time and often have an awareness of dressing like my paintings.

I recently experimented with creating an embellished environment for my painting Mystical Rose (Our Lady of Guadalupe.) I used molding to section off a large wall space and after painting inside it, I went on a treasure hunt to find random architectural pieces that I could paint and assemble together to form a work of art that surrounds the painting itself.

Can you share something about your experience of becoming a Royal Embellishment Queen at the Palace of the Soul?

Painting environment and sanctuary for “Mystical Rose” painting by Marie Howell

I would compare my Beaded Lady class to the artistic equivalent of switching from a regular light bulb to a 3-way bulb. As I added each layer of sparkle, my image became more radiant, glowing, and alive. Elizabeth had a plethora of wisdom, expertise, materials, and ideas which she generously shared. As we explored these resources, the continuing and expanding possibilities for experimenting with embellishment in our future work became evident and very exciting!

___________________________________

Introducing the marvelous and brilliant Jennifer Mantle……

Can you share with our readers something about your glitterate and sparkling artistic offerings and what inspired you to work with these materials?

Royal Embellishment Queen Jennifer Mantle wearing her first hand-made rosary

When I’m not spreading glittery fairy dust with my teeny, tiny magic wand, I’m in my studio (which is a table in my bedroom at the moment) creating goddess rosaries to honor the Goddess in all of us. I use primarily crystal beads and other natural beads like shell, wood and bone, because I consider these gifts from Gaia’s body. When we wear Her gifts around us, we honor ourselves as Goddess. Each rosary is intuitively handcrafted, created in communion with the energy of the Goddess to whom it is dedicated. The creation is a devotional practice and the result is an altarpiece. When you wear it, you become the centerpiece of your own altar.

Guadalupe rosary made by Jennifer Mantle to honor her vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe radiating beautiful, pink, healing energy

Crystals are born in the dark womb of the earth and “come to light” both literally and physically, bringing us the light of the Divine. Not only do they reflect light and energy, but they transmute and transfigure them.

I just can’t get enough crystals! Their depth and dimension, energy and color are an endless fascination for me. At any given time I’m likely to have 3 or 4 crystals in my bag and a rosary or two to boot!

Can you share something about your experience of becoming a Royal Embellishment Queen at the Palace of the Soul?

Painting the Mother? Beading her? Yes please!! I had wanted to take the Beaded Lady course for some time, and when I saw that Elizabeth and Shiloh would be offering it last December AND would be working with the Guadalupe, I knew it was my time to sign up! And, as Goddess does, it became more and more serendipitous. I attended the class right on the heels of a (free!) trip to Italy. And what did I see scores of while there? Beaded Madonnas!

“Our Lady of Lourdes” sparkle rosary by Jennifer Mantle

My beaded Guadalupe is one of my all time favorite paintings, and she hangs in a place of honor on my main altar (across from a giclee of my favorite painting of Shiloh’s). If you haven’t been to the Palace of the Soul, it’s worth making a trip just for a visit! Everywhere you look there is more sparkly, beaded goodness. It is a haven of juicy, heart-tickling art and decor. Receiving my initiation into the Royal Court of Embellishment Queens there was extra magical! I joined Cosmic Cowgirls right after the class, and, inspired by the Bejeweled Baroness, I chose the handle “Sparklina!!” (I can’t seem to type it without exclamation marks!)

Part of the creative spiritual practice that has developed for me during the Red Madonna class is to create a rosary for the Madonna we study each month. My favorite so far is this sparkly rosary for Our Lady of Lourdes.

You can find a selection of my goddess rosaries on Etsy, at www.AdoreHerDesigns.etsy.com and I also love to  make custom designs. Email me at AdoreHerDesigns@gmail.com to co-create your sparkly, magical, personalized goddess rosary necklace! Or find out about all my offerings (including my sacred art workshops) at www.Facebook.com/SoulFullPlay. The Bejeweled Baroness and I are cooking up a day of magical sparkle goddess rosary making for you at the Palace of the Soul! Stay tuned for details!

___________________________________

Introducing the Enchanted and Sparkling Susan Risse…….

Can you share with our readers something about your glitterate and sparkling artistic offerings andwhat inspired you to work with these materials?

Royal Embellishment Queen Susan Risse

Well, you know, as artists, we are all called to do different work. It’s not even really that we CHOOSE our work ~~ we are more like pushed & pulled to the place of our own unique form of expression. I can only say that in my own case, glitter is somewhat irresistible!  I just love the way that it shimmers & sparkles & illuminates everything around it!

In terms of my offerings, they really vary according to what I desire & am inspired by, plus what I feel is desired & needed by my followers, patrons & students. So, for example, in Fall 2011, I held one “Women’s Creative Spirituality Workshop” per month & shared my methods & teachings with other women, with a different project & theme each month. It was wonderful!

As 2011 came to a close, I decided to listen to the call anew & discern what was my calling for 2012. As I listened, I quickly learned that 2012 was a year for me to say “YES” to the Universe. The calls & opportunities that arose for this year would be answered with a resounding “yes!” even if that meant risk or change, even fear. My year has quickly filled up with new opportunities to share my sparkle & glitteracy!

The first opportunity came to me in the form of an invitation to be a part of “The Gypsy Night Market” in Honolulu, Hawaii, where I live, which was just a perfect fit for me! It took place on the 1st Friday in February, as does the “Chinatown 1st Friday Art Event” every month. I had so much fun & connected with so many of my desired audience at that event that I’m now a regular at every 1st Friday of the month. Please stop by & say  “hi” in the Mendonca Courtyard, beneath  the Chinatown Artist Lofts. Ask for Glitter Gypsy. Paintings, prints, giclees, sparkling hand-made, recycled, vintage & up-cycled jewelry is there, PLUS I will now be at  “ART & FLEA” inside the Fresh Cafe on Queen St. every LAST THURSDAY of each month.

“Our Lady of Courage” by Susan Risse

Next, I was asked to be an instructor in the upcoming on-line art & spirituality course “ANGELS IN MY STUDIO,” featuring 10 art instructors from across the globe AND an “Angel Intuitive” on staff to assist us in calling in our angels & spiritual guides. This amazing course will include 10 different downloadable art projects by 10 different well-known artists–all completely different, all yours to do over & over again with step-by step instruction. In addition, Michael Golzmane, Angel Intuitive, will be guiding us to our angels & spiritual guides to seek out their assistance in creatively expressing our own unique voices in a creative way. Glitter is DEFINITELY involved in my project! Still time & space to sign up at www.glittergypsy.com.  Course begins May 1st! More surprises to come in August,  October & January 2013. Please sign up for my newsletter at glittergypsy.com to receive all of the latest offerings!

Can you share something about your experience of becoming a Royal Embellishment Queen at the Palace of the Soul?

I had the distinct pleasure of becoming a Royal Embellishment Queen at the Palace of the Soul in May 2010 at “The Beaded Lady” Retreat. (Don’t you just LOVE the sound of that??!!) OMG, I had no idea what I was in for!!! First of all, we were being hosted by the A-Mazing “Bejewelled Baronness” at the Palace of the Soul & her partner in beauty~~ Shiloh Sophia McCloud on a 2-day journey to beauty, expression & GLITTERACY!!! On Day 1, Shiloh guided us to paint our Lady & on Day 2, Elizabeth taught us how to embellish them! I didn’t even know that this was really possible on a painting. But I do now, & wow, is it amazing!!!

How has working with sparkling gemstones, glitter and light reflective materials transformed your

Gypsy Night Glitter Offerings with Glitter Gypsy

identity as an artist?

For me, working with gemstones, glitter & light-reflecting materials really has dramatically transformed my work as an artist. As I stated previously, I didn’t even know that this was possible. Now, I don’t really feel as if any of my pieces are completely finished unless there is some sparkle or embellishment on them! (It’s kind of like going out in a great outfit ~~ but you don’t have any jewelry on. You look good, but oh, the embellishments can do so much more!) Collecting, playing with & giving life to jewels & sparkling embellishments just adds another dimension to one’s art ~~ literally. It transforms a piece from 2-D to 3-D. And it is indeed the best mood elevator that I have found (esp. when done in giddy groups).

___________________________________

GLITTER W.A.S.P. is a visionary artist and teacher and an “Art Critic” who champions women artists. She considers it her own personal mission to spread sparkle around the world by celebrating the delightful, shimmering beauty that women offer to the world through their gorgeous, artistic creations.

She resides in San Francisco at the Palace of the Soul with her three fabulously talented children, their resident grandmother and her “revolving extended family.” She is known in the Cosmic Cowgirls community both as Glitter W.A.S.P. and the Bejewelled Baroness. She can often be found in her studio playing with sparkling arrays of dazzling beads and glitter. “Glitter Therapy” is her favorite pastime. She teaches transformational art & embellishment classes at”The Palace of the Soul Divine School of Glitteracy.” To view a complete menu of classes offered go to http://www.enchantedeye.net/elizabeth-gibbons-one-on-one-classes.html. Magical Sparkle Mandalas with Gina G-flow Fong is coming to the Palace of the Soul the first week-end in May!!!! Limited to 8 women. To sign up go to http://www.paintmandalas.com or http://www.enchantedeye.net/events/magical-sparkle-mandalas.html 

Don’t be surprised if after reading this article you discover that you find mysterious pieces of glitter upon your being!! Glitter W.A.S.P. has been known to travel far and wide in her mission to spread sparkle around the world.

If you would like her to feature you and your art in her column please contact her at pangels@pacbell.net. If you would like to learn more about her inspiring art, workshops offered to enchant your life and awaken your divine inner sparkle or glitteracy, visit her web-sites at http://www.enchantedeye.net or http://www.glitteracy.com or http://cosmiccowgirlsuniversity.com.

 

Tags: altarpiece, Angels in My Studio, art as healing, articles for women and girls, Beaded Lady, beaded madonnas, beautiful art, Bejewelled Baroness, cosmic cowgirls, Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine, creativity, creativity as healing, devotional practices, Diana, divine beauty, Divine Divas of Sparkle, divine spark, divine sparkle, elizabeth gibbons, embellishment, enchantment, features, gemstones, glitter grit, glitteracy, goddess jewelry, goddess rosaries, Gypsy Night market, healing, inspiration, inspirational women, intentional creativity, legendary lives, Our Lady of Lourdes, Palace of the Soul, Pele, Red Madonna, revolutionary language, Royal Embellishment Queens, Soul-Shine, the Beaded Lady, the Palace of the Soul, transformation, transformational creative practices, vintage jewelry, Virgin of Guadelupe, women's classes, Women's Creative Spirituality Workshop, women's member tribe, women's online courses, women's spirituality, wonder

Your Other G-Spot

By Laura Toller Gardner

 Before we get distracted by talk of G-Spots and other, assorted eye-brow raisers…praise and thanksgiving!  It is once again May, the Cosmic Month of Glitteracy. My beloved writing partner, The Bejewelled Baroness herself, aka Elizabeth Gibbons, is the founder of said month-long homage to all that sparkles, glitters and glows. Under the Baroness’ patient tutelage I have learned greater appreciation for the soulful expansion of the sacred glittery ways. I walk to the edge of the opalescent bridge of wonder and delight and peer out over the horizon with a healthy mix of awe and trepidation. If you reside in the belief that sparkles are for little girls and aging MTV video vixens, I encourage you to screw up your courage and jump off the side of that magical bridge as I do on occasion. The liberation you’ll experience will be well worth it.

All hail the Bejewelled Baroness and her Glitteracy Revolution!

Your Other G-Spot

True confession: I can’t take credit for the concept “your other G-Spot.” Oh how I wish I could, but plagiarism is an offense almost worse than inauthenticity in my world of heart and soul sovereignty. The author Gina Amaro Rudan — who I heard speak this past week — is the purveyor of “your other G-Spot.” Tip of my hat to her.  The “G” Gina refers to is Genius, a quality that she and I agree is abundantly more than the I.Q. points we’re all born packing.

My take on Personal Genius can be summed up best by this delicious equation: (Passion + Talent) x Divine Desire = Personal Genius.

Personal Genius Manifesting Early for the Notorious Author.

Personal Genius is the sum total of what we do with what we’ve got — and that’s a whole bunch, if you haven’t noticed for yourself. Passion (the emotion of “I am so lit up by X that I and everyone in my immediate environs is going to burst into glittery flames at any moment”) plus your Talents (whatever you do with aplomb without really even trying), are the potent mixture of your greatness. And when this mix is multiplied by Divine Desire (the messenger of good news about those things that are sacred callings for you) you’ve got an equation the potential of which would have knocked Einstein’s socks off.

At the core of our identity is our Personal Genius. If our equation gets out of whack, our identity (our selfhood) slumps and shrinks. It’s like our selfhood becomes entombed in a fulfillment-and-love-proof prison. We have the key, but amnesia strikes and suddenly we believe that selfhood liberation resides in external references rather than at home, with our inner authority.

If you are crying the blues because it’s been far too long since you were intimate with your other G-Spot (envelope pusher that I am!), here are some play practices to unleash and ignite your Personal Genius. These are my gift to you; I want you to feel riotously alive and awake, charting a meaningful course — purring all the way home to your magnificence.

Explore Your Creation Mythos

We all have our own, personal creation story, even when we aren’t aware of it. What do you believe about yourself, your childhood, your family, what you are capable of achieving? Newsflash! What you consciously think is only part of the total story. Look at the circumstances of your life, they speak to you about your subconscious beliefs. Overweight (ah hem, OK outing myself), fractured relationship(s), debt, anxiety, and all the litany of woes are teenie, smudgy windows into our secret, silent beliefs about ourselves. These beliefs inform our creation mythos, and our creation mythos contributes to the manifestation of our experiences.

Rather than stressing about what’s hanging out in your subconscious like a slovenly, narcissistic squatter, study your life — the clues are there in neon when you are willing to see with ruthlessly honest eyes. Once you have the full story on the components of your creation mythos, you can make choices in concert with your inner authority: what about your mythos serves you, strengthens you and differentiates your magnificence? And what about your mythos needs to be healed and reframed so that it supports you to live a breathtaking life?

Draw, paint, collage, journal or write a song about your empowered, healed creation mythos. Dress up and act it out. Make a video. Plant a creation mythos garden. Go on a creation mythos hike where you project your story onto the natural landscape and see what lessons and insights Mother Nature has for you. Throw yourself a creation mythos party and assign your guests roles — you can do this with your pets and stuffed animals if you’re not ready to answer a bunch of delving questions. Commit to a physical activity portrayal of your mythos — a 5K walk, a half marathon, a group swim or bike ride, a bocce ball tournament, whatever gets you grounded in your body and owning your story.

I encouraged a very funny friend to unravel her creation mythos as a project that had deep meaning for her. After about a week she unveiled her creation mythos pedicure — a different color and design for each toe and each poignant learning/experience that contributes to her Personal Genius. It was genius!

Purrsephone Meets Skype!

Curate Your Life

You get to decide. Hope you heard me — YOU GET TO DECIDE. (I know, you may have to work with yourself.) We’ve been acculturated to believe that going along, fitting in, not making waves is what good people do. The people who do that very well may be wonderful folks, but they are living encased in the bodies and minds of zombies. So in actuality we don’t know what kind of people they are because, it’s very likely that they haven’t had the courage to express an independent thought in decades. Harsh?  Yep kinda. Don’t mean to be though. Provocateur is my aim.

The point I’m making, dramatic license aside, is that we are the curators of our lives. We decide what we focus our spotlight upon; what makes up the crucial foundation of our body of work; how we present our unique value to a world full of supporters and fans.

Sometimes we feel trapped by past choices, mistakes, people pleasing, life’s hard knocks, injustices. If that’s where you are right now, sitting in the rain at the bus station, ready to throw in the towel and settle for the safe life back where you came from where people will whisper “we knew she’d be back!” take three deep breaths right now. Know that Divinity breathes you. Know that you are loved beyond measure — even if in this moment the circumstances of your life don’t reflect that truth. And do the following exercise for just 10 minutes.

Play pretend. For 10 minutes play pretend. Pretend that a woman you admire and love is playing you in a Hollywood blockbuster or in a

Image courtesy of The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/jun/21/week

Tony-winning Broadway show. See yourself played by that dynamic, capable, heart-full woman. How does she orchestrate your current life? Remember, it’s pretend so she can do anything. Let the story play out for 10 full minutes and demand that an acceptable outcome be reached at the end. Now look at your pretend with relentless authenticity about the here and now, there are clues from your pretend about inspired next steps for you. It may seem outlandish but don’t dismiss them. Think about a way you can incorporate the solutions living within those clues into your current life to move yourself closer to your magnificence. Share your story and your clues with one person that you absolutely trust to support you in a non-judging way.

If you don’t have someone like that right now, rely on me and my kitty Purrsephone. I do this exercise with Purr often. She is an outrageously compassionate listener. Our pictures are above. Feel free in the safety of your heart to tell us your Hollywood/Tony-winning story and the clues it reveals for your next steps in the here and now. I promise you that we know the truth of you — you are bigger and more powerful than you could ever imagine — and we are a stand for you as the curator of your life. Purr’s temple of sweet sisterhood is open for business. March yourself right in and sit a spell with us.

Sovereignty is Sexy! Roll Around in It

The sex appeal of heart and soul sovereignty will melt plastic! And this sex appeal is for your pure enjoyment and benefit. Once a day, lock the bathroom or bedroom door and speak to yourself as your sexy, sovereign self. Ideally, do this while lovingly looking in the mirror. Affirm yourself, share your grand plans, expand on your theories, wisdom, knowingness. Embody your inner queendom. It’s important to look deeply into your own eyes and listen intently to the quality of your voice. Until we can be sovereign with and for ourselves in the safety of our own space, we won’t be equipped to take our show on the road and exercise sovereignty out in the world. Claiming the sovereignty of your life will fuel your Personal Genius, inform your curation, and manifest your creation mythos’ powerful legacy. Not to mention, sovereignty works in service to all our G-Spots!

INQUIRY QUESTIONS:

1.) What is my unique equation: (Passion + Talent) x Divine Desire = Personal Genius

2.) What are three primary themes from my creation mythos?

3.) What is one area of my life that if I intentionally curated would make me exponentially happier and full-filled?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Notorious Author Laura Toller Gardner

Laura Toller Gardner  I am a liberating thought leader.

An empath from my first memories, I apply my knowing to help people and animals harmonize our interconnected healing and thriving. I also partner with entrepreneurs to tap their intuitive well-of-creativity through insightful strategy and storytelling. I love writing {irreverent} non-fiction that explores what it means to release the cult of perfection, personal liberation ignited by inner authority, and heart and soul sovereignty.  Some day I may write fiction and try to lighten up. We’ll see.

I’ve worked marketing and public relations magic with conscientious corporate giants, non-profit change agents, spiritual communities, artists and a visionary wealth manager.

I am currently exploring the depths of the principle: Everything is Opportunity.  What in your life deserves exploration? What keeps you from it? I encourage you to take one small step today to attend to that which calls you. And if that doesn’t feel possible, I support you to adopt the mantra, “less fret, more play.” Now go play!

Tags: articles for women and girls, CCM, creation mythos, curate, curate your life, features, glitteracy, identity, inner authority, laura toller gardner, sovereignty, sovereignty is sexy, women-owned online community, Your other G-Spot

I wonder, what the thought is, that I haven’t thought yet.

I ask myself this question almost every day. It is how I get ACCESS to my own information. How I enter the part of my conscious and unconscious self to get TO the very places I know need to be illumined to have a wonder-filled life. I am in love with wonder – living a life where aliveness, wonder and creativity reign – this is my choice. But will I choose it? Yes. I have to.  Poets and artists eat wonder butter spread onto toast with jam with morning tea. It’s how we create. It’s where we create from. It is the spaces between the spaces where our own original genius can emerge.

Here at the Red Thread Cafe – today is all about WONDER and I am inviting you to wonder along with me. You won’t be sorry because once you spend time in WONDER you won’t want to go back to ordinary. Everything really DOES look different with the eyes of wonder. But, like a mind and heart need to be open to work – wonder is the same way – you have to open to it in order for it to TURN ON. Let’s turn on together, yes, right now….

Here at Cosmic Cowgirls, we, as a tribe of women, have agreed to embark upon a powerful journey together. A journey based on creative practices designed to bring us more fully alive, creatively self expressed, and able to move upon life with all the grace, grit, aliveness and possibility we can muster out here in the rodeo of the soul.  And our brilliant (and might I say, gorgeous and witty) Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine staff has agreed to journey with us as we move through what can only be called – Dangerous Territory.   In this journey  what we call our creative practices depends on our mood: fence posts, vocabulary words, portals, tenets, doorways, principles. But what are they really? The concepts we are working with at Cosmic Cowgirls are gateways to the infinite through which we access the core essentialness of who we are as humans.

(And very soon…shhh….we will be rolling out a new offering into theaters of the mind everywhere, our newest program for studying our 16 creative practices.  There used to be 13, but we cowgirls love to think new thoughts and we just had to add three more.)

Wonder is a state of being that we choose to enter into.
Will you enter wonder with me now?

Photo Gregory Colbert

It is a place within our consciousness where the right and left brain and the heart enter communication. Did you know that our brain usually references the past for every decision unless we CHOOSE for it to move into possibility thinking? Choosing to be in a state of wonder, of wild delicious curiosity, is the very way in which we invite our brain to think new thoughts from a spaciousness where it had not been just a few moments before. Think about that - there is a place where thoughts you haven’t thought can emerge – and you can choose it – do you not think that is PROFOUND? And once we know that, why wouldn’t we choose to spend time in that space?

The field of wonder is open and available. Is starts with a softening of focus on the past and the present, and invites you into a space just beyond what you can see.

Are you ready? There is no going back and it is addicting, once you have access to that incredible infiniteness of your own capacity for intuition, future seeing, possibility, ordinary reality will have to be punctuated with good doses of wonder with every cup of tea you can.

Ready?  Okay let’s enter wonder and have some Awe-has

Wonder Meditation

Stars of Wonder: Creating a pathway for wonder to be activated…

• Imagine starlight filtering from above in through your right brain.

• After it has propagated that area with light, let it gently flow to your left brain.

• See those same star particles flowing right to your heart and lighting up your heart.

• Then imagine those stars now filled with love moving to the base of your brain in the back, moving to your occipital lobe where vision happens.

• Then the stars, now gaining even more light and momentum to your cerebellum at the brain stem which regulates movement and balance.

• From here – see an arc of stars coming up from behind your head, from your brain stem leaving your physical body and arcing above your head over the top and landing abouta foot in front of you.
• See the stars of wonder hovering right there in front of you. What ideas want to arise from that sacred field of possibility? Allow yourself to wonder.
  

Then WONDER some more. Here are some thoughts to ponder…

Ask yourself to have a thought you haven’t had yet.

Ask yourself to see what you are not seeing.

Ask yourself what you need to WONDER and be curious about.

Enter timelessness and just be in curiosity about the wonder of it all…consider that you, yourself, might be art itself.

Ask yourself how you can make a choice today to LIVE like you are living instead of living like you are dying.

May your curiosity get the best of you
May wonder lead you places you would not have gone
May you seek to turn the stones that need turning
and discover the hidden messages there
May you never let go of yearning
and instead follow your desire to the edge of itself
and in so doing make wonder-full your beloved
so that the magic of everyday-ness will never
be lost on you…
May you dwell in wonder.…

So dear one, what is the thought you haven’t thought yet?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with close to 700 women on a call called Live Like You Are Living, if you want to hear some juiciness expressed in my own voice -  you can find the recording on the information page for our upcoming Color of Woman – just scroll down a bit to listen or download it to listen later.
Signed in the Sparkle Dust of Wonder,
Shiloh Sophia

Tags: creation, creative practices, creativity, features, women's work, wonder

Lessons in Painting & Community

Lessons in Painting & Community
by Isabella Vickers

What stories do we tell ourselves in order to stay safe? And when we tell ourselves those stories again and again, do they protect us or actually create separation and distance by keeping us outside the circle of belonging? Deep relationship requires risks. Community requires participation.

We’ve all heard about those remarkable communities that exist “somewhere out there” where the combined energy is phenomenal AND each member is individually valued and held with love and genuine support. But many of us carry the belief (and tell the stories) that those communities rarely, if ever, exist in reality.

I arrived last week at the Cosmic Cowgirls Studio for the graduation weekend of our Color of Woman Training. I felt honored and blessed to have been part of such an outstanding inaugural group of women. AND while I believe in the mission of Cosmic Cowgirls, I was thoroughly convinced of the stories I’d been telling myself in preparation for the end of our journey: “Real community does not transcend distance. The only sustainable community is local, and I will have to do this alone.” In theory I believed in the Red Thread Circle we had created and flourished within for the last amazing nine months. But in practice, I had no expectations or experiences to support moving forward together; I was certain that this was to be the end of our incredible community, that we would each go forward on our own. I was preparing myself for the trauma of separation by creating emotional distance.

Because the joy of deep connection is matched by the intolerable pain of separation, we tell ourselves stories to minimize the traumatic impact of being alone again. We manufacture truths that ease the pain instead of creating plans for overcoming it. Staying connected takes a different kind of attention, a different kind of energy, and risk. Risk that the stories might be true. It’s easier and safer to stay small, until it’s not, and the day comes “when the risk to remain tight in a bud [is] more painful than the risk it [takes]to blossom.” ~ Anais Nin

Each time I’ve come together with my Color of Woman sisters and teachers, the experience has been life-changing. Of that I have been certain. And each time we’ve parted, the separation has been excruciating. The synergy of our connection, our community, is beyond anything ANY of us have ever experienced. When we’re in that field, individual and combined transformation happens within the context of community. And yet, it is so challenging to maintain that connection when we have to go our separate ways and live our daily lives. Figuring out how to stay connected and have day jobs and families, as well as our own creative practices makes telling ourselves stories so much easier. These stories attempt to provide safety, to help us avoid pain and risk, because there is always risk involved.

This weekend I finally realized that was I was having the repeated experience of intense connection, followed by going home and in very short time convincing myself it wasn’t really that intense and deeply meaningful at all; I had imagined it; it was something that existed only in that particular time and space and was not sustainable. That was the key. When I realized the stories all protected me from the terrible risk — even truth — of unsustainability, I understood. Sustainability is vitally important, and yet, so difficult. We all have lots of experience with that –the myriad reasons we can’t sustain something no matter how important it seemed initially. It’s too hard — that’s why so many of us slump after the first of the year when our resolutions have fallen by the wayside, our exercise and nutritional plans have become diluted, our creative practices interrupted.

This time I won’t be telling myself the same old stories of separation and distance. This time I’ve made plans and set actions in motion to face the risk and move through the pain. I have seen the world from this place. I have seen myself in this place. I have changed. I have crossed over.

What stories do you tell yourself? Do those stories create safety or do they actually create distance? Rather than avoiding the pain of separation, how can you create sustainable connection?

The next Color of Woman begins May 1. Click HERE to learn more.

 

Color of Woman Inaugural Class at Cosmic Cowgirls Studio

_____________________________________

Isabella Vickers is an artist, teacher, and writer. She is passionate, curious, and actively living a creative life with her poet husband and dancing daughter. She also practices as a Jungian-oriented psychotherapist in Oregon’s beautiful Willamette Valley where she utilizes creative and expressive arts to facilitate growth and healing. She offers Creative Bliss Art Retreats and Blossoming into Fullness Women’s Creative Groups. She and her husband, also a psychotherapist, offer Co-facilitated Couples Therapy: An innovative journey through the mysteries of dialogue, both within each individual and between, to cultivate the sacred ground of relationship. Isabella is the Managing Editor of Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine where she writes the column “Dare to Bloom.” You can see her art at: www.IsabellaVickers.com, learn more about her therapy work at: www.LivingAirDialogue.com, and follow her column right here on www.CosmicCowgirlsMagazine.com.

Tags: articles for women and girls, Color of Woman Method, community, connection, creativity, features, isabella vickers, relationship sustainability, risk, stories we tell, women's classes, women's member tribe