SAVOR: Your Wonder Filled Life

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Observe the wonders as they occur around you.  don't claim them.  Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.  Don't grieve.  Anything you lose comes round in another form.

-

Rumi

Don't you love the idea of FEELING wonder all around you?  

Feeling the artistry moving through you?  

How are you experiencing wonder in your life right now?  

Are you holding them too tightly, afraid these miracles will not come around very frequently?  

What/Who do you need to release to make room for more wonder can come in?

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SAVOR: You know that Dream of yours is NOT Going Away...

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You have got to follow your passion.  You've got to figure out what it is you love - who you really are.  And have the courage to do that.  I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams.

-

Oprah Winfrey

In what ways are you being courageous in your life right now? 

 Are there ways you are open up to being more courageous?  

Are you being courageous in the area of following your passion?

  How can you be more courageous in this area?

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Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty

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Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.

 – 

Erich Fromm

SAVOR: The Words that Shape You

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"For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice"

-

T. S. Eliot

What words describe you this year? 

 Did you have a particular word that was a guiding force for this year?

 What value is it to choose a particular word and in what way does that word come to you?

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The Key to a New Outlook is Better Vision

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 Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and moving toward a creative goal that shimmers in the distance – often visible to us, but invisible to those around us.

– 

Julia Cameron

SAVOR: What Makes YOU so Special?

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Decide to rise because superpowers are meant to be activated and applied to real life.
-
Danielle LaPorte

Have you connected with your super powers?  

The things that you do so well that you never allow anyone to question you.

The way you love others.

The way you mother.

The way you take the lead.

The way you bring order from chaos.

What is your source of confidence?

Where does your expertise lie?

How can you activate those superpowers MORE in your life?

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SAVOR: So What is the WORST Thing That Could Happen?

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The past is finished.  Learn from it and let it go.  The future is not even here yet.  Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it.  Worrying is worthless.  When you stop ruminating about what has already happened, when you stop worrying about what might never happen, then you will be in the present moment.  Then you will begin to experience joy in life.  
-
Brian Weiss

Think about the last time you fretted over something that could potentially but never actually happened.  

There is SOME value to thinking about worst case scenarios.  Preparing mentally and emotionally for what could happen.  

But look at it more deeply.

How much energy do you invest in those thoughts?
How often does the WORST CASE scenario become the reality?

Think about a scenario in your life right now that you need to reframe the thoughts you are having.

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SAVOR: In the Silence Redemption is Found

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 Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in life has purpose.  There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.
-
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross


Do you have a good relationship with silence? 
 What emotions come up for you?  
Is there a particular incident that is sitting at the forefront of your heart  that comes forth in the silence. 

 A mistake.  

How can you shift your feelings toward it just a little to see the lessons you take from the experience that help enrich your future?

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The Language of Creativity

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True creativity often starts 

where 

language ends.

~

Arthur Koestler

SAVOR: What Possibilities Have Come your Way Lately?

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Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.  Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.

-

Golda Meir

Possibility is such a fabulous word.  

What is possible...

  Remember when we were young and every new idea, sport, activity was a playground of joy?

What little sparks of possibility have you bumped into recently?

  Which of those sparks could you entertain in order to bring more happiness into your life?

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SAVOR: Embrace the Challenge of Letting Go

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Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.

-

Rabindranath Tagore

Is there a circumstance that you are hiding from, running away from, that it is time to release... find freedom from?

What would it take to really embrace the challenge?

What can you see might be the value on doing this?

What is the worst that can happen if you decide to release it today?

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Is the Way you Are Thinking about Creativity Holding You Back?

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Art doesn’t have to be pretty. It has to be meaningful.

~

Duane Hanson

SAVOR: Time For A Little Assessment

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Too often we do not say what we are not feeling in our hearts and we hold back our true words of love, courage and compassion that should be said.  When you become courageous enough to express the Truth of how you are really feeling you set yourself free and align with the vibration of your Truth.

-

Jackson Kiddard

Write down 5 things that are true about you right now:

I am in love with.....

I need to let go of....

I am tired of....

I want to do more....

I have to make peace with.... 

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SAVOR: The Candle in Your Soul

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There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.  There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.  You feel it, don't you?
-
Rumi 

If I were to take the time to sit with you and talk with you with no agenda 
with no time constraints 
in a cozy place
 with a favorite drink
 at your favorite time of day.

  If there was no judgment
no expectation
you were given permission to dream big.

  What would you say to that candle in your heart, that void in your soul?

 

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Creativity Feels Like a Dance of the Soul

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Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.

~

Mary Lou Cook

SAVOR: What if You Decided to Run TOWARD the Difficult Thing?

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If you want to find your passion, know your life's purpose, meet your soul mate, or feel intensely alive, don't look toward the fun things that fit logically into the flow of an easy life.  Ask yourself, "What am I running away from?"  Whatever that thing is, turn around. Walk toward it, Face it and conquer it or die trying.
-
Martha Beck 

The difficult.
We do not naturally gravitate to this,
Why would we?
There are so many reasons to go for the easy.
No one will question you.
Ease is the new drug.

But what if...

All that you are looking for 
Purpose
Wholeness
 comes from leaning in, staying the course, enduring disappointment

What is that DIFFICULT thing you need to face?

 

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SAVOR: Light YOUR Fire

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When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
-
Audre Lorde 

Where do you find your strength to endure when you don't have the moral support you need to reach a goal?

Are there people you know that help fan the flame of your desires?

How can you offer this kindling to someone else?

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SAVOR: Who is Your Cheerleader?

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Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself.  Go forward and make your dreams come true
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson

One day... maybe not so long ago... you let go of a dream.  
Someone talked you out of it. 
You were facing ridicule.

Or you just got weary. Tired. Disappointed

You didn't know which way to turn.  What your next step would be. 

Who could offer you help to really hone in on how to actualize that dream?

Take some time today and ask yourself: 

Is it time to revive this dream?

or 

Is there a new dream that is moving to the forefront of your heart?

and

Who could be a source of strength in this process?


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SAVOR: The Beauty of the Fork in the Road

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Start moving forward in any path that, though it's difficult, feels right.

-

Martha Beck

Crossroads are good.  Points in time come up that 

Challenge you.

 Scare you.

  Encourage you.

 Relieve you,

  of Expectations. 

of Disappointments.

 of Vision.

 What crossroads are you facing today? 

Is there an answer that your heart has been leaning toward?

  What is hindering you from moving onto the path?

 Face it.

 Make peace with it.

  And move.

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SAVOR: A Celebration of Your Gifts to the World

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Never bend your head. Always hold it high.  Look the world right in the eye.

-

Helen Keller

What do you offer the world?  

Your heart. 

Your insight. 

Your Grace.  

Your Talents. 

 Write about 10 statements 

of 

Little things.

 Big things.

  Characteristics.

 Attributes.

  Mind.

 Heart.

 Artistry.

 Walk a little taller in the grace of your gifts today.

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SAVOR: Operation Joy

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Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt.  The day as it comes.  People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me to appreciate the present - and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.

-

Audrey Hepburn

Pick a day to take on this assignment: Operation Joy.  No matter how much you think this might not open your capacity to see more joy in your life, try it either on your own or with a friend.  

And then...

Open your heart, open your eyes to see more joy.

Smiles.

Kindnesses.

Beauty in nature.

The sound of your shoes on the leaves.

Birds singing.

A job well done.

Commit to doing this on a regular basis.

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The Spiritual Discipline of Living a Creative Life

NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE: CLICK HERE

Ten years ago, I walked into my first of many classes to complete my seminary degree.  I had just gotten married a year prior.  I was not really sure what seminary was all about.  I simply wanted to join the Navy so I could travel with my new husband who had already enlisted.  I am deeply in love with God and at that time I felt like maybe the best way to show that was to become a Navy Chaplain. 

So to become a Navy Chaplain, you needed to secure a Masters Degree in Theology.   I wasn't really familiar with what it meant to be formally trained in Theology.  To be quite honest my views on God were accumulated from going to church, helping out in Sunday School and praying and reading my Bible on my own.  I naively thought this would be enough for me to tackle whatever this training is that I needed.  

It was during this first class that I was introduced to the notion of Spiritual Disciplines as a means to connect with God.  The assignment was that I needed to pick a discipline and connect with God through the discipline for 30 days.  What popped into my mind: Creativity.

I have always loved to write.  But for some reason I felt I needed to 'pick' some other artsy medium.  At that time, my understanding of creativity was very limited in that I could only think of a few different other ways to express creativity: drawing, painting.

Today I read through this project and I am in awe of where God has me.  I completed the Seminary degree though I was not accepted as a Chaplain candidate after two attempts.  God had other plans.  About two months after I was denied admission the second time, I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter.  I have been married for eleven years.  

 And my understanding of creativity has broadened to become an all encompassing definition which includes… well EVERYONE.  

Within these pages you will find all the raw emotions that were going on within me as I tried to crack the code of creativity in my life with the Guidance of the Holy Spirit.  You will also see the artwork I created during those thirty days – UNEDITED.

I pray that my openness about the creativity process inspires you to find where God wishes to connect with you in your Creativity.  For those of you who say 'I am not creative' I want to say to you I used to feel the same way.  I simply ask that you be open to the process and see what God will whisper to you.

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SAVOR: So is it True that you Do NOT Have a Dream?

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Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.  You wait and watch and work; you don't give up.

-

Anne Lamott

What one goal are you pursuing right now one step at a time?  

If you do NOT have something you are pursuing with that kind of singlemindedness, what is stopping you?

Write down five steps... little pebble steps that would ignite the joy of the goal.

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Creativity Raises the Likelihood of You Having a Fulfilled Life

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 Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.
-
Edward de Bono

SAVOR: Just Eliminate Two of your Obstacles

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When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

-

Audre Lorde

What is your biggest fear about having a big vision for your life?  

Write without editing what comes to mind.  Now write about the obstacles in achieving that goal.  Now write down ways to eliminate TWO of the obstacles.

How does this shift your view about what you want to accomplish?

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SAVOR: Take the Time to Breathe Life into your Dreams

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Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit.  We are all the same in this notion:  the potential for greatness within each of us.

-

Wilma Rudolph

How much of your time do you spend dreaming? Do you take time to just sit and listen to your breath?  Does your life choke out the value of dreaming?

What do you think about those who dream?

What is that one dream that you can't seem to let die?  Is there some aspect of the dream you can pursue now?  Now think six months ahead: Where will you be with just taking that one step?

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SAVOR: What is All That Hurrying About?

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I don't want to hurry it.  That itself is a poisonous twentieth century attitude.  When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things.

-

Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I remember a time when our family had to work together to handle even the simplest of tacks. 

 Homework, dinner, doctor's appointments which all used to fall on mama's shoulders.

  Now daddy had to take on more.  The children needed to make sacrifices.  The season lasted for almost six months.  At the beginning it was chaotic and difficult and everyone was cranky and bristley.

  But as the season draws to a close, we each kind of held onto the days tenderly.  

What a bond we had built.  

Think about a time when that was true for you.  A time where you couldn't wait for a season to end yet it was one of the most bonding times of your life.

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SAVOR: What is the Purpose for your Life?

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"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

-

Henry David Thoreau

Vision.

The Bible says without vision a person perishes.

It makes sense, doesn't it?

At some point, your choices need to be culminating into some sort of purpose.  The implications behind the journey is that the more aware we become of how and why our steps are connecting in the way they are, the deeper we will have a sense of identity and purpose.

What do you see as the purpose of your life?

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