Love and Freedom
Love and freedom. They're both important to me… And they have something in common.
They both require letting go. It’s a bit of a paradox… To receive you must let go.
Receiving is allowing...
“Painting depends on freedom. When you’re feeling completely free, you can create, and this power to create is, in turn, the greatest freedom of all.”
Love and freedom. They're both important to me… And they have something in common.
They both require letting go. It’s a bit of a paradox… To receive you must let go.
Receiving is allowing.
I wrote about this in my Little Book of Big Dreams. Receive is the 6th step in the creative process...
“I imagine it like a stream of creative life energy that flows around me. If I focus too hard on any part of this stream, I stop the flow and life becomes a struggle.
Instead, I match the energy of my desires and my whole Being then becomes a part of the stream… I ‘go with the flow’.
So it’s a delicate balance. You have the desire and intention for something, yet at the same time you are completely at ease whether you ‘have’ it or not. ”
You “don’t care”.
In a good way.
In a non-striving way…
And then suddenly you come to this place of love. And you are free…
People are “looking for love” and looking for ways “to be free”. I think most people are just looking to be themselves, to express themselves and not care what anyone else thinks…
This is why love and freedom are important to me. As an artist I must paint and create what I am... And it must come from that place of love and freedom.
“Freedom and love go together. Love is not a reaction ... To love is not to ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something - and it is only such love that can know freedom.”
“The place where I had freedom most was when I painted. I was completely and utterly myself.”
What do you love?
Every so often I make a "Love List". I write down everything I love... And it makes me realize how much I do love! And everything I'm grateful for...
So in honour of Valentine's Day, I'm writing out my Love List...
Roses 48" x 48" Oil on Canvas
What we love tells us about who we are at the very core of our being.
What we love is an expression of our essence and how our spirit wants to experience the world.
When we do what we love we are connecting with our essence and it’s from this place that our greatest dreams are born.
Every so often I make a "Love List". I write down everything I love... And it makes me realize how much I do love!
And everything I'm grateful for.
So in honour of Valentine's Day, I'm writing out my Love List...
‘In our life there is a single colour, as on an artist’s palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love.’ ~ Marc Chagall
What do you love?
The most important thing...
If I made a list of everything I could think of it would be very long indeed. It includes my wonderful family, many like-minded friends, my health, the place I live and play, my studio, the wind, the ocean, sunny October days...
And then I was thinking...
All of these ‘things’ come and go. Relationships change, families evolve, children grow and live their own lives, careers change, sunny October days become rainy November days...
What am I most grateful for?
When life inevitably changes and I feel overwhelmed, sad or in a place of just ‘not knowing’ I say to myself, “Well, I always have Me.” I am so grateful for that connection I have. It always brings me back to a feeling of ‘Home’ and presence. Of just Be-ing. I'm my own best friend.
When I feel like throwing my arms up in the air and saying, “I give up!” It’s also nice to be able to say, “Well, I’m just going to paint.” Then I let everything else go...
That’s the most important thing.
Peace, Love, Beauty.