Before you cross the street”

That was the jingle I learned when I was growing up.

Today I use "Stop, Look, and Listen" as my intention for every day of my life.

Today it translates to:
Be Present, Be Aware,
and Be Open.

Being Open means open to receiving guidance in whatever forms it comes.

Sometimes it’s a whisper, a word that pops into your head.

Sometimes it’s an article in a magazine or newspaper — even the comic strip!

Sometimes it comes in the form of a dream, or a dream fragment.

Sometimes it’s something you see, or think that you see, out of the corner of you eye. Then it’s gone in a flash!

I like to think of these “nudges from the universe” as a game or a puzzle. It’s FUN!

It’s up to me to interpret what they mean and what I’m to do with them.

That’s how the “BlockHeads” came to be (btw: they desperately want a new name so if you have any ideas, please share them with me!)

The other day, as I lay down to take a ten-minute nap (I’ve been a “power-napper since high school), this phrase popped into my head:

I’ve got more than a few ideas of what to do with this, and I’m open to finding out more — and a bit excited about it too.

I must confess that all these ideas, coming so quickly, make me wonder how to squeeze more hours into each new day!

What a wonderful problem to have!

I drew this Octopus in my journal. That's when I saw a piece of coral on the lanai from a new angle, and it looked like an octopus. What fun!

I wouldn’t have this kind of fun if I weren’t aware of all the guidance surrounding me.

In the “olden days” (a.k.a Biblical/Torah/Koran times) people talked of angels appearing. Heck, Angels started to reappear in the 1970s too!

Intuition is another common word for guidance.

No matter what verbiage you use, I know you receive guidance too.

Remember: STOP, LOOK,
AND LISTEN!

It might take a while for you to be aware of all the guidance you’ve been receiving, but once you do, your excitement levels will soar!

“Death is one of many ways to lose your life.”  ~Alvah Simon

Losing yourself in the life of another is a way to “lose your life”.

Complacency is another, much more insidious way to “lose your life”!

It’s no coincidence that the quote above by Alvah Simon popped into my head during Thanksgiving Dinner. I hadn’t thought of it for 16 years and suddenly, there it was, clear as the day I first heard it in an NPR interview with Simon.

Simon wrote the book, “North to the Night” about his sailing trip to the Arctic Circle!

In 2000, his quote was my clarion call to move to Hawai`i to begin my life as a full-time professional artist.

Today it’s my call to keep moving and to take my career to the "next level".

My adventure begins anew!

I’ve always been independent. Mom says my independence began at the tender age of two.

Independence is often a good thing. Interdependence might just be better. It’s time for me to find out.

It’s time for me to create a team and to delegate some of the tasks I’ve been tackling on my own these last 16 years.

This is scary territory for me.

As a one-woman show, I’ve been responsible to and for ME. Soon I will be responsible to and for MORE.

I will be working with an outside team of experts in the fields of art and business to help me craft my new “Art of Aloha TEAM”. (Details to follow at a later date.)

I’m excited, nervous, thrilled, curious, hopeful, and scared — just the perfect place to be to move forward in bold brush strokes.

I hope you’ll join me on this new exciting journey, and invite your friends along too!

Together we can take new steps, test new creative waters, stretch a few boundaries, and bring a bit more life force energy into our lives.

If not now, when?

Let’s make 2017 the year we all shatter
our self-imposed “glass ceilings”!

We are not being called to DO More.

We are being called to BE MORE of Ourselves and to DO DIFFERENTLY.

The world is shifting in a myriad of ways.

This is the time of darkness in the Northern Hemisphere (and increasing Lightness in the Southern).

Those of us in the tropics experience the shift as well; it’s just more subtle. If you were to visit me today you might not notice the seasonal change, but those of us living here definitely do!

This time of year is traditionally used to let our lands lie fallow, giving them a chance to rest.

It’s also a time to let our minds mull over the past year; it’s a time of introspection.

At the beginning of 2016, I declared it the “second-coming” of Sweet Sixteen.
It was a chance for us to revisit our younger selves and to make any course correction we wanted to make.

What will 2017 bring? What do we want to see, to feel, to experience in 2017?

It’s up to us — it’s always up to each one of us!

Resist the distractions of the world around you.

Focus on what YOU WANT!

We have the opportunity to shine our lights brightly, to bring our desires into focus.

We must keep our eyes trained on the “prize” that we seek.

Don’t worry; we can’t get this “wrong”.

Opportunities abound each day.

“Do-Overs” are a natural part of the creative process.

Make peace with where you are.

The midst of a battlefield is no place to find peace

If you don’t have something nice to say — you already know the rest.

We are all connected — collectively (in our groups, tribes, countries, and throughout the world) and individually (the foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone, etc.).

When one part of us is in pain, either physical or psychic, it’s hard to keep the rest of us on an even keel.

We know we’re supposed to focus on what we want and ignore the pain associated with what we don’t want.

That’s hard — that’s why it’s called work.

Most things worthwhile require focus, time, and effort (mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual).

Start right where you are. What will help you feel better right now?

Venting might feel good in the short term, but it won’t take you very far.

Truth, when it’s a truth we don’t want or like, doesn’t take us down the path of feeling good either.

Both collectively and individually, we must find ways to distract ourselves from the pain long enough to find our good and our common ground.

Demonizing or Deifying does us no favors.

Ostrich-like behavior won’t last forever, but if "sticking your head in the sand" helps to you find a calm center, go find a beach and chill out!

Take care of YOU. Do what it takes (speaking to myself too) to feel better.

The paths to happiness, peace, and love all begin with one step and require millions more to follow.

A few steps may stray off the path from time to time; course correction will get us where we want to go.

Be vigilant. Stay focused on what you want. Trust that you are on your way and take one more step.

The pendulum always swings — sometimes it’s got a long arc.

I paint the negative spaces to enhance the positive. Even when I’m focused on the positive, I am aware of the impact the negative spaces have.

We can’t paint one thing without impacting another.

Darker darks create lighter lights.

Go paint! Even if you don’t feel like it or don’t know what to paint, go paint! Go enhance the light.

Attitude follows Action.

What are you waiting for?

Go paint!