153. Your Essential Nature

This is what I picture my soul looks like...my essential nature.

(By Hiram Fernandez Lopez a.k.a. hiramf)

"Practice allowing your essential nature to shine by not enforcing judgments on yourself that were imposed by others. Remind yourself that you don't have to do anything: You don't have to be better than anyone else. You don't have to win. You don't have to be number 1 or number 27 or any other number. Give yourself permission to just be. Stop interfering with your unique natural being. Lighten the burden you carry to be productive, wealthy, and successful in the eyes of others..."The Tao does nothing, but leaves nothing undone"...The air, sky, clouds, grass, wind and flowers...nothing natural that you see is undone, but nothing is taking place to work it all out." - Wayne Dyer, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

The above is exactly how I have NOT been today. Hope you've been faring better than I.

Gotta get back to my essential nature...and stop stressing-out about doing non-essential stuff.

Just be.

Loves,
V

126. Vision Board: Create Your Future

Sooooo it's Sunday...

Now, what would be a sensible Sunday afternoon activity to launch us into a SPECTACULAR 2012?

Creating a VISION BOARD! (Naturally.)

Vision boards: anything on which one has placed images of what one wants, are recommended as aids for manifesting desires

And why vision board all alone, when you can throw a party and make a HUGE mess!? This is what my apartment looks like right now...

I LOVE vision boarding. And it's definitely been significant tool in helping me to clarify what I want for my life, especially with regard to my current grad school goals/dreams/vision. In fact, my grad school vision board is the background art for my blog!!! Here's what it looks like in it's entirety:

Everyone has really embraced this creative undertaking today and I am sooooo proud of the fantastic visions for 2012 that came out of our vision board party.

Every word choice and image is a personal reflection. To others your vision board may look like a bunch of random words and images, but when you look at your OWN vision board...you see a story...a story of your life in the future...your hopes, dreams and fears in plain view, but only YOU will ever experience your vision board in a visceral way. At a glance, it can ignite your passion and remind you of who you TRULY are and what you really WANT.

But don't take my word for it. Make one yourself...and see how it makes you feel.

Instructions:
Just grab some magazines and flip thru the pages collecting words and images that inspire you. Then take some scissors, make some cuts...stick it all on a poster board with a glue-stick...and anything else that you'd like to add to your vision and... voilà!!!...Your vision for 2012! You can hang on your wall and see it EVERY DAY. It will keep you INSPIRED and MOTIVATED to take action to create your vision alllllll year long!

I hope that these photos will be an inspiration for you to create your own vision board!...

Mike's vision board (in process)

Carianne's 2012 is going to be EPIC and HOPEFUL!

 Mindy's 2012 is going to be BRAVE and WICKED!

Julia is looking forward to a WONDERFUL LIFE in 2012!

Sarah will be experiencing a RISING CAREER in 2012!

Thanks so much to all who showed up to the party!!!

Now....manifest THAT Universe!

Loves,
V

P.S. And from the blog-o-sphere...Vision Boards are still coming in!!! Send me photos of your completed vision boards and I'll happily add them to the blog, just like the one below! Email me at viavirginiawilcox at gmail dot com. Happy clipping!

Shavey is going to BE ELECTRIC in 2012!!

Erin has set her sights on upgrading her life!

P.P.S. Fiiiiiinally finished my own vision board for 2012! Here it is!!! (Better late than never.)

Virginia Wilcox, April 8, 2012

45. Life/Art... Art/Life... Same Thing

"A writer - and, I believe, generally all persons - must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art." -- Jorge Luis Borges, writer (1899-1986)

The idea expressed in the quote above has always brought me a ton of comfort during tough experiences in my life. It helps me somehow to think of challenges as opportunities for LEARNING and GROWTH. And that the places I go and the people I encounter are all coming into my experience for a purpose... to help reveal something to me about myself... or for me to reflect back a revelation that they will grow from.

Sometimes these discoveries and encounters feel wonderful and sometimes painful... but I've come to trust that both are valuable because the lessons I am learning as a result are helping to shape who I am as a human being. And since acting is the art of being a human being living in imaginary circumstances... I feel like the more varied experiences I allow myself to have... the deeper my empathy for other humans will grow... and my acting will naturally become more nuanced as a result. At any rate, lessons will be learned, if we are open to them!

So, really, by living my life... from the mundane to the spectacular... I'm always working on my acting. Awesome! That's a great feeling for me. Very freeing. I can do ANYTHING I want and the growth I gain through the experience will automatically fuel my work. Love that.

Life/Art... that's the lens I use to see the world. I like it. Keeps me engaged, invigorated and appreciative of the both the easy and the tough moments in my day. Always looking for opportunities to learn and be shaped by the world feels like great motivation to get up in the morning.

And when I'm 102 years old... I wonder how my life/art will end up looking? I hope that I feel like I've created a beautiful piece of life/art that I can be proud of. I will die a very, very happy woman, if that is the case.

What's your life/art shaping up to be? Looking forward to seeing the future of what we all are creating!

Wishing you a life-time of learning and joyful growth,
Virginia

"See yourself as a cooperative force in the intention of a better world." - Lena Stevens, The Power Path