​David and I are looking forward to be teaching a Chanting Wisdom course at the FICS in a few weeks.  We’ll be sharing chants from 6 wisdom traditions. The 4th one that we’ll share is from the Christian tradition entitled This is the Day the Lord Has Made.  If you missed the posts on the first 3, you can still find them by scrolling down below this post. 
 
This is the Day the Lord Has Made is a celebration of this day, this one day, that we have been given as a precious gift from God.  It holds great possibilities and opportunities.  It reminds us that we only have this one day and not to dwell on the past days or become anxious about the future days.  But be completely present with this day. 
 
Let us celebrate this one and glorious day that the Lord has given us.  Let us look at it with fresh eyes and hopeful anticipation of what good could arise, no matter what has come in our days of the past.  

Here are some of the lyrics in the song that we will chant in class by Fred Hammond. 
 
Just clap your hands like this
Just clap your hands like this….
You know that He's good and His mercy endureth forever
And the people of God said, they said what
And the people of God said, yeah
And the people of God said, yeah…

Now we serve notice to depression, confusion
All manner of evil and every sickness
You came in to bind but you cannot stay
'cause the people of God we ain't havin' it
 
It's a good day, even though I cried last Tuesday
And I was out of cash by Friday
No matter what comes next, I'm gonna stand up
And give him the praise 'cause this is the day
This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made, that the Lord has made

I will rejoice, I will rejoice
And be glad in it, glad in it
This is the day that the Lord has made
I will rejoice and be glad in it
This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made
This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made, that the Lord has made
I will rejoice, I will rejoice
And be glad in it, glad in it….

Come join us and rise in celebration for this one wonderful day that we are given to live! 
Interested in Chanting the Wisdom Traditions?  Join my class starting soon at the FICS.  More details here.  

David and I are excited to be teaching a Chanting Wisdom course at the FICS in July. We’ll be sharing chants from 6 wisdom traditions. The third one that we’ll share is from the Jewish tradition entitled Modeh Ani. Let me introduce you to this chant if you’re not already familiar with it.

The Modeh Ani prayer is generally said by Jews when one first awakes, while still in bed. It refers to God as the eternal and living king. It offers thanks to God for returning the soul to the body after sleep, so that one can live another day. This awakening is a smaller daily experience of a death and resurrection. Out of the depths of sleep (a kind of death), we’re able to rise again (resurrection) for a new day.
​
Here is the translation, Hebrew, and transliteration.​

“I am thankful before You, living and enduring King, for you have mercifully restored my soul within me. Great is Your faithfulness.”

The Modeh Ani is one of the first blessings that a Jewish child is taught. This shows the significance of learning to express gratitude to God for the gift of a new day of life.

​We know that if we cultivate an attitude of gratitude, we can lead more enriching lives. It can help us to shift our mood and open our mind, body, and spirit to the flow of abundance all around.

Gratitude can be practiced no matter what is happening in your life right now. There is always something to be grateful for.

At the Art as Meditation class of Chanting Wisdom in July, my husband David and I will be sharing the powerful mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum from the Buddhist tradition. If you join us, you’ll learn the meaning and pronunciation of the words and participate in chanting the mantra in class.  I’ll give you a little glimpse of the work we will do in class here. 
 
The Om Mani Padme Hum mantra (sometimes called the Mani mantra) is at the heart of many Buddhist traditions. It’s believed that every one of the Buddha’s teachings resides within this potent mantra.  That it contains the truth of the nature of suffering and how to remove its root cause. 
 
According to the Dalai Lama, Om Mani Padme Hum has the power to “transform your impure body, speech, and mind to the pure body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.”
 
In the Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche says, “The Mantra Om Mani Päme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience.  Pä, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.  So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom… What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?” 

​Within the Buddhist tradition, sacred words, such as the ones in this mantra, are often repeated over and over until they acquire a certain emptiness. This doesn’t mean emptiness as nothing, but emptiness as inner awareness, free of attachment of the ego. 
 
By repeating this mantra to reach this level of enlightened awareness it’s believed that you can be freed from suffering and invoke your loving and compassionate nature. 

​While it’s a good idea to recite this mantra over and over again, according to the Dalai Lama, one must also meditate upon the meaning of each syllable. So, right intention and understanding of the mantra are needed as a foundation in chanting this mantra effectively. 

​This powerful mantra is often summed up as, “The jewel is in the lotus,” or “Praise to the jewel in the lotus.”
As the radiant lotus flower pushes through the muck and mire of the waters reaching toward the light, it opens its blossom of beauty, untouched and unsoiled. Connected, yet hovering just above the mud below. 

In using this mantra regularly in a spiritual practice, with right intention, it helps to dissolve the mud and muck in your life and uncover the jewel of your compassionate and wise self.
Interested in deepening your work with Om Mani Padme Hum? Join my class on Chanting Wisdom at the FICS in July.  Find out more here.  

​In our upcoming class at the Fox Institute, my husband David Sharp and I are looking forward to teaching the Art as Meditation class: Chanting Wisdom.  One of the mantras we will be teaching, the Gayatri Mantra, from the Hindu tradition is a beautiful and powerful one that you may consider chanting regularly as part of your spiritual practice.  I’ll share a little here about it with you. 
 
The Gayatri Mantra is a sacred Hindu prayer with soothing rhythms that flows from the heart of the chanter and spirals out into the world.  It’s chanted around the world with reverence and love, invoking divine wisdom and peace for all.

The two words “Gayatri Mantra” could be translated as “a prayer of praise that awakens the vital energies and gives liberation from ignorance.”
 
Here are the words of the common, shorter form of the Gayatri Mantra are:
 
OM BUHR, BHUVA, SWAHA
OM TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YONAHA PRACHODAYAT
 
 


​Translated in a basic way, it means “May the divine light of the Supreme Being illuminate our mind, to lead us on a path in the right direction.”
 
OR
 “O Divine Creator, we contemplate thy divine light. May it stimulate our mind and promote illumination within us.” 

A slightly longer translation may be:
 
“Om, the Universal Divine Energy, vital spiritual energy, the essence of our life existence, positivity, destroyer of sufferings, the happiness that is bright and luminous like the Sun, the best destroyer of evil thoughts, the Divinity who grants happiness, may you shine Divinity and Brilliance into us so that it will purify us and guide us with wisdom on the right path.”
 
 
 
 
 
This mantra comes from the Rig Veda and has been chanted for thousands of years. The ancient scriptures describe how a sage was given the mantra from the Supreme Being as a gift for his many years of devotion so that it could be shared with humanity.  Its significance for Hindus might be comparable to the Lord’s Prayer in the Christian tradition.
 
For many Hindus, the Gayatri Mantra is seen as a divine awakening of the individual mind and soul, called Atman, and a path of unity to Brahman, the collective consciousness.
 
As a heartfelt prayer, it can be chanted by those who approach it with pure intentions and an openness to its power, even outside of the Hindu wisdom tradition. It can open the heart to experience a deep sense of gratitude and a devotion to the seeking of wisdom and illumination.
 
You can listened to it here.
​
The beautiful ancient sounds and rhythmic flow with a powerful intent make the mantra a wonderful part of one’s regular spiritual practice.
 
Interested in learning several chants from many wisdom traditions, join me in my class at the FICS in July.  
 

I recently was working with St. Hildegard’s music for the sacred text of Kyrie, envisioning how to put this music to movement to create a body prayer. The words and the music are quite powerful in themselves, but I wanted to be able to deepen this work through bringing related movements to people in a group setting. Here are the words:
 
Kyrie Eleison (Creator of Life, Awaken Love Within Us)
Christe Eleison (Creator of Love, Awaken Love Within Us)
Kyrie Eleison (Creator of Life, Awaken Love Within Us)
Kyrie Eleison (Creator of Life, Awaken Love Within Us)
 (translation by Norma Gentile)

​Once I created the movements, I brought this dance to my recent class on St. Hildegard at the Fox Institute.  The movements helped us feel into themes from the four paths of Creation Spirituality:  love, interdependence, letting pain be pain and creativity.

(Jeannine with the model of Rupertsberg and stained glass pieces used during her class on St. Hildegard at the Fox Institute)

Maybe you have heard the words ‘body prayer’ but are wondering what this is exactly? 
 
Body prayer is a wonderful way to intentionally connect with the Divine through movement.  Picture spiritual practice in motion.  
 
It can be as simple as taking a walk with presence and an intention to connect to the Divine. Or it can be more complex such as yoga which has become very popular as a spiritual practice in recent years.
 
If you are someone who enjoys movement or find that you best connect with the Divine Source while moving, you might want to bring body prayer into your spiritual practice on a regular basis, if you haven’t yet. 
 
Here are a two easy ways to get started: 
 
Take a walk in nature - Begin your walk with a sense of gratitude for Mother Earth, the trees, the plants, the air you breathe, and this day that you have. 
 
Set an intention to be open to any communication that may come to you to support you on your path of spiritual growth.   Walk in silence, yet with presence to the moment.  Not thinking of the past nor the future.  But present to all that is in the moment while walking, listening to what may arise.  End the walk with a moment of gratitude. 

Walk a labyrinth - If you have one available to you, walking a labyrinth is another way of walking as body prayer.  A labyrinth is a pathway created on the ground that symbolizes life’s journey.
 
Stand at the entrance and set an intention to open yourself to the Divine. While walking toward the center, consider what you can let go of that is weighing you down in your life. 
 
When you reach the center, pause and be fully present to the moment and any message that may arise. As you turn to walk the path out of the labyrinth, consider how to integrate any wisdom you received.  Pause again at the end, which is where you began, to express your gratitude.

​To deepen your experience with body prayer, you can bring together the singing of sacred text with movement, as I did with St. Hildegard’s Kyrie.  From the beginning of time, people have engaged in similar sacred movement and song as a way to connect with Spirit and come together in ceremony or celebration.
 
Today, we can sing, engaging our breath and vocalizing the sacred words while enhancing the experience through moving the body intentionally with the music. It connects us with the depth and truth of the meaning of the sacred text, experienced within our whole being. This is a potent and powerful spiritual practice where you can experience a sense of unity with Source and with the universe through deep peace. 

​The Dances of Universal Peace are one wonderful way we can experience this in community. These group dances are simple and yet profound.  They are set to sacred texts and mantras from the world’s spiritual traditions and taught to the group by a Dance Leader often with live music accompaniment. The movements are inspired from the sacred texts and embody the essence of the spiritual message and our relationship to Life. Through repetition of the sacred phrase and flowing movement, there is a meditative deepening that arises. 

​Interested in exploring more ways to engage in body prayer?  Check out the offerings at the FICS in Boulder.  

​Life’s journey can sometimes bring us surprises. Sometimes joyous ones.  But, sometimes challenging ones where we have to search to find the treasure that may be hidden inside. 
Somehow, in those moments, we’re called to find our strength, find our power from within, to navigate our way forward.  One step at a time. 

In a quiet moment, you may contemplate, where does that strength come from?  How do I find it?  How does it arise? 
I’m often inspired by the image of St. Hildegard holding her abbess staff.  Her strength and power from within radiates out to the world as she speaks, “God created me… God is also my strength… Through God, I have living spirit.  Through God I have life and movement.  Through God I learn, I find my path…” 
We see how she finds her strength through connecting with the Divine.  
To find our own power, we can come to our center, that space that’s still and quiet within the whirlwind of turmoil.  There we can connect with the Source. We then find strength and power to carry us forward on our life’s journey.  Bringing us hope and encouragement. 

I’ll share some ways to support you in finding that center where you can tap into your own strength and power that already exists.
1. Cultivate a quiet time and space regularly. When you enter into this, you can access a greater wisdom within yourself and in the universe.  In being silent, you open to listening to communication that can come from the Divine within you.  
2. Trust there is a greater power within the universe.  A divine wisdom and higher consciousness that is at the foundation of all of life.  Connecting to this, gives you strength, power, and courage.  
3. Identify where you lose your power.  Claim it back.  When you lose strength, you feel powerless.  If you just “go along” with others or “give in” to others when you really have a different idea, you lose your power. If you believe others matter more than you do, you lose your power.  Standing up for your thoughts and yourself maintains your power within.  Not powering over another, but power that radiates from within you. Your voice, your path, your journey. You matter.  
4. Be willing to forgive.  Holding on to hurt and pain from the past can drain your energy and strength.  Create the space within to forgive yourself and others. This can soften your feelings and radiate love to others, giving you strength. 
5. Foster resilience.  Strive to bounce back from challenging times instead of feeling defeated or a victim. Return to a place of balance and strength.  This can be cultivated through practicing the first 4 regularly. 
Interested in joining a community of support on your life’s journey?  Check out the offerings at the Fox Institute of Creation Spirituality in Boulder.  
 

As I’ve been preparing for my class Engaging Hildegard's Music, Art and Herbs which I will be teaching next week at the Fox Institute for Creation Spirituality, I’ve been pondering the way that we may experience divine wisdom that guides us. 
 
I’m sure many of us have experiences where we receive a type of message that seems to come from something greater than us. It gives us new knowledge or understanding in a way that is above and beyond what we knew beforehand.  It seems to tap into the deeper river of divine wisdom within and the divine wisdom outside of us in the universe.  Possibly experienced as intuition or a spirit guide communicating to us or even our Higher Self guiding us.
 
Maybe you see something that is visual – images, colors, or pictures.  Possibly in a dream or just as you awake in the morning.  Or maybe you hear words spoken within your mind.  Or you just have a deeper feeling or knowing.  Yet, you experience, the Divine is communicating with you. 

I’ve always been intrigued by the visions, or illuminations, St. Hildegard experienced and then wrote about. She wrote of the visual images she saw and words she heard spoken.  She felt that God was speaking through her.  Here’s an excerpt from her letter to Guibert of Gembloux where she describes how she experiences her visions:
 
In my visions, my soul rises high into the vault of heaven and spreads itself out among different people, even those in distant lands and places.  And because I see the visions this way in my soul, I observe them without my outward ears, without the thoughts of my own heart or by any combination of my fives senses.
 
I witness them in my soul alone, while my outward eyes are open.  So, I have never fallen prey to ecstasy in the visions, but I see them wide awake, day and night. 
 
The light that I see the visions in is far brighter than any cloud that carries the sun. 
 
I can measure neither height, nor length, nor breadth in the light.  I call the Light “the Living Light.” And as the sun, the moon and the stars appear in water, so writings, sermons, virtues, and certain human actions take form for me and gleam within it. 
 
What I write is what I see and hear in the visions….. And the words in the visions are not like words uttered by the mouth of man, but like words uttered by a shimmering flame, or a cloud floating in a clear sky. 

St. Hildegard's Illuminations are powerfully inspiring for me. In this photo you can see me tap dancing to the words she heard to accompany the image behind me. This vision is called The Person in Sapphire Blue and she writes about this vision in her first book, Scivias:
 
I saw a very bright light, and inside it there was a person who was the color of a sapphire.  This person and bright light were completely surrounded by a very pleasant fire of reddish color.  The very bright light completely surrounded this fire of reddish color, and at the same time this fire completely surrounded the light.  Both the fire and the light surrounded the person, existing as one light with one force of potentiality.  And then I heard the Living Light speak to me.  It said: 
 
‘The bright light signifies God who is without any blemish of illusion, defect and falsehood.’
 
‘The person signifies the Word who is without blemish of hard-heartedness, ill will and unfairness.’
 
‘The fire signifies the Holy Spirit who is without any blemish of dryness, death and darkness.’
 
 

 
How are you guided?  How do you receive messages from the spiritual world? 
 
It’s important that we are open to receiving messages.  That we have a clear path for communication. And that it’s not cluttered with obstacles that may appear as communication but are simply unhealed aspects of our past or our fears or emotions. 
 
Here are 4 ways that I have found effective in supporting openness and allowing a higher wisdom to communicate to you in your everyday life:

​ 

1. Practice Gratitude – Appreciate what comes to you in your life – both big and small.  When we become aware and offer gratitude for what arises in our daily lives, we open ourselves to a flow of positive energy.
2. Quiet the Mind - Have a practice that quiets the mind.  Become silent and focus inward. This will help you move out of the past and out of the future where fears or hurt may live.  You will be in the present and able to receive true messages when they come.
3. Set an Intention - Set an intention to be open, even with a sense of curiosity or wonder, to what comes as communication.  Without any judgments or preconceived ideas.  There may be surprises that come to you! It may not be what you expect.  So, silence the inner voice that may deny the message or try to rationalize that this message can’t be the one.  And be open to what may come.   
4. Read sacred texts - Pick any of the scriptures that speak to you. (The Upanishads and the writing of Christian Mystics are my favorites) After quieting your mind, read a small passage slowly outloud to yourself every morning. Let the powerful words seep deep into your soul.

 
Curious to explore more?  Take a look at all of the offerings for the Spring and Summer at the Fox Institute of Creation Spirituality in Boulder.  Click here.
 

Fayard and Harold Nicholas were two of the greatest tap dancers that ever lived and, as the Nicholas Brothers, a beloved dance team in the history of entertainment. If you’ve never seen a clip of one of their performances, take a look now: The Nicholas Brothers... The greatest dance sequence
 
What amazing talent and skill!  Such joy and beauty and grace in their every move.  They’re dazzling, even mesmerizing.  What pizzazz! 
 
It makes us curious.  How did they develop such incredible skill and excellence?  And such talent infused with passion and joy?  And how did they maintain this for performance after performance……. and for many decades? 
 
The two brothers grew up together in Philadelphia, the sons of college-educated musicians who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater. As a very young child, Fayard sat in the front row and watched his parents work.  He was particularly fascinated by the dancers – especially the tap dancing with acrobatics - including ones such as Alice Whitman and Bill Robinson. 

​He taught himself how to dance and sing by watching and imitating the entertainers he saw on stage.  But, he soon developed his own unique style.  He then taught his younger siblings, Dorothy and Harold, and they began to perform for others.  When Dorothy decided to opt out of the trio, the pair became known as the Nicholas Brothers. 
 
The brothers became a regular act at the Harlem’s Cotton Club when Fayard was 18 and Harold was 11, and they performed there for 2 years, astonishing their mostly white audiences. They soon became very popular and successful as word spread about their unique style and abilities. At that time, they were the only African-American performers allowed to mingle with the white patrons. 
 
Their signature style was a mixture of tap dance, ballet, and acrobatics often referred to as “flash dancing” or acrobatic dancing.   They were best known for their appearances in Hollywood musicals in the 1930s-40s, but performed in movies, nightclubs, Broadway, television and worldwide concert tours for several decades

​According to “Who’s Who in Hollywood”, they are considered “… the greatest dance team ever to work in the movies.”  What they achieved in their unique style and brilliance in artistry and choreography had never been seen before. It excited and amazed audiences across the world. 
 
The brothers attributed their astonishing success to this piece - their unique style.  It reached new limits and new possibilities – never before experienced - and the audience loved it!
 
The Nicholas Brothers were recognized with Kennedy Center Honors in 1991 for their achievements that spanned over 6 decades.  A documentary film, We Sing & We Dance also celebrated their outstanding careers. 
 
The Nicholas Brothers can continue to inspire us today.  Not only with their incredible dance moves, but to help us to find our own uniqueness within. 

​You too have something that no one has ever seen before.  What’s that unique ability that exists within and how can you develop it?  And then share it out with others with joy, grace, AND PIZZAZZ?
 
Learning from the Nicholas Brothers, we see it takes practice, diligence, and determination to develop our own unique abilities.  And if we do this, we gain confidence and comfort in this area. 
 
It’s within this sacred space, that our being shines and our eyes sparkle.  We share our own pizzazz out into the world!  That which is Divine that sparkles from within us. 

Inspired to Unleash your own Creativity and sparkle out in the world?  Join me and my husband, David Sharp, in our upcoming group session on May 5th where we will use the wisdom and inspiration of The Nicholas Brothers along with St. Hildegard and MC Richards to explore our own creative spirits.  Find more info and register HERE.  
 

​“Every person is a special kind of artist and every activity is a special art. An artist creates out of the materials of the moment, never again to be duplicated. This is true of the painter, the musician, the dancer, the actor; the teacher; the scientist; the business man; the farmer - it is true of us all, whatever our work, that we are artists so long as we are alive to the concreteness of a moment and do not use it to some other purpose.” – MC Richards
 
These are words of wisdom offered by M.C. Richards who was an inspiring poet, potter, educator, and painter.  She celebrated creativity in all of it forms. 
 
She was best known for her book that was written in the tumultuous 1960’s, Centering: in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person, where she shared the richness of daily life that one could discover if attended to - what we might term “mindfulness” today.  And also the creativity that lies within every person, not only those who consider themselves artists. 

​M.C. earned a bachelor’s degree in Literature and Languages from Reed College in Oregon and received a Master’s and PhD from the University of California at Berkeley with a concentration in English and Linguistics. 
 
After teaching English at the Central Washington College of Education and the University of Chicago, she became a faculty member at the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Her experiences here, as an educator and artist, created the foundation for her life’s work. 
 
M.C. inspired others to engage and bring to life the creative spirit that lives within.  Even today, her words encourage us to create in whatever form we can. 

​“The creative spirit creates with whatever materials are present.  With food, with children, with building blocks, with speech, with thoughts, with pigment, with an umbrella, or a wineglass, or a torch.  We are not craftsmen only during studio hours.  Any more than a man is wise only in his library.  Or devout only in church.  The material is not the sign of the creative feeling for life: of the warmth and sympathy and reverence which foster being: techniques are not the sign; “art” is not the sign.  The sign is the light that dwells within the act, whatever its nature or its medium.”  - MC Richards
 
M.C. experienced that when the creative spirit is engaged within us, we discover more about ourselves and create a connection with the world.  Here she describes her experience with clay. 

“ As you go out, you come in, you always come into center, bring the clay into center; you press down, squeeze up, press one hand into the other, bringing your material into center… We bring our self into a centering function, which brings it into union with all other elements.  This is love…. When on center, the self feels different: one feels warm,…in touch,… the power of life…. drinking it in and giving it off, at the same time quiet and at rest within it.”  - MC Richards
 
Later in life, MC discovered the work of Rudolf Steiner and lived and taught at the Camphill Village, a community with adults with special needs based on biodynamic agriculture and social therapy, in Kimberton, PA while also teaching part-time with Matthew Fox at the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, CA. 
 
Inspired to Unleash your own Creative Spirit?  Join me in my upcoming group session on May 5th where we will use the wisdom and inspiration of MC Richards along with St. Hildegard and the Nicholas Brothers to explore our own creative spirits.  Find more info and register HERE.  
 
 

​Where does the creative exist in your life during a day or a week?  
Maybe you garden or cook?  Maybe draw or sing?  Write or journal? 

​But, wait.  There may be more.  Creativity doesn’t necessarily mean only expressing yourself through art. 
What about your creativity within parenting?  Or collaborating with colleagues at work?  Or beginning that work project?  Or even how you unfold each day in your life?
Creativity is a fundamental expression of the human being.  An expression of the authentic self engaging in the world.  One that can only be unique to you.
“Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world.”  -Paulo Coelho

Creativity is essential to our health and well being.  As long we are creating, we keep growing, developing, and evolving, as individuals and as a community.
If we cease to create, then our life energy decreases.  Decay and deterioration enter in.  Our state of health declines.
Creativity is like a refreshing breath of life for us, helping us to thrive.  It feeds us, making us feel invigorated, energized, and alive.  It gives us the gifts of vitality, health, and strength. 

Let me share with you 5 ways that creativity supports you in becoming the best self you can be in your life.
1. Improves your mood: Being creative on a regular basis helps you remain grounded and centered, even in chaos or stressful situations.  It helps to reduce stress, similar to meditation.  It enhances your energy and invites you to play, have fun, and experiment.  You engage in learning and being curious.  As a result, more generosity, openness, and positivity blossom within your life. 
 
2. Able to solve problems in new ways:  In creativity, you explore new avenues, new possibilities, new perspectives.  This enhances your ability to be creative in solving problems in your life – in relationships, at work, within society locally or globally.

3. A longer and healthier life: Within creativity, you feel more alive and connected to the world.  Curious about life and engaged, more of a childlike quality.  This reduces the risk of illness and disease, including conditions such as Alzheimer’s, and increases your healing potential.  You live longer and with a healthier, higher quality of life.  Now even proven in scientific studies!

​4. Builds confidence: Through creativity, you connect with your self more deeply and learn a little more.  You grow and stretch yourself, moving out of your comfort zone.  You challenge the status quo, engaging in new experiences.  You enter into a space where you do not have to have all of the answers. You come to trust your intuition, trust your feelings, and to trust your self.
“The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” — Alan Alda
 

5. Make a difference in the world: Through our creativity, we can engage our own talents and gifts while we imagine and create the new ideas, the new solutions, the new ways of thinking that are needed within our communities. Becoming a powerful healing force in the world.
 
 
I hope you are inspired to go out and be creative today!  If you’d like to explore new ways of being creative, join our supportive community within my doctorofthesoul classes each month.  Find out more here.