Step into your Warrior Shoes and Embrace your Life

Do you have those days, or maybe even weeks, when you just feel as if one day runs into another? When you are spending your day just going through the motions, or feeling like you have no control over the things going on in your life? While some circumstances ARE beyond our control, I believe we do have the ability to steer our course. We can prevent ourselves from feeling like victims, and be proactive in our Journey.

For me...I tell myself  to Step into my Warrior Shoes, Take the Reigns,  and Embrace my Life.

Important Thoughts on Reclaiming your Warrior

 

So much of this relies on Self-Esteem, and it's an on-going process. I find myself occasionally falling backward, and then have to stop and ask myself..Am I helping, supporting, and inspiring Myself as much as I do others? This is a huge one for me, because I can slip back into those old patterns of taking care of everyone and everything else, virtually leaving myself no time for nurturing my own Spirit.

I keep an Attributes List ~ A List of my Strengths, as a strong reminder of Who I am:

I am Diplomatic

I am a Strong Woman

I am Full of Creative Inspiration

I am Intelligent

I am a Peacemaker

I am a Networker

I have the ability to Bring People Together

I am Caring

I am Compassionate

I am an Artist

I am Philosophical

I am a Caregiver to the Earth

I take Relationships Seriously

Define your Dream or Goal. How could you possibly achieve it, if you are not entirely sure what it is? This is probably the most important step in the process, because it is the Beginning.

Putting yourself #1 in decision making. In the past I would have thought this to be selfish...but I have come to learn... who better to take care of me, than me?

Be your own Life Coach. Cheer yourself on when you are accomplishing your goals, and inspire yourself when there are challenges.

Manage your relationships, and attract people into your life that are positive forces.

Ask yourself...Do my actions match my dreams? Am I actually taking steps to realize my goals?

Don't compare your journey or status to that of others. As soon as we do this, we set up ourselves up for feeling as if we are lacking. Each of our journeys are different and rich in their own ways.

A long time ago when I was meeting a friend, as soon as he saw me said..."Watch out, her hair is up. Things will be a changing". And so, again...time to put my hair up and put on my Warrior Shoes.

http://www.consciousartstudios.com/

Perseverance ~ We're all in this Together

I have been reflecting this past week on the economic slump our country (and world community) has been in these past two to three years. A lot of focus and debate has been had by the experts on why it has happened and how to improve it, but not as much attention has been paid to the effects it has had on us mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

I have watched people close to me over this period of time go through a series of changes to their spirit, that sometimes I don't even think we are always aware of consciously. I have seen some of the most amazing artists step away from their art, feeling a loss of inspiration and drive. I have watched friends with a strong and secure base have it yanked out from underneath them leaving them in shock. I have watched teachers put under extreme stress of keeping their jobs while at the same time trying to be an inspiration to their students. People losing their homes, that place where you go at the end of the day to rejuvenate and heal the soul. The loss of jobs, homes, careers, financial security, and faith has been widespread and harsh.

So, what now? I can't even pretend to know, except that we take it one day at a time, one moment to the next. That we reach down to the deepest core within us and know that this to will change, maybe not in the way we think, but it will.

This is the time to truly connect with our own intuitive sense, to connect with your passion, because I feel like it can guide us through this leg of the journey. Along the way, take the hand of your friend, and assist them. We need one another, now more than ever. We're all in this together.

Perseverance : Mare and Maiden ~ For Strength and Free Spirit

I look to Nature to help with a grounding balance when the world seems overwhelming. It can change your perception of things in a moment, quieting the mind so that you can re-focus. I look to the animal totems as reminders of attributes that can be helpful. And I Create in order to release, inspire, and share. Find those things that can help you find the balance you need, urging you to take the next step.

It is usually the simplest of things that can help us take that deep breath in and out and center.

Some of the easiest joys for me personally to experience that help me STAY me...

Walking Meditation

Visiting Gardens

Music

Painting

Potluck Dinners with Friends

Laughing

Writing

The Smell of Lavender

Movie Marathons

Connecting with Animal Totems

Helping those Around me

My hope when the economic tide turns for the better...that we find a renewed sense of ourselves and a closer human connection to one another.

Namaste

**My original painting of Perseverance is available in my Artfire Studio here Perseverance Original Painting

http://www.consciousartstudios.com/

 

The Birth of the Gourd

Gourds have been with us for at least 10,000 years, and it's uses are as diverse and wide as it's evolution. Native to Africa, they spread rapidly throughout the world. 

Gourds have been and continue to be transformed into musical instruments, drums, birdhouses, bowls, bottles, baskets, masks, rattles, jewelry....the possibilities are endless. They are known as nature's pottery, and are probably my most loved medium to create with.

The amount of work that goes into a creation is time consuming when you take into consideration the growing cycle, harvest, drying cycle, and cleaning before you ever get to the actual fun part of turning it into a work of art. Once finished, it provides a sense of completion like no other.

Bird Clan Gourd Mask

Gourdwork by Jeanne Fry

Healing Hands Gourd Art Bowl

Sun Salutations Gourd Art Doll

Kachina Gourd

                                                ConsciousArtStudios - ArtFire Artisan Studio

How Music Touches our Soul, and is a Part of Our Spirituality

“Music has no boundaries, culturally or spiritually. The endless attraction and love for music is felt around the world because of its abilities to make us feel. When a musician shares his music, he is sharing his most vulnerable and authentic inner self. He is opening up a sacred communication with the listener. In return he receives understanding. This very special art becomes the conversation in a beautiful way. Whatever the style or geographic roots, music can be broken down to the heartbeat, that which reminds us of the simplest and most basic of things in life.

The heartbeat connects us all, and in this connection we can find a peace and acceptance within ourselves and each other. It is here in this connection that we find our spiritual significance.

Music is one of our most treasured gifts. It is the Breath of Life and the Conversation with Humanity. “



http://www.consciousartstudios.com/NativeFluteCDsandInstruments.html

The Divine Feminine ~ Personal Portraits in our Mind's Eye

Everyone has a different concept or image in their mind of how the Divine Feminine is represented. My thoughts have been on this recently and I was inspired by a quote that I had read

"When you feel you are being moved by the creative spirit, you are in fact being moved by the divine feminine." Teri Degler

And so, my painting began and continued non-stop until completion of what I see in my mind and soul when I think of the Feminine Divine.

 


The original painting of the Divine Feminine is not available any longer, although you can order prints and greeting cards of her in my Fine Art America studio here Prints of the Divine Feminine

Finding Zen in the Diner ~ by Jeanne Fry

Finding Zen in the Diner

Who would have expected to stumble upon a spiritual moment in this busy lunchtime diner? On the quest to find a renovated mill, now turned Art Gallery, frustration was building as we drove in circles thinking surely the next turn would be the one that brought us to our destination. After an hour of this endless spiral pattern we decided to stop at a little diner in the downtown that was packed for the Friday lunch hour.

Almost all of the tables were filled and we were led immediately to a tiny two-seater booth in the back near the kitchen. Our waitress quickly came to greet us in a warm southern fashion and was soon off to get our iced teas and put in our order.

Now that we were waiting for our drinks and trying yet again to decipher the directions that were given to us for the old mill, I started absorbing in the activity that surrounded me. There were frosted white Plexiglas dividers between the booths adorned with small Santa Claus cling-ons that were so faded that I’m sure that they were saved year after year. Pictures of old muscle cars in plastic frames hung on the walls, and some kind of trophies lined the back counter.

Our waitress returned with the tea, smiling and laughing, and preceded to tell us that she has just received the best Christmas present she had ever gotten from a customer…a fur coat. She was so excited and proud as she told us it was a $200 coat and that all of the other waitresses wanted it for themselves. She pointed it out for us to see, lying over the back counter. From where I sat, it didn’t look like an extremely expensive coat, but it certainly made her day, and that’s all that mattered. She left us to our tea and raced off to another customer.

I started to scan the room, taking in the hustle and bustle of the lunchtime crowd. This diner was a melting pot for the city: business men in suits, middle-aged women taking a break from holiday shopping, eclectic looking twenty-somethings that were surely rising artists, construction workers, and old couples who made this stop a routine in their lives. Conversations were loud and excited and ranged from local politics to busy traffic, business to creative arts, and the economy to shopping lists. Back in the kitchen you heard the hurried clatter of dishes and laughter about stories from the night before, and that one waitress that endlessly went on about the fact that they were out of cornbread and it was only 11:30.

The activity was overwhelming, causing me to just silently sit and ponder over this diner that was probably filled with a hundred people. But instead of feeling lost in a sea of faces, it felt like a really large family get-together. My gaze kept wandering over to a man sitting at the counter, dressed in a uniform that looked like the ones that auto parts dealers wear. He was sitting alone, well, as alone as you could be here in this restaurant, and had just been served his food. His head was bowed, hands in lap, and he was praying before his meal. Slowly he prepared to eat. He seasoned his food with the small set of salt and pepper shakers ever so gingerly and rearranged his food on his plate making sure that each thing was exactly where he wanted it. He slowly cut pieces of his food and slid them into piles on his plate and laid his silverware out with the utmost care. He was seemingly unaware of the intense action that surrounded him, as if he was in his own world entirely. Watching the graceful slowness of his movements reminded me of watching a Japanese Tea Ceremony, peaceful and serene. Each bite that he took was purposeful and he chewed slowly and methodically, laying his fork down between each bite.

This man was perfectly content and purely living in the moment. He didn’t feel the need to read the newspaper while he ate or chat with the neighboring customer; instead he gave his food his focused attention.

He was Zen in the middle of chaos, and while most others were unaware of his very existence, I was aware, and thought to myself “Namaste. Whatever your appearance, I see and greet the soul in you”.

Diner culture has always intrigued me. More times than not, I choose to seek out these local spots to eat at, shunning away the fast food joints or high priced chains. There’s something special about these historic eateries.


Many have asked what my attraction is to ‘Diner Culture’, and I guess after consideration I would have to say that is makes me feel like I am close to home. I treasure the sense of diversity that can be found here, diversity much different than in other public places. In the diner you can find a conglomeration of cultures without pretense, so natural, defenses down and full of the integrity of humanness. Intrigued by watching how we as human beings interact with one another, studying character, and how we all intermingle and find a peace with others and ourselves is one of my passions.

(c) Copyright Jeanne Fry 2008

http://www.consciousartstudios.com/

The Shaman Tree ~ Painting and Poetry by Jeanne Fry

The Shaman Tree…ominous and wise…stands stately in the ground

Rooted in the soils of balance…touching the heavens of the Divine.

Within its aging body, by synchronized design,

It is a seat for Earth’s children.

An embrace, comforting and warm,

A place of peace.

Heavy heart and anxiousness lead me to the Tree

In search of clarity …of confirmation.

My approach is with reverence,

Each step becoming slower,

Each movement with full consciousness.

The gentle breeze dances about me, welcoming me back home.

Respectfully I kneel.

 

At this moment

The only thing in existence is my connection -

My connection with the Shaman Tree,

A representative of the Earth… the Universal Mother and

My connection with the Divine…of Faith everlasting

I express my concerns,

My hopes and my fears,

Endearingly resting my hand on the bough

Allowing myself to FEEL the emotions

I’ve held onto so tightly And release.

I am reminded of the simplicity in the circle of life…the simplicity of everything that IS.

As I pull my hand away, resting it within the other

I see the gift, different each time

A luxurious petal…Smooth green leaf…A smidgen of bark…

To add to my Mask.

A Mask Of Understanding and Growth

A new perspective to view the world with

 

With complete gratitude I step away-Refreshed to re-enter the busy world

With a higher understanding, yet more to share

New additions to the mask I wear…Not to hide behind the veil…But to reveal

The journey of life.

http://www.consciousartstudios.com/