The Children of Nut – Part Two

The Children of Nut – Part Two © Dan Furst From the Universal Festival Calendar for January, 2010. As so often happens in the world’s history and myths, the trickster who knows how to make the game playful can accomplish results that elude the mightiest warriors and the most patient negotiators. — Dan Furst We’re … Read more

Creative Envy and Competition

Envy shoots at others and wounds itself. English Proverb The last hazard of the road that Julia warns of in Chapter Eight is the danger of competition. What we consider a friendly rivalry can all too easily morph into a poisonous compare-and-contrast. Like the longing for fame or recognition, gauging our work against the success … Read more

Workaholism – A Quiz

There is more to life than to increase its speed. — Mahatma Gandhi So now, gentle readers, we are going to zero in on one of our most pervasive, insidious blocks. Julia gives it a full four pages or so. Deep breath. We’re going to take a closer look at workaholism and our addiction to … Read more

Whistling In The Dark

We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen. — Paulo Coelho As we explore the deeply rooted habits of blocking our inner artist, it might help to know that many times, these temptations show up disguised as coincidence. I see this all the time in my Tarot … Read more

Hot, Shiny, Toxic

The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves. We live in denial of what we do, even what we think. We do this because we’re afraid. — Richard Bach We’ve been examining how we block our creativity by using deeply rooted behaviors of self-sabotage and distraction. As soon as our artistic process starts to … Read more

Blessings of the Oak Moon

Fill your mind with the meaningless stimuli of a world preoccupied with meaningless things, and it will not be easy to feel peace in your heart. — Marianne Williamson The Moon reached Her fullness this morning at 2:30 am, Dec. 2nd, Eastern time (or 7:30 am UTC; or 11:30 pm last night, December 1st, if … Read more

Blasting Away the Blocks

The point of power is always in the present moment. — Louise L. Hay First, I just have to say – Thank you! I so deeply appreciate the many kind responses to my call for help on Friday’s post. As you may realize, this blog is pretty much a labor of love. Rather than being … Read more

U-Turns of the Rich and Famous

It’s never too late – never too late to start over, never too late to be happy. — Jane Fonda Taking what Julia calls a creative U-turn is common among creative people. In fact, she declares that every artist does this at some time or another (often, more than once). As examples, based on her … Read more

The Temptations of Self-Sabotage

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference. — Elie Wiesel Are you having any trouble relating to our discussion about enthusiasm and lavishing love on … Read more