Anger

This morning I was reading a book called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron.  Cameron honors the fact that everyone has an artist within; it’s just a matter of unlocking the creative flow.  Her profound insights are one of the many things that inspire me to keep up this blog.  Today I was re-reading a section on anger.  I thought to myself that everyone needs to hear what she has to say.  I feel that I will create a mess if I try to rephrase her words, so here it is, straight from the book:
"Anger is fuel.  We feel it and we want to do something...But we are nice people, and what we do with our anger is stuff it, deny it, bury it, block it, hide it, lie about it, medicate it, muffle it, ignore it.  We do everything but listen to it."
She then says, "Anger is meant to be acted upon.  It is not meant to be acted out.  Anger points the direction.  We are meant to use anger as fuel to take the actions we need to move where our anger points us.  With a little thought, we can usually translate the message that our anger is sending us."
Then Cameron talks about how feeling anger, usually makes us feel even more angry that we feel angry.  She says this is because anger marks the death of an old part of us.  "It tells us we are being reborn, and birthing hurts.  The hurt makes us angry.  Anger is the firestorm that signals the death of our old life.  Anger is the fuel that propels us into our new one.  Anger is a tool, not a master."
"Anger is our friend...a very, very loyal friend.  It always tells us when we have been betrayed.  It will always tell us when we have betrayed ourselves.  It will always tell us that it is time to act in our own best interests.  Anger is not the action itself.  It is action's invitation.”

Please take a moment to watch this...

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

The Heart of Life Is Good - part 2

It's late and I should be in bed, but I can't sleep. This week has been a roller coaster. I keep thinking about a photo I captured several months ago while lying in the grass. In that moment, my glasses were off, so I was practically blind. I began to think about how my near-sightedness only allowed me to clearly focus on the blades of grass in my face. Everything else was a blur, yet I could still make out the beauty of the surrounding scene. It dawned on me that such is life. Life is good when we embrace and focus on the blades of grass poking in our face, yet still see beauty and hope in the scene as a whole. Yes indeed, the heart of life is good.

The Heart of Life is Good

Recently, I’ve been thinking about these words from a John Mayer song, “Fear is a friend who’s misunderstood.” Life often requires us to take a step out of our comfort zone in order to progress. I will be the first to admit that I naturally tend to put up resistance whenever I feel my comfort zone is threatened. Then I fall into denial mode. And then, eventually, I give myself a good kick in the pants. A friend once told me, “A kick in the pants is still a step forward.” However, that’s not always very comforting when you’re knocked on the ground with a sore behind. Anyways, today I was taking a stomp through the snow. Literally, stomping. Don’t get me wrong, I truly appreciated the beauty of the white winter wonderland. However, due to present circumstances in my life, I feel my comfort zone is being threatened. I’m now at the part where I give myself a kick in the pants, and stomping through the snow seemed to make it feel better. I arrived on an unplowed section of road which nobody had walked through yet. As I took a few steps into this undefined territory, I thought to myself, “Self, why do you fear certain aspects of the future so much? The future is unknown! It doesn’t even exist yet!” Then all these “yes, but…” statements surfaced. Instead of denying them, like I have before, I acknowledged each one as a real fear for me. Then as I continued to walk, I befriended each fear, by attaching it to my faith. Faith in God’s unique plan for me. I am so grateful for the gentle guidance He abundantly gives me upon my humility and willingness to listen. His ways are always more simple and more efficient than anything I could ever construct on my own. Without Him, I am just a girl…with lots of fears.