Do you consider yourself an artist?

Or are you like me and always claim non-artist status?

“I can’t draw anything more than a stick figure,” is the dialogue that often plays in my head.

My story was that I simply wasn’t creative. I didn’t sing or play an instrument. I couldn’t paint. A singing, furniture building client of mine once told me that it was something he didn’t respect about me.

Ouch.

Here’s the truth I’ve since discovered:

We are all artists. We create our life, don’t we?

Intentionally creating is the essence of being an artist.

Maybe you haven’t ever thought about the fact that we actively create our life. Each choice of direction, every nuance of thought is part of us creating.

Life is designed to be a true creative process. It is our canvas, our stage. We get to create the script and to choose the colors.

Not only is life a creative process, it has been designed to work. Think about it. Our breath has intelligence, which knows how to keep us alive without our control or guidance. We don’t need to direct the flow of blood, nor the oxygen that nourishes our cells.

And yet, even without our direct control, life still works. It’s the foundation upon which we craft our art.

Of course, there are all sorts of ways that we can interrupt the flow of life. We can eat poorly, clutter our thoughts with concern, judgment or limitation or make choices that are not reflective of our values and talents. We can go along with things without awareness.

Or we can decide to claim our status as artists, crafting our work of art.

Life Works!

Growing up, I didn’t know that life was supposed to work. My parents and teachers never taught me anything about it. They didn’t seem to have any idea that life could work. I was six years old when my father died and my mother was left with four young children.

I learned really early that life was all about struggle.

Even my later psychotherapy training was focused on what didn’t work, not on what was possible.

Somewhere in me, I knew there was so much more to life. When all of the “answers” I encountered outside of me didn’t build lasting change, I learned to go inside. This became the impetus for my own inner journey.

I discovered how to get quiet so that I could feel myself. I began to meditate regularly. I became skilled in the art of inner research. Inner research is a personal process of self-reflection and exploration of how life can work.

It required discipline and patience to learn how to work with my thoughts so that my inner relationship could grow and become sustaining.

A Work in Progress

When our life is aligned, we are continually in a state of creating.  Nothing is done by rote—not our choices nor our actions.

We choose our thoughts. We decide with awareness where to place our attention.

We become the artist. Our life is our creation. Creativity fuels our life force. Our beliefs, thoughts and actions become the elements for our artistic expression. Our creation is ever-changing, a continual work-in-progress.

Life has tests. If I find myself caught in an old pattern, I look to see what there is to be learned from it. It may be something designed to show me how I have changed! The emotional charge of the old pattern may have dissolved long ago and the pattern is just a habit. I can release it.

I get to choose a new palette.

Curiosity: We are not the Cat

I’ve stumbled often on the rocky road of judgment. The smoother path is to be curious about life. I take time to reflect on my life’s situations. Reflection helps me to shape my next steps and to make choices that align my actions with my inner direction.

Becoming curious, I open to what could be possible, even if I am convinced that it’s impossible.

Today is a perfect opportunity for inner research.

Whatever we place our attention on begins to move into form. Our life is our creation. We get to decide how we want the picture to look.

Shake up certainty—that action alone creates space for new possibilities. It builds an energetic resonance that draws forth something that is still resting in the unknown and hasn’t yet manifested.

By claiming my life as my creative expression, I have learned to reflect on what is working for me, to acknowledge what I receive and to celebrate my changes.

Instead of needing to be right or worrying about whether I was wrong, I know that my only source of true direction comes from inside. Inner research and meditation have taken me from self-doubt and self-judgment to the freedom of self-discovery and creative manifestation.

This shift is anchored within me. It is my inner compass.

Our life is our art. Art is ever-changing. The more we approach life as our creation, the more opportunity we have for growth and expansion.

I decided to discover what is possible. After all, this is my remarkable life.

What are you creating? I’d love to hear from you!

~

Author: Laurie Seymour

Editor: Caitlin Oriel

Image: Pixabay