Power of Gratitude

There's been a shift within me. And I haven't had the time to give it much thought. And you know I LOVE to analyze everything. But that's good...it helps me understand. And I can trace it back to one major change. I'm following along the Artist's Way with an online book group. The Morning Pages are part of the curriculum and involve writing atleast 3 pages each morning. You just write, no editing, no reading. It's like a brain dump.

You know all the malarkey I dump here....well the stuff in my head is 100x worse and shoots around like fireworks. The Morning Pages (MPs) are meant to be the place where you dump all the stuff that's in your head in the morning to clear the way. And I fought having to write those darned pages. But when I gave in and started writing things started changing. At first I wrote about how much I hated the Morning Pages. Then I remember alot of whining. And then I started writing alot of thank yous and about gratitude. And things just started happening. It's weird. Scary weird? Funny weird?

I've talked about not being able to find classes or workshops. And suddenly there they are. Everywhere I go I see something or hear something that leads me to something I've been looking for. I've talked about not having friends and sometimes being lonely. And now I've been busy almost everyday. Today I met with another neighbor for breakfast. And when I got home I had three people from my teenage years reconnect through Facebook asking to meet to catch up. I meet with two on Wed for lunch. And tomorrow I get to meet another fellow blogger who just happens to be attending the same luncheon on Mandalas. And in the evening there's a get together at a neighbor's house. To be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed and I'll need to restructure things so that I'll have time in the studio.

And hubby is calling me the Socialite. And making fun of me. He says "see, you really shouldn't mess with your angels". I asked him to explain and he said that I have used every excuse for not buckling down and doing artwork. I'm lonely, or guilty, or angry and the angels send just the situations I need to clear the air with whatever is causing the feelings. I don't have the money to buy supplies or pay for workshops and the angels send refunds from canceled classes or my sister visits and buys me a bunch of supplies. She calls it 'supporting the arts' and no matter how much I argue she won. Hubby says eventually I'm going to run out of excuses or the angels are going to get fed up and give me a swift kick in the butt.

I think the key is that I've been focusing on gratitude instead of unhappiness and lack. And that focus is attracting these good things like a giant magnet. And when I lose my way, it's like the magnet gets all linty and loses some of its attraction powers. And now that I understand this I need to learn to filter through the things that enter my life and keep the ones that will help me on my path. And be willing to let go of the things that I no longer need. And to find a good balance between my blossoming art and friendships.

But for now, the family is asking that I please write that we'll win the Lotto.