Power

BuddhaPower is a tough one to handle.  Power can have so many meanings.  We go about our lives trying to do what’s best for ourselves, our loved ones and even the world.  I believe that the majority of the population has good intentions at heart.   They want to make the world a better place.  Time and time again when disaster hits people come out in droves to help tirelessly for their fellow man.  There is an innate feeling inside that really wants to do the right thing.  There is a need to give back to feel one has a purpose.

When I am looking for my way I want to sense a feeling of power to push through the obstacles.  When the need arises I find power I didn’t even know existed.  It gives me a sense of security and a new found strength that seems like it can last forever and yet it is fleeting.  Sometimes it gives me false security where ego takes over and it’s as if nothing can touch me.  I am infallible to anything that can harm me.  And then it does.  Things come crashing down and anger sets in.  I feel as though the world is against me and I’ve been wronged.  I feel as if I have been singled out and am alone in my struggles.  Why me? I ask.  Why are they doing this to me?

And then my sensibility sets in and I realize that my power has gotten out of hand.  My focus has gotten a bit blurred and I realize that my ego has taken over.  I know that I have overcome obstacles that seem daunting but it doesn’t make me less human.  When I allow my power to overtake me I lose sight of the big picture.  And as the years pass, and they pass so much quicker as you age, the importance of power shifts.  I find that there is a quieter power.  An inner power that just keeps nudging me along.  Not to say that frustration doesn’t set in and whisper it’s doubt.   The power is not as physical as it once was but not any less present.  It’s more an inner power with the voices that are reassuring me it will be alright if I just have the power of patience.

There are so many ways power can go.  Countries go to great lengths to show their power.  I believe the more we try to outwardly show our power the less power we have.  We don’t show our strength.  We show our vulnerability.  That’s where I believe true power lies.  When we are vulnerable that’s when kindness and faith and hope and dreams are the most powerful.

Inspiration from Jacaranda!

JacarandaA friend of mine was in Malawi at the Jacaranda School for Orphans teaching makeup for the vocational program.  The pictures and her words of the classes she was teaching have stayed with me for days.  They have no electricity or running water yet she says the determination in their eyes was inspiring to say the least.  And that got me thinking about how I have taken for granted so many times what I  know and what I have experienced.  I tend to lose sight of how fortunate I have been to have my career and the opportunities these women may never experience.

Inspiration comes in many different places.  When I feel depleted from any fresh ideas I find myself in a museum or looking at my many art books to find something that will spark my imagination. I have the freedom and the ability to do these things at a moment’s notice.  I am able to travel and experience so many cultures both in big cities and in the countryside.   And yet these women are inspired by the need for knowledge and the opportunity to make their future better than what they have known.  They find ways to learn even under the most dire circumstances.  They have not traveled nor do they have the museums or beautiful art books to initiate an idea for their art.  But they find it and they cultivate it.

What they do have is this insatiable desire to learn and grow no matter what.  When my friend asked who wanted to try doing the makeup she had taught them she said she thought one girl would come up.  Instead all of them came up and started doing the makeup step by step on each other from her tiny kit.  The door had been opened for them and there was no way they were not going to barrel through and learn whatever they could.  This opportunity was so precious to them that they knew it could be lost in a second and they were determined to grab everything offered at that moment.

Are you grabbing those precious moments when the inspiration strikes?  Or do you file it away saying you will come back to it when you need it?  And when will that be?   I say don’t wait.  Act on that inspiration. Inspire other people. Connect with someone and teach them your talents.  You never know where it will take you or what you will discover from that seed of creativity.  Like the beautiful Jacaranda tree.  It starts from a seed and is inspired to grow into something magnificent!

 

 

 

 

Mistakes

Honest mistakes are made. They really are. Recently I saw something on Facebook someone had sent me and showed it to a friend. They liked it and asked me to send it to them. I must admit, I’m not a whizz at social media and sent it out to everyone. Not my intention. At first, my friend laughed at my mistake seeing the horror on my face. But then as the night wore on, I became more and more uncomfortable with my mistake.

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