11.05 Studio News

Making It Happen

Contents

1. November's Studio

2. Your Wish, Your Command

3. This Month's Super Links

4. Wrap-Up

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November’s Studio

During the past month, I went on my “first business trip”-- it’s amazing what you can learn by doing new things and throwing yourself into new situations. I traveled to St. John, USVI for a two-week web design job, as well as to establish connections for housing and employment for the move in January. Moving to St. John has been a goal I’ve had set in my head for the past 5 or 6 years. After visiting several times with my parents during that period, the offbeat, happy-go-lucky island attitude mixed with the thriving art community caught me. After graduating and now being able to realize my goal, I am proud that I’m still going for it--and scared as anything! But scaring myself, pushing the edges of that comfort zone, is what fuels my spirit. Life is for living, right?

This month, the holidays (and some great football…) are starting to catch our attention. As cheesy or lame as it may sound, I hope that the season touches or inspires you in some new ways this year. Maybe trying new activities, foods, traditions, or joining someone else during the holidays might be the jolt that leaves you full of new ideas.

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s studio news!

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Your Wish, Your Command

If there were such things as genies and fairy godmothers and wishes that were granted magically, then maybe, just maybe, life would be different.

Pretend for a minute or two that you live in a world of those wishes and you have been told that you can have one wish granted – but this wish has conditions.

Your wish has to be for a change in what you do for a living.

You will be given three times the income you have right now, and you will be given any money necessary for spending in order for your new livelihood to be effective for you.

You cannot fail in whatever you choose to do.

Any skills or knowledge you require will be yours for the asking.

Any fears or anxieties – such as public speaking, or flying – will disappear.

Everything will be as you wish it to be.

So, what would you choose to do?

This wish is only valid for 24 hours.

1. Would you take up this offer, or would you let it expire?
2. What is it that you do right now for a living?
3. What would you choose to do?
4. What stops you from doing that right now?
5. How old are you?
6. Are you male or female?
7. Whereabouts do you live? (not your address, just the part of the world)
8. Did you enjoy this exercise?

Now I hope you've answered the questions before continuing to read.

Unfortunately, it seems, we don't live in a world of fairies and wishes. But it's nice to dream, it's nice to have a rich fantasy world. Did you know that the inventor of the automatic sewing machine, Elias Howe, couldn't find a way to make a machine sew until he had a dream about being attacked by savages with spears with holes in the tip? When he awoke from this dream he realized that this was what would make his 'dream' work and he put the hole for the thread in the tip of the needle rather than the other end where it usually was.

He wanted to do something that others said was impossible. He wanted to do something that he couldn't find a way to do. But his desire didn't accept the impossibility and it communicated a solution that consciously he couldn't see. His solution magically arrived because he was totally focused on what he desired to achieve.

If we focus our intentions, we often find that things happen “magically.”

It's nice to let your mind wander about all the wonderful things, and people, you'd like to have in your life, the home you desire, the family, the friends, the lover… but there's something a little scary about fantasizing and then to have that fantasy manifested soon after imagining it.

Our power can be intimidating.

Marianne Williamson, author of Return to Love, says " Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It's our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us."

Because our power scares us we keep it at arms length. We defend ourselves against having exactly what we want. And we do it to keep ourselves safe, and we do it to make sure other people continue to like us. We also don’t like the idea that we are responsible for the manifestation of our dreams. It’s easier to blame situations outside of us.

How do you feel about people who have everything they want in life and whenever they want anything new it just sort of appears? If you aren't aware of anyone who has a life like that, seriously imagine it, then look at your life and see if you're ok, or you feel some emotional reaction like jealousy, or dislike, or sadness, or even a feeling that good fortune is for others, but not for you.

Perhaps you aren't going for or living your dreams because you don't believe you deserve it. Someone somewhere may have caused you to believe that you don't deserve, or that it isn't ok, to have whatever your heart desires. You may have been taught that life is tough, not easy. You may have been taught that money doesn't grow on trees. You may have been taught that to have everything you want makes you greedy or selfish or unlovable.

None of that is true.

It's time to recognize these untruths that you might be using to hide behind – the mistaken perceptions of those who were fearful of coming face to face with their own beauty; that is, the beauty of one who was born to love and to enjoy life and to feel fulfilled.

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Sweet November Links

Getty Images

For a glimpse at a vast archive of super stock photos for great ideas or just some entertainment, visit Getty Images and search through the stock with random keywords:

Communication Arts

An influential and well-established industry annual, Communication Arts magazine is a fantastic source for creative. The website also features good articles, links, tips, and forums:

BigFoto

A resource for “stock “ photos taken by designers and artists, posted for free, are downloadable for free.

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Wrap-Up

Thanks again for your time and interest this month!

If you have any comments, suggestions for future newsletters, questions, tips, etc., please feel free to drop me a line.

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