I remember my first Stampington magazine-yes, I still have it. I dreamed of being published in their inspired pages, but doubt always talked me out of it. I use to think my lifestyle made it difficult. I would start a challenge and my husband would receive orders-we are a military family-just recently retired. I had to give my paint supplies away-I usually donated them. I think it was doubt, more than moving that prevented me from submitting art.
I remember the first challenge I started, I didn't get it finished in time. It was an India challenge. Time marched on, moving, having children, working, and another child. One day I thought: I don't want to grow old and wonder what if?! I slowly found the courage and decided to take steps towards the path, I always wanted to walk. My first submission was the wax paper challenge. I didn't get featured, but I kept going.
I think of my journey as the yellow brick road. We are cautious when we begin any new path, trying to find our voice. Our hearts are green and we grow as we go along and yes sometimes we stumble. Their are road blocks, detours like red lights. Yes, like the poppies that stopped Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion, before reaching Emerald city. And like Dorothy and her journey-we all have our own pair of Ruby Red Slippers. I knew I had the power all along. There is no place like home in your heART. YOU have to decide what your art, talent, passion is. We all have the power to create our world, a new one, when we decide to listen to our heart and follow our journey.
My biggest road blocks besides doubt is my family. I love them and they me, but it is hard to explain when they find items they recycled back in our house. They feel I have changed. I have, I see potential in everything! I have put lace on Crystal Light lids, I have put dryer sheets in my printer. I recently stitched on a coconut husk you would put a plant in and used Magic Sponge boxes to create art using T-shirts.
You have awakened the passion and a creative force, it was there all along. And when I tap my Ruby Red slippers, the ones I glittered myself, I think of the JOurneY. I have had more than my share of homes, moving due to my husband's career. It takes listening to your imagination and let the red strings of your dreams lift you and give you wings. No one does this alone. Other people inspire you, encourage you with their poems, their stories, their blogs, their comments, their art, their music, their love and it grows. Yes, all of you are Glinda offering hope to continue onward. I hope I have been Glinda to you, too.
Being creative is a cautionary tale, it takes courage, heart, and the will to keep learning to travel further and find your joy.
"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break."
(Chinese proverb)
