Leap of Faith

I have always loved some phrases, in fact, I often use them as titles to my paintings. I have yet to use “Leap of Faith” as a title, but I think it is a concept I have seen as an image more times than I can count.

How often have you felt that you were jumping off that proverbial cliff? Do you feel you are doing that now? Perhaps you are starting a business or you suddenly find yourself without a job. This is the time of transition when you see the end of one thing very clearly — a solid past to which we often desperately cling — and the beginning of the future that seems shrouded in mystery. The cliff at your back is a solid rock while the castle of your dreams hovers in the air before your eyes. Between the two is a frightening chasm.

These times of uncertainty are the most poignant moments in my life. The last time it happened I had just come to California. In the midst of my feelings of insecurity and adventure, I had an image that I kept on seeing with my mind’s eye. An image of eagle wings, flying. Just wings outlined against a brilliantly blue and cloudless sky.

Then I had another image that became a feeling in my body.

I saw / felt myself standing at the edge of a bottomless cliff, with my back to the empty air and with my heels on the edge. I saw / felt myself topple over the edge, and with my arms outspread fall towards the ground far, far below.

There was that heart-stopping moment when my heart felt as if it had left my chest, and then I realized that my cliff had no bottom. I was resting on a cushion of air, on a pillow of faith.

My dream was not the illusion. The fear that went before my fall was the illusion. Fear creates the cliff and the idea that if we jump off the cliff of reason we will die, but instead what happens is that when we jump off the cliff of fear we end up in our dream, and that dream is bottomless.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

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Aliyah Marr is a Life Path Consultant and Creative Projects Advisor available for private consultations and transformational readings.

“What do you want to create today?”

LIFE PATH CONSULTANT
I coach artists, designers, authors, and entrepreneurs. With a solid background in marketing, design, coaching and writing, I help individuals throughout the entire creative process all the way from developing their personal vision to establishing their personal brand and marketing their product/service.

CREATIVE PROJECTS ADVISOR
If you have a creative project that you want to develop, market, or promote, contact me through my website: http://www.aliyahmarr.com References are available upon request.

Inspiration and Opportunity

With all the work I do online, sometimes all I want to see is something that has had a human actually touch it. Now that’s the original meaning of digital. The site 1001 Journals makes me want to create a new journal that is not online. Excuse me while I go play with my crayons.

Living an Unconditional Life

When we think about what we want in life, do we place conditions on it?

In programming, a conditional statement is one that defines a branch in the path of the program. The condition makes the branch in the path. The statement tells the program to go ahead in one direction only if very specific conditions are met. If the exact condition is not met, the program is to go ahead in another direction, or stop. If the code has an error, it might loop endlessly, like a lost child wandering endlessly in the woods.

Do you put conditions on your life? Here are some conditional statements that unconsciously lie under our acts and words:

I’ll be happy when I finally get promoted.
I’ll only accept a boyfriend who is successful.
I’ll take that vacation when I have more money in the bank.
I’ll call her when she shows me that she loves me.
Things will be better when I can buy my dream house.
I’ll start my career as an artist when the last kid is out of college.
I’ll enjoy my life more when I can retire.
I’ll be happy when my prince charming comes along.

This is what I like to call the eternal “happiness deferred” excuse to not live your life now. What are you deferring to a later date? Why not do it now instead?

Try listening to your internal dialog for a day. It’s a good idea to bring a little notebook around with you for an hour and record what you are saying to yourself. Witness it without judging it. Your internal dialog eventually reflects itself in the world you see around you.

Internal dialog is the “program” that is looping and stopped when you find yourself unhappy. You are unhappy because you are stuck in a self-imposed conditional statement. Notice and remove your conditional statements one-by-one. Usually, no matter the circumstances of your life, you can find a way to do one thing today to get beyond those silly conditions that we tend to place on our lives. You can create something today — now — even if you don’t have the ideal materials or that studio that you want. Make music, dance, create a poem, write a play, improvise a comedy routine.

No one can impose conditions on you. Your conditions are solely your prerogative. You can limit yourself or free yourself. Yes, it takes courage, but if you practice with small things first, it will get easier with practice. We all find ourselves in conditional loops from time to time. It’s takes just a small bit of attention to what we are telling ourselves to break that loop to get back into a creative life.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

What World Do You Live In?

Have you ever noticed how your mood can change with a single sentence or piece of music? Today I learned of the death of someone who I briefly met a few months ago. She was swimming with the dolphins and had an accident, entered a coma and died the very next day.

As I thought of her this morning, I remembered her goodness, her enthusiasm, and her brilliantly creative mind. I found myself in tears. However, I am not feeling sad, I just feel that this is one of those moments or opportunities to look at what is important in life.

When my mother passed away I wondered where all her knowledge and where her incredible personality went. She had a love of nature, and so I like to say that, according to her beliefs, she is just part of the natural world she so loved.

My mother said, at the end of her life, that she was happy with her life as she had lived it. I think that my father was as well, although I regret that they both had such painful last days.

What is the common denominator in the stories of all these people? That they lived their lives according to their highest motivations. My mother felt her duty as a mother to be the overriding value in her life; being a mother was her definition, her role, and her life path. She dedicated most of her thoughts and energy to her mission.

My father was a deep thinker, a philosopher, a scientist and a father. He achieved his life dream and exceeded his own ideas of what he could do. He had very strong values and he lived a truly moral life in the purest sense of the word.

Christianne was a filmmaker and storyteller who loved animals. She lived her craft, and was kind and supportive to everyone she met. Upon reflection, I think that dying in the ocean surrounded by a pod of incredible dolphins, is a very good way to go.

In all, this life can be a long life of “quiet desperation” or it can be a short life filled with all the good things you can imagine: love, passion, interests, puzzles, and ideas.

It’s an enigma to me why people are so afraid of dying. Is it because death represents the final “bill” to be paid upon receipt, or because they cannot imagine themselves ending? After all, it is hard for us to imagine something without end. What is indeed at the end of the universe? Does it end where the light ends as the scientists say? From this end of materialistic reality it seems to be that we cannot imagine with a mind that is so grounded in the concrete reality of hard edges.

But I think now that the reason people are so afraid of death is because they realize that death represents the bell at the end of school recess. Did you have all the fun you wanted and did you learn everything you wanted to learn? Or did you fritter away your time worrying about the material illusions that this life loves to put in front of our eyes?

When my mother was dying, I realized that she was committing a sublime act, a lesson just for me. All my pettiness dropped away, as I realized what was important in life: love, and the expression of love.

The world is a universe of feelings, not things and not even ideas. What is the world you live in? Are you happy now? What can you change in your thoughts to allow your highest feelings to come through?

What world are you creating right now with your feelings? Could you die this moment in completion? Or are you putting off your joy until an undefined date in the future that never comes?

Yesterday, as I was surfing I almost had an accident that could have been fatal. As I saw my board race headfirst for the sand in shallow water, I was reminded of the intuitive hit I had had just before entering the water that warned me of a potential danger in the water that day. I had wondered if the danger would come from my fellow surfers or from the ocean. I had not guessed it would be the sand on which I walked.

I knew I had passed by a potential “exit” point for my life, and got out of the water. I am recounting this story because I know I have passed this exit ramp a few times before in my life, and each time decided to stay on the highway.

It’s a good time to understand why you might choose to stay in a life that is sometimes very difficult. I like to say that I have found that I have a purpose, but it is more of a feeling that I have. That feeling is the vehicle that carries me forward. I won’t leave yet because I love this feeling. What is the feeling, you ask. It’s a love for life that isn’t even mine, but likes to express itself through me. Life loves love, and death is not an ending or beginning or even a transition, but like everything else in a creative universe, it is simply an expression of love.

We may not understand that expression because we have such a veil of illusion in front of our eyes: we see only change and loss. This is the “maya” of which the philosophers speak. It is related to a linear concept of time, and this concept is what gives us the feelings of loss.

It is up to us to focus on what is important. If death has to come around a few times to remind us of that, so be it. I don’t intend to imply that our thoughts should be morbid, but that the occasional reminders are to free us to do what we want to do now. Use the idea of death as a friendly adviser to be in your highest creative self. The time to create your “future” self is not tomorrow, not yesterday, but now.

Create the feeling of the world you want to live in, and your life will follow.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Inspiration is Sometimes Found in Weird Places

Weird things inspire me. This morning I realized that one of those things is Seth Godin’s bald cranium.

Seth is the modern uber-marketer, and cultural philosopher. Suffice it to say that his head gives me all kinds of ideas. Now that’s inspiration.

Read the article I wrote on my blog about design and marketing, . Fresh Asylum

http://freshasylum.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/seth-godins-head-bald-as-a-brand/

Recommended Reading

One of the better books on the Law of Attraction is Penney Peirce’s “Frequency;” practical guide to the idea of living an intuitively-guided life.

Frequency

Poem of a Silent Global Revolution

I found this on the web. I’d like to share it with you.
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“We Are Here.”

On the surface of the world right now there is
war and violence and things seem dark.

But calmly and quietly, at the same time,
something else is happening underground.

An inner revolution is taking place
and certain individuals are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution
from the inside out, from the ground up.

This is a global operation.
There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet.

You won’t see us on TV or hear about us on the radio.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper.

We don’t seek glory, we don’t wear any uniform,
we come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.

Most of us work anonymously,
quietly behind the scenes,
in every country and culture of the world,
in cities big and small, mountains and valleys,
in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.

You could pass one of us on the street and never notice.
We go undercover, we remain behind the scenes.

It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
but simply that the work gets done.

Occasionally we spot each other in the street,
give a quiet nod, and continue on our way.

During the day many of us pretend to have normal jobs
but behind the false storefront, at night,
is where the real work takes a place.

Some call us the Conscious Army.
We are slowly creating a new world
with the power of our minds and hearts.

Our orders come from from the Central Spiritual Intelligence.
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking:
Poems, Hugs, Music, Photography, Movies, Kind Words,
Smiles, Meditation, Prayer, Dance, Social Activism,
Websites, Blogs, Random Acts of Kindness.

We express ourselves each in our own unique way.
“Be the change you want to see in the world”—
that is the motto that fills our hearts.

We know it is the only way real transformation takes place.

Love is the new “religion” of the 21st century.
You don’t have to have exceptional knowledge to understand it.

It comes from the intelligence of the heart,
embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings.

Perhaps you will join us
or already have.

The door is open.

– Anonymous

Recommended Green Blog

As easy on the eyes as a deep green forest:

http://naturallygreen.wordpress.com/

Dare to Dream It!

If you can dream you can create anything. But sometimes people need help when they are trying to make their dreams come true. My experience has shown me that people get stuck in several places:

1. THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?
This person can’t focus or doesn’t know what to do first. They need to “talk out” their vision to find their direction.

2. ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER
I share a process with my one-on-one clients I call “envisioning.” This process is very intensive and personal. The physical result is a mind-map of ideas, connections and directions that you can take home with you to post and keep you on course for several months. (Envisioning can be done several times a year and involves two solid hours of intensive co-creating)

3. A DAM IN THE FLOW OF CREATIVITY
Emotional blocks can stop us from creating anything else but limitations. As I explain in my book, “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity” emotions are the essential catalyst in the creative process; they are in fact our greatest ally and tool. If your emotions are going right when your intended direction is left, then we need to work on the emotional level. This problem is best seen energetically: misapplied emotions are just an eddy of vital energy in your creative flow. Some people are so disconnected from their emotions, that they don’t even know that they have blocked them. They can no longer feel. As our emotions serve as an intuitive guidance system, a life with no emotions is like trying to navigate blind. Unblocking your emotional flow restores your inner vision.

4. IDEAS ARE POPPING UP EVERYWHERE LIKE MUSHROOMS AFTER A DOWNPOUR
This is what happens to certain people after they have been opened up creatively. The flow won’t stop, keeps you up at night, and serves only to waste your time and energy. You wish you had one simple, stupid little idea that works instead of so many incredible, far-fetched and lofty ideas that are not practical. The coaching process for someone with this “problem” amounts to checking your idea garden and weeding it. You will be left with the strongest, most practical, viable concept and a strong direction. Your other ideas will be recorded, so you can do what you want with them. Compost anyone?

5. ONE STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND
You know where you are going, but simply can’t take the first step. A coach can get you past that invisible barrier. Together we find your comfort zone and help you divide the first step into smaller and smaller pieces until you find it not only easy but fun to go forward.

6. THE MESSAGE IS THE MEDIUM
Often, a creative individual has a strong vision and all the confidence they need, but they have a hard time organizing the parts into a cohesive whole. This is where my experience as an art director and editor comes into play. Organization is what enables communication. You could have an incredible idea, but your delivery is so disorganized that your audience cannot tell what you are saying.

7. YOUR PERSONAL TRAINER WILL MEET YOU AT 6 AM
A lot of creative people are too A.D.D. to work on their own, so they need direction and defined work-goals. They often need on-going coaching, so they feel they have to do the “assignments” the coach gives them.

8. TRANSLATE RIGHT BRAIN INSPIRATION INTO LEFT BRAIN ACTION
My background in design and marketing is what gives me the outward tools for helping people materialize their creative dreams. However, there is so much more to coaching people. I like to say that I put a person’s higher creative self into communication with their ego-self or left-brain. The ego-self, if healthy, is what helps us manifest our dreams.

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There is no dream too big and no dream that cannot happen. Bring on your ideas and let’s talk!  Here are some ways to get started:

ONE ON ONE
I work with individuals on a sliding scale basis. I like to meet with clients once a week to make sure they are staying on course, and there is enough flexibility in your program. Billed monthly. This coaching is done over the phone unless the client can meet me locally. New clients get a signed copy of my book.

GROUP DYNAMICS
If you can’t afford personal coaching, or prefer a group setting, we will be meeting locally every Sunday. A donation of $10-20 is requested. Email me to request to join the group; time and location will be provided in the personal response I send you.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER
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CHECK OUT MY BOOK
See if my philosophy resonates with you.
http://www.parallelmindbook.com

SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG (the newsletter is sourced from here)
The accompanying blog has excepts from every chapter in the pages section to the right.

See my profile on LinkedIn to read some recommendations and find out more about my experience and expertise:
http://www.linkedin/in/aliyahmarr