“Step Into Your Dream” Creative Brainstorming Session: Carlsbad Village Cooperative Network

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creative caffeine

“Step into Your Dream”

Do you dare to dream your biggest dream?

Aliyah will be offering group and individual Creative Caffeine brainstorming sessions at this meeting. Come with your thinking hat on! She will sign copies of her books “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity” and “Pocket Parallel Mind” for attendees.

http://www.meetup.com/carlsbad-village-cooperative-network/events/17237974/

Monday, April 18, 2011
11:30 AM

Fresco Traoria
264 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA

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140 Characters or Less: Tweet Quotes from Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

These same Tweet quotes from the original Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity are now in print in a new inspirational creative-quote-a-day called, Pocket Parallel Mind.

I call this new book the A.D.D version of my first book. 😉

Now taking advance orders for the print edition.  Pocket Parallel Mind won’t be available in stores or on Amazon until 2011, but I am offering it direct to my readers before publication.

To order this book directly from the author, go HERE.

——
I have been pulling quotes from my book and posting them on Twitter. Feel free to follow me on Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/parallelmind

You can also retweet them on Twitter if you want or share them with your friends.

—-

“The power of creative thought can impel you to excel in any medium, in any field, any subject.” — Aliyah Marr

“Whatever you dream is available to you; first you must know how to use your creative potential.” — Aliyah Marr

“An artist is not defined by his work, but by the power of his creative thought.” — Aliyah Marr

“Manifestation is the natural, spontaneous conclusion that follows inspiration.” — Aliyah Marr

“Art is about change, exploration, and about the courage to know yourself.” — Aliyah Marr

“If you follow a path of conscious change you are walking in the very footsteps of giants.” — Aliyah Marr

“When will you allow yourself the life you deserve?” A voice is whispering in your ear: today is the day.” — Aliyah Marr

 

Free Gift for Subscribers of Parallel Mind

Christmas Present by Petr Kratochvil

I’d like to offer the subscribers of this blog a free gift or two in time for the holidays. The first gift will be available by November 1st of this year, and I’d like to give a lot of gifts away, so please encourage your friends, associates and family to subscribe to this blog/newsletter before November (click on button in upper right column).

You may have wondered what has happened to Parallel Mind this year. Up until February, I posted on Parallel Mind regularly — once or twice a week, readers of this blog got an issue about creativity and personal development in their email or RSS reader.

Last February, I suddenly had an awesome creative inspiration: in the same flash I saw the title of a whole new book series, and the covers of all the books. Creative inspiration is like that sometimes. It happens in the weirdest places; this time it happened as I was riding my bike along the ocean. I had to stop to write down the titles and draw the covers.

Fast forward to October. It’s been a weird year, with a lot of false starts and stops and circling around again. From what I hear it’s been that way for a lot of people. But through all the changes I know that I will produce these books. I know, too, that they will be fun and practical as well.

For those of you who have bought my first book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity, and liked it, you will find much new material in this new series that you can instantly use. I can’t tell you how excited I am about writing them; I plan on sharing much of the material with my subscribers as I write these books, just as I did with my first book.

ABOUT THE FREE GIFT

It will take me a while to write these books, so I’d like to reward those who have followed this blog with a free gift or two. In turn, you may personalize the gift I give to you and give it to anyone you want, or keep it for yourself. I will be providing this gift through email to my subscriber list as a special offer. This offer will be available only to subscribers and will be ready in time for the holidays.

I am having almost as much fun planning what I am giving away as I will have creating it, and giving it away. I’m like a kid when it comes to creating something new. My mother, an art teacher herself, taught us children to make gifts for the holidays, so, even today I find it is so much more fun to make gifts than to buy them. And, of course, if you are a creative person yourself, you know that it is an absolute joy for me to share what I create with as many people as possible.

My request to you is that if you know of anyone who would enjoy what I write, to encourage them to subscribe to this blog so that they too can receive my gift(s). While there are no limits to how many of these gifts I can give out, I would like to reach as many people as possible.

My plan is to continue to give out more special offers and special product pricing for  subscribers. As I expand the offerings, I’d like for as many people as possible benefit from what I will post here.

Please share this link or newsletter with your friends, business associates, partners, family; anyone you think might benefit from more creative inspiration in their lives.

Aliyah Marr to Give Keynote Address for Conscious Living Chamber of Commerce May 8th 2010

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Conscious Creative, creative freedom, creativity training, entrepreneurs, facing fear, inspiration, life path coaching, social change, Transformation

Aliyah Marr will give the keynote address for the Conscious Living Chamber of Commerce in Irvine, California today on May 8th, 2010.

Topic: “Trickle-up Economics: Growing the Creative Conscious Community”

Conscious Living Business Mixer

The Conscious Living Chamber of Commerce

This event will be hosted by: Brant & Andra Burnett

The event will start on: May 08 2010 1:00 pm

and will end on: May 08 2010 6:00 pm

The event will be at the Temple of Light Spiritual Community

Expand and Promote Your Business

Please come and join us for The Conscious Living Chamber of Commerce very first Conscious Living Business Mixer.

Featuring Special Guest Speaker:

Aliyah Marr – author of:

Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

Please visit her website: http://www.aliyahmarr.com/

We Have Door Prizes Valued at Over $100.00 Each
Given Away Every Half Hour!

Come Mix, Mingle and Promote Yourself…….
You Might Win a Great Prize!

Participant Fee:

RSVP Participant Fee is only $5.00 -Includes 5 free tickets for door prizes when
you RSVP before May 7, 2010 ($8.00 at the door, plus
$1.00 per optional door prize ticket.)

Phone: (949) 340-7408  (949) 340-7408
Email: admin@templeoflight.info

Location:
The Temple of Light – Spiritual Wellness Center
23832 Rockfield Blvd, Suite 195
Lake Forest, CA 92630

We look forward to meeting you.
—–
Aliyah Marr
Websites:
http://www.aliyahmarr.com

http://www.parallelmindbook.com

https://parallelmind.wordpress.com

Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/aliyahmarr

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/aliyah.marr

The Healing Power of Art

Tags

anxiety, art therapy, Conscious Creative, Creative coach, creative freedom, creativity training, depression, facing fear, inspiration, Transformation

Fall From Grace © 2000 Aliyah Marr

These days it seems everyone is experiencing changes. Changes often evoke fear; if you find yourself in a “dark night of the soul,” you may find it very difficult to make good decisions.

The brain reacts to fearful circumstances by shutting off the blood supply to the higher functioning parts of the brain; automatically shutting off creativity, and openness at the same time. The brain does this so that the entire person may survive adverse conditions without getting frozen in abstract thought. Anxiety generates the same reaction in the brain, preventing creative thought.

So what can one do when the brain is caught in the wheel of fear or anxiety? One of the best ways out is through expression in art. I have discovered — as have most artists — that it is best to know what is bothering you, and I use art to bring it out in the open. Once it is out in the open, it has a chance to no longer be in you.

I am a visual artist (www.radi8.org), but, for some reason, I cannot use my art to express powerful emotions. Instead, I use poetry for this purpose. It’s a good thing that I have access to more than one medium — in fact, I think that creative people can use more than one medium, and I encourge this in my books and as a creative coach.

The expression of an artist’s feelings has resulted in some of the most poignant works of art and music ever produced…

As an artist you can choose any kind of creative activities to explore an issue, and thereby lighten your mood. In the process, the artist finds unsuspected resources that have nothing to do with what we normally associate with ourselves, with our conscious thoughts and identity. — © Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

Art as personal therapy — like the blues in music — has the power to transform the artist: it can change his mood, his outlook on life, even his future. But beyond healing the emotional landscape of the artist and viewer, it has a direct effect on the evolution of the entire person.

Surely if you can make a life of art, why not make an art of life?

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Tweeting Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

I have been pulling quotes from my book and posting them on Twitter. I have found over 400 phrases from my book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity that fit into 140 characters and stand quite well on their own as a quote on creativity and consciousness.

You can retweet them on Twitter if you want or share them with your friends.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/parallelmind

—-

“A creative person loves the pursuit of knowledge, not its possession.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

“A creative person does not mindlessly store data like a computer; instead he skates on the surface of information.” ~Aliyah Marr

“Creative thinking cannot live in a critical environment.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

“In order to provide the necessary environment for inspiration, you have to allow for anything.” ~Aliyah Marr

“One of the functions of art is to bring the viewer to a different perspective than he had before.” ~Aliyah Marr

“The creative mood is one of ease, lightness and play.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity
“The best tool of the creative individual is his mind, or rather, his attitude.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

“A creative person is standing at the center of the universe, with infinite paths going in all directions.” ~Aliyah Marr

“Creative thinking is more related to intuition than to logic and learning.” ~Aliyah Marr

“Creative insight and inspiration often requires that one has to forget all that one has learned.” ~Aliyah Marr

Polarity and Strange Attractors

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negative emotions

“As the shadow continually follows one who walks in the sun, so our hermaphrodidic Adam, though he appears in the form of a male, nonetheless always carries about within him Eve, or his wife, hidden within his body.” — Tractatus aureus in Bibl. chem. curiosa, I, p. 417

Our society has a very polarized view of the world. I have often asked myself, “Is this polarity a natural thing or something that has come integrated in our culture?” I guess I will never truly answer my own question, but it seems that we still have to deal with a world that seems to rely on polarity. Male to balance female, good to balance bad, etc. How do we deal with the fragments of ourselves that express themselves on one side or the other of the equation? Personally, I feel that art is the perfect tool for the recognition, expression, and eventual integration of these fragmented selves. My book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity outlines this process.

Many of us cannot accept those fragments of ourselves that we see as negative. We can find ourselves with an intolerant attitude towards those parts of us that we don’t like, worse, sometimes we ignore their presence. Not admitting to something does not solve its existence, nor does it promote a sense of wholeness; on the contrary, denying or resisting something only attracts it into your life, and makes it stronger.

In the same way any unwanted part of yourself becomes more defined and powerful the more you resist it. The Oracle in The Matrix movie told Neo that the agent, Smith, was his polar opposite and natural enemy; the machines in control of the Matrix needed an equally strong negative factor to balance the equation of Neo’s positive presence. I think that this is why we are drawn to our opposites, because we are trying to balance the equation of the question of polarity.

We are drawn to not only a vision of polar opposites, but, in no small way, we are drawn to circumstances and people who reflect negative polarity. We don’t have to go far to find examples of polar attraction to negativity: the well-documented human fascination at car accidents, an attraction to horror flicks, to TV series and movies about crime and violence, violent games which show us massive death and destruction, the list goes on and on.

Just as you cannot surgically remove part of yourself and be whole and healthy, so there cannot be emotional wholeness while one denies one part of the self.  The body needs all parts to be whole. In just such a way, a person cannot deny that evil — if he believes in evil — exists only outside of him.

Unconscious, primitive awareness cannot perceive that the totality requires acceptance (awareness of connection) first. Only when we reach a certain clarity can we finally see how we generate everything in our lives. We can see that our beliefs have a reality first within ourselves and then manifest as “reality” outside of us. When we finally reach this point, integration is not far behind.

The Ying Yang symbol shows this natural dance, and gives a sense of wholeness and rightness. The little bit of Yin exists as a black dot within the white Yang, while the Yin carries a bit of her mate as a white dot within herself.

Whenever you find yourself disconnected, disenfranchised or in tension, reflect or meditate on the Yin Yang symbol and allow it to draw you into the natural dance of polarity; remember the dance within the figure, and the figure within the dance. We can accept our polar opposite, and know that the dance of opposites creates life, and mirrors life at the same time.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Discover (unblock) Your Creative Genius

My philosophy is that we are supposed to be happy in this life. What makes us happy varies from person to person, but what’s essential to all can be distilled into a few basic precepts:

— We need to have our basic needs met: food, clothing shelter.

— We need to be appreciated for what we know and for who we are.

— We need to feel that our work means something.

We often have a lot of pressure on us to conform to the standards and to the desires of others. This can make us feel as if we are living in a cage. No matter what we do, someone, somewhere thinks it is wrong.

But we have left the schoolyard, so why can’t we have the freedom that we have longed for for so long?

It is up to us to create our freedom.

Our innate creative talent can be developed into a fully conscious ability. This takes work because we often have self-imposed limitations and creative blocks. But this process can be and should be fun.

Being an artist — a fully developed creative individual — is a joy that I think everyone should have.

If you are already creative, I can help you overcome blocks and help you to transfer your knowledge to anything you want to create the life of your dreams. If you have always wondered if you are creative, I am here to tell you that you are; it’s time to unlock your creative genius and live up to your full potential.

I use art as a supremely adapted tool for personal development. With the skills I have, I can adapt to my circumstances, no matter what they are, and I can find joy in the doing.

I teach personal development through art, because art gives us a perfect, safe and protected environment to develop our innate creative abilities. Art is like a playpen for conscious development. As we learn the principles of being an artist, we can learn to apply these same skills to anything in our lives.

Make an art of life, make a life of art.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Contact me at: aliyahmarr (at) gmail (dot) com

— excerpt from www.aliyahmarr.com

Time to Stop Dreaming and Start Dancing

My waking dream:

The People are in a dance, in a drama; one where everyone is wearing a mask. The drama has gone on too long, and now many of the players sleep with their masks on. Nearly everyone forgets that it is just a play, that they agreed before they started so long ago that they were going to take on their roles and put on their masks.

The People dance around, and around, drunk as bees on nectar in the summertime. They have drunk their roles, the parts they agreed to play.

They fight each other over things their characters say, the things their characters do; but most of all, they fight over the things their characters believe.

How did it come to pass, that the People believe what their characters are supposed to believe? How did they come to sleep in the skin of the roles they agreed to assume? How did they forget they were wearing masks?

Each player is now dreaming their part one hundred percent of the time, night and day they reenact the drama, forgetting that their roles are only something that they chose to play.

They forgot they are playing, only playing.

Suddenly the music stops, and the People — your boss, your parents, your siblings, your friends, your enemies, your teachers, everyone you ever knew in whatever relationship you knew them — stop dancing, they take off their masks, shrug off their roles, smile and bow to you.

The world is new, the dance begins again. Do you see? Underneath every role and mask is a role that you agreed to play.

The wondrous gift of creativity is the ability to see beyond our own creations, our own illusions to the wonder of this marvelous world and to this unforgettable moment in time, to our own power as humans. We were made to play; play is what redeems us from our own habit of unconsciousness. Play is the root of conscious creativity.

Don’t take life so seriously, little one. Don’t forget to play. Your only job on this beautiful Earth is to be happy.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

The Art of Envisioning

"Perfect Reflection," reversible diptych paintings, © 2004 Aliyah Marr

When I first learned the art of envisioning, I was still in art school. I learned to memorize an object from all sides and then turn it around in my mind. Later, I learned to visualize objects in my imagination. . It was an amazing skill.

When I learned to meditate, I discovered another amazing ability: as I sat in the darkness with my eyes closed, I could see my arms very clearly — as if I had my eyes open. In fact, my vision was eerily detailed: I could see tiny details that I couldn’t see except in bright sunlight — like the fine hair on my arms and the pores in my skin.

Later, while walking in the park I suddenly found myself walking with my eyes closed. I once took 100 steps on uneven ground without opening them. I could say that I used my other senses to guide my feet, but the truth is that I could see as if I had my eyes open. I had discovered an interesting fact: I could see with my eyes closed sometimes better than with my eyes open.

Those who call themselves realists scorn idealists and those who dream of a better future. How, they say, can you deny that Man is inherently violent? How can you deny that bad things are all around you?

But some people can see something else, because they have the power of envisioning. They envision a new, better world where everyone is valued and truly equal, and there is no need for strife or superiority. This world is built by many hearts, it is an equally valid potential reality. As we collectively come to believe in  the same dream, and in our power to make the dream real, the old reality starts withering away because we no longer feed it with our emotions and energy.

We are all equally gifted with the art of visualization. Collectively we can create something new when we learn to dream the same dream together. Together, we can envision a new, infinitely better world. And finally there will be a place on this beautiful Earth that the heart can call home.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Seven Over 140, More Quotes From Parallel Mind

Nightfall in Birch © 2005 Aliyah Marr

I am now on the second round of feeding my book through Twitter 140 characters at a time. I distilled down over 400 pithy excerpts from Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity, a book over 250 pages; that’s about a quote every half page (someone check my math, please). While I won’t say that the excerpts can replace the book, collectively, they are a great snapshot of the ideas in the book.

Feel free to Tweet these, put them in an email, or in a note to a friend.

~~~

“An artist knows how to shift focus for inspiration and knowledge.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creatvity

“An artist doesn’t wait for the perfect tool or circumstances; he can make art from anything and anywhere.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creatvity

“The artist sees inspiration where others might see only a limitation or an obstacle.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creatvity

“The process of creative inspiration usually starts simple and gains complexity over time.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creatvity

“The creative person has a lifelong romance with knowledge.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creatvity

“The creative person dares to ask the simple question.” ~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creatvity

“An artist passionately loves his subject; every detail & sensation.”~Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creatvity

Nature as a Model for a New World

One day I took a walk in the local nature center. The educational center at the head of the trail showed me how the sound is periodically flooded by salt-water from the sea, destroying some life forms and nourishing others.

I sat near the salt marsh for some time, watching the storks and egrets hunting for small creatures in the water’s edge.

I reflected on the way people have built structures that continue to slide down hills when the rain comes, how we have built retaining walls that do little good, how we built a dam at tide level in New Orleans, and others in other parts of the world. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods — we all resist the natural forces of the world, building buildings (and our whole society) in denial of the eventual disaster.

But we don’t have to continue to build in this manner. Why not take our lessons on how to build with natural forces from Nature herself? Change is part of the equation, and it doesn’t have to be a disaster, but just part of the process. As the ancient Egyptians looked forward to their annual flood, so we can build in cooperation with nature. We can build buildings that don’t resist natural forces, even the ones of decay.

Who, after all, wants to swim in an ocean filled with the concrete from the street of million dollar homes washed away in the last landslide or hurricane? Who wants to drink the water from the stream fed by the toxic waste from the landfill? Why make things to last? Wouldn’t a great economy be supported by new buildings to replace the old after they have gracefully decayed back into the environment?

Now, we can take the metaphor further, and learn how to build everything from the lessons of nature; buildings, cities, social structures, education, relationships, a nation and a world that is tolerant, resilient, and flexible to change.

In the process we will build a society of creative, empowered people who are flexible to change, and aligned with the forces of the Earth. Whether we fight it or not, we are just part of the natural system; the choice has always been ours — do we oppose Nature or flow with it?

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

A Tale About Fear, Power, and a Pair of Really Rad Shoes

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facing fear

I love old movies, myths and stories for the wonderful insights they can give us. One of my favorites is the Wizard of Oz.

Screenshot from the Wizard of Oz

In the Wizard of Oz, the wizard used the magic of advanced technology unknown to his people, so he could seem bigger and more powerful than others. In the end, Dorothy and her companions discover the truth about the wizard; he was just an insecure man who ruled through fear. Dorothy and her companions are destined to become wizards in their own right when they conquer their own fears. When  they were able to peer behind the curtain and see that the wizard for what he really was, his power over them waned as their personal power grew.

I cannot underestimate the courage it takes to truly face one’s fears and insecurities. Fear can freeze you, and incapacitate you at the very moment when you should be taking action. But fear, like all emotion, is just energy. Rather than fearing fear, you can welcome it when it comes, because it can give you a boost of energy that you can channel in the direction of accomplishing any task you desire.

“Don’t fight your fear, roll with it.”

Dorothy thought that if she just accomplished the tasks that the wizard assigned her, she would be able to achieve her desire of returning home. She thought that the task and the power to complete that task was outside her, but her real task was to discover her own power, and that task was cleverly masked by the wisdom of the wizard who tricked her into learning.

Many of us have been taught to be afraid to be powerful.

We have been taught to hand over our most precious gift — our personal creativity and individualism — to remote authorities and organizations who do not have our individual growth and well-being at heart. The power that Dorothy feared was her own nascent power; she was a child who didn’t know that she could be an adult and claim her birthright of creative freedom.

It takes a sense of personal responsibility to claim personal power. No one arrives at personal power if they have an agenda of hurting or controlling others.

Personal power is not power over others, it is about gaining the freedom to choose one’s own thoughts.

You can only claim personal power when you can choose your emotional reaction to what life brings you; this emotional detachment and clarity is called “sobriety.” Personal power is about sobriety, clear vision and independence of thought.

Don’t be afraid to speak your truth; when it is truly yours, you will feel it is true and your truth will speak itself. Don’t be afraid to claim your creative power, and know that you are powerful. You need no one else to validate you or confirm your truth for you. Suddenly, like Dorothy when she woke up in the Land of Oz, you find yourself in a place of incredible vividness and color; I like to call this place “creative freedom.”

After many trials and tribulations, Dorothy woke up to her personal power, looked down at the ruby slippers on her feet, and realized that she could get home under her own power after all.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Chasing Ghosts

Topaz © Aliyah Marr

I fondly remember  the antics of the family cat of my childhood, who would often get the heebee-jeebees right around 11 pm at night. You know what how bizarre it feels and looks when a charlie horse suddenly takes over the muscles of your leg. Cats seem to experience something similar.

Our cat might be sitting on the floor, as calm, collected and dignified as any Zen practitioner deep in meditation. Suddenly his back would start twitching — it appeared to be moving on its own. He would look around wildly for the person or animal tormenting it, find nothing, get spooked and run off in the other direction. We used to laugh and say that he was “chasing ghosts.”

Our cat could never get to the bottom of this mystery; he didn’t realize that what he experienced was not actually outside him; instead, it was just a nervous twitch inside him. He could only project his feeling, imagine an enemy, and react.

We do the same; we have the power to create whole worlds from our imagined fears, and forget that the solution to most of our problems lies in awareness, acceptance, and integration. We can choose to be conscious of our thoughts, and realize that we have the power to accept and integrate all parts of ourselves. We can seek wholeness and acceptance inside and without.

We can choose to be conscious instead of unconscious; we can find the whole within each part; we can remember to understand, tolerate difference, and accept that there is a natural form even in things of human design.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Love is a Chain

"The Meadow in Summer", from The Near & Far Series © 2004 Aliyah Marr

In the movie “The Grass Harp,” Walter Matthau states that “love is a chain.” One of the characters in the film, a young teenager, is encountering difficulty in his love life. Matthau tells him, “Your problem is that you are taking too much on. To understand love, you must start small. Love a leaf, a flower, the sun on your face. Later, when you have enough experience, you can love a woman.”

Walter’s romantic interest tells him that she has been in love since she was a child. All she has to do is take a walk outside. She tells him that the tall grass in the meadow plays a melody with the concert of the wind. If you quiet your thoughts you can hear the voices of the grass singing.

If you look at how the wind moves through the grass, you can see that the blades of grass are like a chain, a loose chain connected by the wind that passes through them touching each blade with the next, and creating a lovely susurration.

The grass and the wind sweetly invite us to listen to their song of love. All creation is there in that sound, all history, the whole of human existence reduced to an idea that floats upon the breeze, and, as you open your heart, the love of the eternal grass enfolds and comforts you.

Love is the chain that connects all, it is everywhere, we are like little fish swimming in a sea of love. We can choose to swim with it or against it, deny it or think ourselves outside it, but nothing we can do will alter or destroy the chain of love, for it is the same as the chain of life.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Listening © 1991 Aliyah Marr

One day when I was fourteen years old, I decided that I was an artist. I didn’t know what kind of artist I would be, so I tried everything.

Like most children, I was an avid consumer of culture — I was addicted to TV and read incessantly. By the age of fourteen, I was reading up to three books a day. To read that fast, one has to have learned to skim content: I wasn’t enjoying reading anymore, I was just looking for a distraction to fill my time.

On this day, I decided to stop watching TV. It wasn’t easy, for my family was still watching. I secluded myself in my bedroom and faced my desire to make something. The blank canvas before me was myself, I just didn’t know it at the time.

Then, about a year later, I had quit my compulsive reading as well: I replaced it with writing. I wrote several short stories and a lot of poems.

Those two decisions changed my life; I was no longer just a consumer, I was a creative. Instead of consuming what someone else wanted to feed me, I was cooking my own creations. Of course, it took me a long time to build skills, subtlety, and confidence, but the decision that I already was an artist is what forever changed me.

I still don’t know what I will be when I grow up, but the joy I experience as a creative is incredible. When one of my works succeeds in communicating something to someone else, maybe even to the point of changing their lives, then I am content.

I experience everything as a creative opportunity, even limitations or obstacles. While I can no longer define myself, I know that at heart my life is simply an expression of the creative force, in whatever form it chooses to take. I have surrendered my life to this force, so that in whatever role I find myself — speaker, teacher, artist, writer, designer — that beautiful current flows through me and inspires a life rich in thought and creative opportunities.

Copyright 22010 Aliyah Marr

All Your Dreams Are on Their Way

Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind

— Simon & Garfunkle

Other people may see these turbulent times in terms of loss, limitation, and the end of a good life, but I see it as an unparalleled opportunity to change things for the better. This is a very exciting time to live, because the individual has more power to create than ever before.

Dream Awake © 2002 Aliyah Marr

I would venture to say that there are more creative geniuses on this planet today than at any other time in history.

Creativity is a funny thing, it doesn’t know polarity, it doesn’t discriminate, and it is capable of destruction or construction.

The old dream of power, destruction and greed is ending, toppling of it’s own accord. It is not sustainable to exploit the environment or people. These things are finite, and so are we. Like children who were let loose to play with powerful toys, we have almost destroyed our home. Now as teenagers, we are just realizing how powerful we are — will we create our own demise or will we create a new heaven on Earth?

The ancient indigenous people all over the world know that we are dreaming 100 percent of the time, awake or asleep. We can choose. We direct the dream with our thoughts; and we have the power individually and collectively to change those thoughts and thereby change our reality.

Now it’s time to wake up, and change the dream. It’s up to you. It’s up to me. Now it’s time to dream your best dream.

Your dreams are no longer on their way, they are here.

Copyright 2009-2010 Aliyah Marr

Follow Your Star and Find Your Dream

When a dream takes hold of you, what can you do? You can run with it, let it run your life, or let it go and think for the rest of your life about what might have been.
—Patch Adams, M.D.

A few years ago, I lived in a condo complex where I met one of the people who changed my life. A quirky elderly white woman who loved to golf, but couldn’t play anymore, a devotee of Michael Jordan (she kept a full-length poster of him on her bedroom door, just like a teenager); she and I used to have long discussions about life. One day she gave me a few simple words of wisdom:

“Follow your star, wherever it leads you.”

It was a few years later, after the dot-com bubble burst and the business of design was in turmoil that I sat in meditation and asked myself, “What do I want to do now?”

I had come to New York to pursue a dual career as designer and artist. I had succeeded, and had reached the pinnacle of success in new media, but that dream was over. Where was my star?

As I meditated, it came to me that I needed to do something that I really wanted to do, whether logical or not. I needed a new star, but I didn’t know what that was yet. I was exhausted, and I couldn’t think of a logical solution to my dilemma. I didn’t know that this can be the best time to come up with something truly new: when it is obvious that you have tried all other logical avenues. Then, you can know what you want.

I listened to my intuition, came to California, and learned to surf. In the process, I gained more than I could have ever imagined. I found new friends, a new passion, I wrote a book, and am writing more. I found my new star.

Finding and following your star only requires two things from you:

1. Faith that you will find it.

2. The belief that your star will shine even on the darkest night.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

The Spirit of the Season: Give the Gift of Appreciation

“… and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” — The Beatles

I want to wish everyone the best this holiday season. I see the holidays as an opportunity to remember that love is an energy that we can choose to have in our lives. We can choose to see everything from either the aspect of love or the aspect of fear; it is a choice that we have everyday, but the holidays give us some fine examples of love at its very best.

Song of the Sea © 2001 Aliyah Marr (The Abundance Card, Transformational Tarot)

I want to ask you if you see the homeless person in your neighborhood? Do you look them in the eyes, acknowledge them, give them a kind greeting? Wise people from every culture tell us that that homeless person is us, they are just in a different body, and have a different set of life experiences.

One of my favorite sayings is, “To know yourself is to know all men.” I think that this is the source of that mysterious thing that many people call “grace,” “enlightenment,” and that other equally mysterious thing that they call “forgiveness.” It’s easier to forgive if you admit that you have the same potential for any action, good or bad as anyone else.

Knowing yourself is admitting that you are not your bank account, your credit line, or your material assets. You are not even your thoughts or beliefs. You are not your nationality. You are not even your thoughts. You are not your circumstances.

You are so much more. You are pure potential, and you are standing at the edge of a sea of creative opportunity. You have the ability to change yourself, transform yourself, renew yourself, create a new body, new life, and influence those around you with creative action, thoughtfulness and the example of your love.

I prefer to replace the word “love” with the word “appreciation.” This word is especially useful because it has a dual meaning. In the stock market, if you invest a positive dollar amount in an asset, it has the possibility of appreciating.

In the realm of emotional reality, when you appreciate something or someone sincerely, you are opening yourself up in a marvelous way; turning your attention outward, and donating a bit of energy back to the stock of the universe, in which, karmically speaking, we are all stockholders.

The return on your investment may come from an entirely unexpected source. Do not expect or demand it from the place you made the original investment. The art of giving freely to others without expectation or strings is a sophisticated technique of appreciating whatever you have, according to karmic law.

— excerpt from Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity, © 2008 Aliyah Marr

If you know that love surrounds us, then help it circulate and give the gift of appreciation to someone today, and please accept my sincere appreciation for your presence in my life; for your courage, your passion and your commitment to be the best person you can be.

Aliyah Marr

The Healing Art of the Clown

Tags

Gesundheit Institute, Patch Adams

“Wearing a rubber nose wherever I go has changed my life. Dullness and boredom melt away. Wearing underwear on the outside of your clothes can turn a tedious trip to the store for a forgotten carton of milk into an amusement park romp. Humor is the antidote to all ills. People crave laughter as if it were an essential amino acid. I believe that fun is as important as love.”  — Patch Adams

In the days when kings and queens ruled, free speech was a rare thing. Only the court jester could get away with voicing a true opinion. Dressed in absurd clothes that set him apart, the jester whispered jokes and banter into the king’s ear; because of his position and his hilarious clothes, he was safe, even if sometimes the truth was a bit too close to the funny bone. After all, he was just a fool, and who would take a fool seriously?

No one else dared to say what they thought, for fear of reprisal, but the clever jester had an enviable impunity. Often, the court fool was an adviser that was valued above all others by the king, for his daring observations and honest opinions. The clown or “contrary” is an archetypal figure that shows up in nearly every culture. He holds up a mirror to society and speaks the truth by turning things upside-down and backwards.

In Lewis Carroll’s Through The Looking Glass, Alice steps into the mirror to discover a world that, although appearing backwards, reveals truths about the social-political world of her day. The author’s opinions and insights were disguised under absurdity and under the cover of children’s literature; so they were published and survive to this day.

Humor is an art form that approaches a sacred stance in different parts of the world. The “holy fool” of Europe whose words were taken as truth straight from heaven; the “sacred clown” or contrarian of the Lakota Indians was a teacher who taught people by changing their point of view. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:

“Heyókȟa are thought of as being backwards-forwards, upside-down, or contrary in nature. This spirit is often manifest by doing things backwards or unconventionally — riding a horse backwards, wearing clothes inside-out, or speaking in a backwards language. For example, if food were scarce, a Heyókȟa would sit around and complain about how full he was…when it is 40 degrees below freezing he will wander around naked for hours complaining that it is too hot.

The Heyókȟa symbolize and portray many aspects of the sacred. Their satire presents important questions by fooling around. They ask difficult questions, and say things others are too afraid to say. By reading between the lines, the audience is able to think about things not usually thought about, or to look at things in a different way.

Principally, the Heyókȟa functions both as a mirror and a teacher, using extreme behaviors to mirror others, thereby forcing them to examine their own doubts, fears, hatreds, and weaknesses. Heyókȟas also have the power to heal emotional pain; such power comes from the experience of shame–they sing of shameful events in their lives, beg for food, and live as clowns. They provoke laughter in distressing situations of despair and provoke fear and chaos when people feel complacent and overly secure, to keep them from taking themselves too seriously or believing they are more powerful than they are. “

Can there be anything more important? Humor is an art form that saves us, over and over again. What is it saving us from? From our own emotional baggage, from our thoughts, and most importantly, from our limitations.

Humor allows us to see the rigidity and structure of the world from a different perspective: suddenly we are called upon to see how easily we can overturn even the biggest obstacle in our path. We break up this obstacle with our laughter; in the process, we heal ourselves and become more like children.

“See what no one else sees. See what everyone else chooses not to see; out of fear, conformity, laziness. See the whole world anew each day.” — Patch Adams (the movie)

Patch Adams challenged the medical establishment, and called upon our humanity with his creativity and humor. I challenge you to spend a little time today being a clown or fool; turn the world upside-down and make someone laugh.

Help build the Patch Adams Teaching Center & Clinic

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Fun With Creative Copywriting; Parallel Mind Giveaway

They say that people need to see an ad quite a few times before they take action, so I have been posting Tweets for my 2-for-1 book sale on Twitter until the deadline on December 7th. Here is the original offer on the blog:

https://parallelmind.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/give-away-one-of-your-parallel-minds-for-the-holidays/

I realized that it was a chance to write some really creative headlines. I thought it would be fun to share them with you. Who knows, perhaps you will want to help me spread the word of the power of creativity. Please feel free to retweet them or send them off in an email.

I got more creative as I went on, so the following Tweets are in order, with the first (least imaginative) Tweet at the bottom and the most recent (or yet to be tweeted tweet at the top).

—–

Is it possible to have 2 right brains? Maybe not, but you can have 2 Parallel Minds. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Balance your 2 minds – give one away. Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Left brain a bit heavy? Develop your creative side. Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Know someone who is creative? Or wants to be? 2 for 1 sale. Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Of two minds? Naturally — you have Parallel Minds. Give away 1 for the holidays. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

A Parallel Mind is a terrible thing to waste, so give one of yours away for free. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Be generous this season: give someone a piece of your Parallel Mind. 2 for 1 book sale: http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Creativity is natural. The “Art of Creativity” is a gift. Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65 for the right-brain or left-brain challenged.

Two right brains for the price of one. Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity is on sale. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Donate a right brain to those in need for the holidays — help them with a book about creativity. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Give away your right brain for the holidays. http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Book give-away by author 2-1 sale: http://tinyurl.com/ye9pg65

Give Away One of Your Parallel Minds for the Holidays

Tags

Transformation

Do you love Parallel Mind?

As a holiday gesture to those who follow “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity” on this blog/newsletter or Twitter, I’d like to offer a two-for one deal on the printed version of the book. Keep one copy, give the other away or give both away, if you already own a copy of the book.*

That means that at the retail price of $22.50, you get each book for $11.25; the lowest price on the internet is $14.18 — on Amazon, even if you ordered several books and got free shipping (only on Amazon-shipped books, not on shipping from 3rd party vendors) you wouldn’t be able to beat this deal.

Email me with the quantity you wish, and I will send you a Paypal invoice via email. Shipping costs apply. Standard shipping is about $3.80 per book, with a possible discount on multiple books. These are unsigned copies.

* NOTE: This offer ends on December 7th, as shipping by Christmas cannot be guaranteed after that date. This deal is only available directly from the author and is not available through Amazon.

How to give away your Parallel Mind:

Email the author at: aliyahmarr [at] gmail [dot] com

Include:

1. Amount of copies requested.

2. Your name and one shipping address. (not multiple addresses, please!)

Email me at: aliyahmarr [at] gmail [dot] com

Dreaming Big: The New Imagi-Nation

Tags

Conscious Creative, Creative coach, creative freedom, creativity training, inspiration, life path coaching, life-coach, life-coach coaching, Parallel Mind

"Blue Skies" Copyright 2001 Aliyah Marr

I have an overactive imagination.

I dream of a nation of people who have integrity, a love for each other, and deep respect for Mother Earth.

I dream big dreams, and they are getting bigger all the time. The one that wants to be born is the creation of a new nation, a nation of people who are all on the path of enlightenment. Like John Lennon’s song; can you imagine living in true freedom and love?

I dream that instead of having competition, we have partners. Instead of having monopolies of power and money we will have appreciation and tithing for the value that we perceive; we will have real trade of services and products.

Instead of having an homogenized “corporate culture,” we will have real communities and true respect for diverse cultures and languages as the expression of that culture. In order to do this a few key concepts have to change: hierarchy, superiority, and the zealot’s attitude of converting others to his way. The key is acceptance and tolerance for others.

This new nation of individuated creative people has no borders and lives in the virtual stratosphere. It is communicated like a computer virus; after all it is virus’ that are thought to be the cause of all evolution, why not shouldn’t a virus cause an evolution in consciousness?

So the new nation is carried by thought at the quantum level, and is communicated in the very air we breathe. It is unstoppable because it is the result of a natural evolution; the days of a few benefiting at the expense of many will be gone forever.

Copyright 2004 Aliyah Marr

When Was the Last Time You Felt Joy?

Tags

Transformational Tarot

"Jump" Copyright 2000 (Creativity Card in the Transformational Tarot) Aliyah Marr

A few years ago, I created a Tarot card deck, called Transformational Tarot; this deck was an interactive, online game that I created with the rather esoteric purpose of randomizing the titles to my paintings. By placing images on some cards, and words on others, the game was an experiment on meaning, adjacency, and context.

I never expected my deck to work as a Tarot deck (despite the name) and was surprised when people all over the world reacted favorably — some even told me that it was the best reading they had ever had. The game was created for a person doing their own reading, but a few years after I created the game I found myself reading my cards for people at a cafe.

It was a revealing experience; I discovered a great deal about myself, but more importantly, I discovered a disturbing trend among the people I read. Below is the article that I wrote in response.

—–

When was the last time you felt joy?”

This is a question I find myself asking people on occasion when they come to me for a Tarot reading. They may be asking about a love relationship, or about their job, but under the surface there is an essential sadness, a feeling of disconnection, of disorientation.

I can feel the empty space that they have inside as I read their cards. And the cards reveal the confusion they have: why am I this way? Is this all there is to life? Why do I feel as if I am a leaf in the wind? Where is the meaning in my life; where is the love?

Women in particular are taught to value relationships above all else: their lover, partner, children, etc. They are taught that their value is determined by the health of this relationship, and by the value that this person on the other end of the teeter-totter puts on them. Or rather, what they THINK the other person thinks of them. In fact, their mood for the day is based upon their evaluation of the last encounter with their loved one.

Love in this sense is a mask for a mirror of self-reflection. This kind of love values the time spent in a relationship as an investment, and sees love as a type of keenly monitored exchange. I hear people speaking of “their needs not being met” — as if someone else should be responsible for fulfilling their needs.

What if our happiness were not based upon these shifting sands? What if love were everywhere because joy is welling up from inside? I think that we can all intuit the rightness of this idea; even that we are all capable of feeling this way: in fact, it is our birthright.

I have an idea that the key to finding our love — our passion — lies in redefining what passion means. The heart yearns for passion because it is what feeds our soul; it keeps us young and vibrant. The heart senses this, and so it looks for it in the reflection of what our society calls love.

But before we can feel passion in our lives, we have to clear out all our self-hatred, our internal blocks. In order to do that we have to be still, empty, silent. We are so used to filling our silences that most of us cannot stand a moment without noise and our own internal chatter. A judge sits on our shoulder; when it is not judging other people, it is judging ourselves, which amounts to the same thing. So when I sense this longing, this emptiness in another, I feel compelled to ask: “when was the last time you felt joy?”. I have witnessed how this simple question affects people: they may not be able to remember — it is so far in the past. Or perhaps the judge that sits on their shoulder has blocked the memory. After all, it asks, what have you done to deserve joy? The judge doesn’t think you even have the right to have a memory of joy. Or perhaps the comparison of that memory to the present moment is too painful.

But, because joy is our natural state — our birthright — nearly everyone has had a moment of joy. It may be far in the past, in childhood; it is usually masked by a kind of emotional calcification of some kind. It is my belief that what usually happens is that the moment of joy happened just before an experience of judgment; such as a child who loves to sing and is shushed by an adult or by other children, telling her she sings badly and it hurts their ears.

So the mind in its shame and shock puts up a kind of protective barrier between the memory of the judgment and the person. I was told by my doctor once that the pineal gland — the master gland of the body that controls all the functions of the body and all the other glands — builds up a kind of crust with the experience of emotional stress. As a result, it cannot function freely, and eventually the whole body breaks down in disorder and disease.

When I ask the question, “when was the last time you felt joy”, the heart remembers, but the mind tries to protect the person from the other memory, the bad memory of judgment and disconnection. Most of the time, the answer is very simple: we can feel joy because it is our birthright. We deserve our own love, which is the same as love for life, and passion for what feeds our soul. It doesn’t matter what it is, only that it is ours; no one can take it from us, or withhold it, because it comes from within.

A personal passion is a kind of new kind of internal dialogue, one that is healthy instead of dysfunctional. Actually, at a high level, it is more than that; it is a way of dialoging with a higher source. I feel it when I work as an artist; I feel it when I surf; I feel it when I write, when I read Tarot. It feels like what they call channeling; it is the experience of opening up and allowing something larger to come through.

Why is it that we leave so little time for the things that give us real joy? The bills, the paperwork, the duties, work: these all take precedent. Joy is simplicity itself, it comes from simple things, it wells up inside from a core of silence within wherein resides the speck of energy that holds our portion of spirit. Joy connects us to all the other specks and to the universe of stars. In it we lose our sense of self without losing our identity or individuality. When was the last time you felt joy? What was the cause?

Trace it back to the beginning, and you will have discovered the secret of life and love.

Copyright February 8, 2006 Aliyah Marr

The Persistence of Vision

Field of Dreams © 2005 Aliyah Marr 5x10' mural

There is a well-known phenomenon called “persistence of vision” that describes how films and videos create the illusion of motion.

This visual illusion was discovered when Eadweard Muybridge successfully photographed a horse using a series of 24 cameras in 1878. The cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse’s, and each of the camera shutters was controlled by a trip wire which was triggered by the horse’s hooves. They were 21 inches apart to cover the 20 feet taken by the horse stride, taking pictures at one thousandth of a second. (Wikipedia, The History of Film)

A film is just a strip of still images. When it is run through a projector at 24 frames per second, the still images seem to move. The trick is in our minds, not in our eyes or even in the film or projector. Our mind has the ability to string together the still images into an illusion that fools our minds.

It’s amazing to me how the tools that we create can give us insight into perception and into the way our minds work. We can even examine the discoveries that they reveal to understand how we can change ourselves through art.

Reality is only in our minds. We are really just one step behind the pure experience of being alive.

Like a film that looks like it is moving only when run, our idea of ourselves is composed of static frames, moments in time, frozen ideas of ourselves that seem to have a reality and movement only because we believe in the illusion of our thoughts. Allow for the idea that your definition of yourself may not be a static thing, nor unchangeable, nor does it have to be the same from this moment to the next. Tomorrow, choose another image, another set of thoughts, run them through the projector of your mind, and change to please yourself. Use art to do it.

It’s the persistence of your vision, the quality of your images that creates another work of art, or another reality, which is just a dream made real. The illusion of movement and flow steps over the boundaries of time and space into the eternal now.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Drop the Rock

Sound of Longing Copyright 2001 Aliyah Marr

Every now and then I get it. If I can just drop more of my baggage, there would truly be no limits to what I can do or be. It is natural for us to be joyful creators; I don’t know about you, but I can’t create a new future if I am dragging around the past with me. We all do it: we have our memories, our “slings and arrows that flesh is prey to”, and even our prized prejudices that we cannot change.

How many of us define ourselves so well today that we don’t have a chance at changing our present. We do in in innumerable ways: I like this, I do that, I am this, I am not that. Who cares? All these things amount to is a belief system about ourselves and who we are.

In the end, most of us end up being merely a collection of personal preferences and a storehouse for painful or limiting experiences (or rather interpretations) of those experiences. For me, most of these preferences are just academic arguments in favor of our own limitations.

When I was in New York, I used to walk to the subway on 14th street. On the sidewalk somewhere between 6th and 8th avenue, there is a spray painted stencil that implored me to “Drop The Rock”. I have been told that the slogan references the politics of the penal system, which is certainly in line with my interpretation.

Dropping the rock is letting go of the past. It is not about forgiveness, or even about understanding, it is allowing the ego to become fluid, to allow the mind to “unclench” its hold on our spirit. It is not denial, it is not revision; rather it is surrender.

When you realize that no one is asking you to carry around your past experiences and preferences, beliefs, etc. you can finally drop that huge rock. Now doesn’t that make you feel light? Doesn’t that make you want to dance?

Copyright 2006 Aliyah Marr

The Eye of the Artist

"The False Mirror," Rene Magritte

Is the eye of the artist a lens that simply records what it sees like the lens of a camera? How much of what we “see” is due to our filter of experiences and is subject to our emotional/ mental interpretation?

My mother believed that it was the eye that made the artist, that if an eye from an artist were transplanted to another person, that person would be an artist. I always believed otherwise: that it is the mind, and the openness of the artist’s mind that defines someone as an artist.

Now that I have explored the artist’s path thus far, I know now that  it is not the eye that sees. The eye is not the lens of the camera of the mind. Science has proven that the eye sees more than camera lens can, because the eye sees over time and can adjust to minute or major differences in light and focus. What we “see” is a composite image that is assembled in the brain. But more than this, we are seeing what we feel as much as, or more than what is actually in front of us.

People who have been blind most of their lives cannot adjust to the information from eyes suddenly restored to vision. Dr. Oliver Sacks once wrote in An Anthropologist on Mars of a patient whose sight was restored after something like 30 years of blindness. The patient was unable to interpret what he saw, in fact, his brain was not adapted to receive the input from eyes blind since childhood.

Another case study from the same book cited a painter who suddenly lost all sense of color in a freak car accident. The part of his brain that registered color was damaged. Everything looked like a black and white photograph; he was unable to eat because food looked like it was made out of concrete. Although the experience was disturbing to the artist for some time, eventually he adjusted, becoming a sculptor. The man was still an artist because at his core he was an artist. Circumstances simply had changed the type of input, when he adapted to this minor change, he actually preferred the colorless state; offered a chance to have his sense of color restored, he refused.

What an artist actually sees is less important that what she chooses to see.

In a way, the artist aspires only to be what any other creature is; the natural expression of who they are. As a bird sings because that is the way of the bird, so an artist paints because that is the natural expression of the artist. There is no other way to be, in my view. So the eye of the artist is the artist because the artist no longer is separate from what she views; her every action and creation is her art, no longer separate from her self.

Copyright 2006-2009 Aliyah Marr

The Simple Art of Happiness

What makes you happy? Have you ever thought about it? Here are a few of the things that make me happy:

"Cumulous Clouds" from the Near/Far Series © 2004 Aliyah Marr

The ocean sparkling in the morning.

The way people dress their toddlers.

Christmas lights on houses at night.

Late night conversation and wine in front of a fireplace in the depths of winter.

Skirts, sandals, and dresses in the summer.

The sound and vibration of a cat’s purr.

A dog who is glad to see me, and sits on my foot.

A child’s laughter.

Surfing in warm water on a sunny day.

A good meal with people I love.

Flirting shamelessly.

Contagious laughter.

Sharing what I love with others.

What makes you happy? Share it with me, share it with those you love, and let the good news about the simple art of happiness circle the world in its arms.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr
(Creative Commons – share with others, include ©)

A Modern Day Thoreau

Tags

enterprise, entrepreneurs, philanthropy, social investing

I found the following story very inspirational; a story about creative thinking and personal power.

Unsung Fortune: A rich man’s secret

March 26, 2007, Philadelphia Enquirer

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20070326_ Unsung_fortune_ _A_rich_mans_ secret.html

Hal Taussig wears baggy jeans and fraying work shirts that Goodwill might reject. His shoes have been resoled three times. At age 81, he doesn’t own a car. He performs errands and commutes to the office by bicycle. And he has given away millions. Given the fortune that Taussig has made through Untours, his unique travel business, and has given away through the Untours Foundation, you could call him the Un-millionaire. If he so chose, he could be living in a Main Line mansion and driving a Mercedes.

But he considers money and what he calls “stuff,” beyond what he needs to survive, a burden, an embarrassment. In many respects, he’s a 21st-century Thoreau. “Let your capital be simplicity and contentment, ” the sage of Walden Pond wrote. “Those are my sentiments precisely,” says Taussig, who has three children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren .

He directs the Untours Foundation, into which he pours all his profits – $5 million since 1992. The money is used to make low-interest loans to ventures and projects that help the needy and jobless – from a craft store in Hanoi to a home-health- care cooperative in Philadelphia. “I invest in entrepreneurial efforts to help poor people leverage themselves out of poverty.”

“In America, we worship success,” he says. “It’s a shoddy ethic that leads us to value who we are by what we are.” The motto of the Untours Foundation is “a hand up, not a handout.” It provides low-interest loans, here and abroad, to create jobs, build low-income housing, and support fair-trade products: goods such as coffee that are sold at a price that guarantees producers and workers a fair wage and decent livelihood.

http://www.wanttoknow.info/a-unsung-fortune-rich-mans-secret

In 1999, they won an award from Paul Newman and John F. Kennedy, Jr., for having the Most Generous Business in the United States.

Mission

The Untours Foundation provides low interest loans here and abroad. Loans are issued to individuals and organizations in order to create jobs among disenfranchised populations, build low-income housing, and support Fair Trade Certified products all through the most environmentally friendly means possible. (Fair Trade certification guarantees a comprehensive form of development including fair prices and wages to producers and workers, land farmed in sustainable ways, women holding key decision making roles, and the list goes on.) We look for projects that are innovative and replicable.

The foundation’s interest rate on loans is one of the lowest in the world: normally the U.S. inflation rate. Most loan recipients have no collateral or track record necessary to borrow money through conventional lending institutions. By giving loans and not grants, the foundation provides a “hand up” and not a “hand out”.

Paul Newman said of the foundation: “Untours’ giving is creative in every sense of the word. Their low-interest loans literally create jobs among the hard-core unemployed and housing in decaying urban centers.”

Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream has said of Hal Taussig and the foundation: “What makes Hal so special is that he combines real kindness and compassion with that practical business side, and that, I think, is the key to making a difference.”

The foundation’s portfolio is quite eclectic. Most loans are under $50,000.

http://www.untoursfoundation.org/

9 Ways to Access Your Creative Intuition

Synchronicity Copyright 2006 Aliyah Marr

Intuition or what people sometimes call the sixth sense is sometimes no more that the conglomeration of all the other senses and experience. There is no mystery to this stuff.

Let’s take the simple example of walking. When you first learned to walk, you had to think about how to do it, you had to pay attention to each muscle. Now you don’t even think about how you do it, you just do it. Your knowledge is “in your bones,” or more accurately, in your muscles.

Intuition is the same thing. I no longer think about how I create a design or a poem or a painting, my perceptions and inner guidance to the best solution come easily and automatically. Whenever I work, I have access to a rich source of guidance and experience through my intuition. But I am not unusual; we all have access to the same incredible tool.

Here are some practical exercises to develop your intuition and to help you build trust in the messages that come from your intuition.

1. When you talk to someone, pay attention to their body language over their words.
Listen with your whole body, and see what you hear. It is often radically different from what they are saying with their words.

2. Look at things with your peripheral vision.
Many things that you wouldn’t normally notice suddenly become obvious. Why? Because your right brain is the brain in charge of your peripheral vision because it grabs “the whole picture” — the holistic version. This is similar to a common technique practiced by visual artists: they look at their work and blur their eyes deliberately. This allows them to see the picture in a new way.

3. If you are watching an interview of someone on TV, try looking at the person while they are talking with one eye covered and then with the other eye covered.
I did this during the debates, and I could tell which candidates were sincere. Again the reason is the same as #2 above; the right brain grabs information that the left brain cannot.

4. When you have to make a decision, lay out all the choices before you and see which one naturally attracts you.
Go with that one immediately and see what happens.

5. When you have spent too long deliberating between several choices, try to remember which one came to you first.
The first choice is usually the one that your intuition was trying to give you.

6. Pay attention to any weird synchronicity; your subconscious is trying to speak to you through the objects in the external world.
The universe is not random, scientists suspect that even chaos has an order. And what is “out there” is actually just a reflection of what is inside you.

7. Record your dreams.
There is much insight to be gained from the rich source of your dreams. Record your ideas of what the dream means alongside the dream, then look at what you wrote a few days later to see how your insights have affected your life.

8. Start listening to the world over seeing it.
This makes a great meditation too.

9. Practice walking with eyes closed.
See how many steps you can take. You will find yourself trusting other senses than your eyes, and may find, as I did, that you can actually “see” your way. I once took 100 steps on uneven ground in a park this way. It showed me that I could trust my perceptions without thinking about how I was doing it.

This is what intuition feels like: you know something without knowing how you know it, you trust that knowledge because you feel it in your bones. Intuition is the holistic knowledge that comes from the tiny hints that you receive all the time. Intuition is not a loud thing, it only suggests a path, or just shows you what is what, but what an incredible tool it can be, if you decide to develop and use it.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

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A Fish in the Sea of Change

"Echo" Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Many people are experiencing a great deal of change at this time, they say that every day thousands of people lose their health insurance, probably because they have lost their jobs. No one knows what is going to happen. There seems to be no security anywhere.

I am reminded of what my sister once said of walking: that you have to be off-balance in order to go forward. That going downstairs is actually a controlled fall.

We get nowhere when we are in perfect balance. Society would not advance. We would not change. In my experience, we have to be forced to change, we have to be forced to move. Most people would much rather stay put than take a risk. Most of us will put up with a lot of boredom and pain in exchange for dull security, but at what cost?

Security — the kind provided by money and established institutions — is an illusion. My mother’s best friend was a millionaire twice over, and yet all her money did her no good when she suffered from long-term diabetes.

The only security we really have is our determination to live a healthy life at all times — healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. That is a matter of what I call living an “unconditional life,” deciding to live as well as possible in whatever condition you find yourself. That means that you value yourself outside any external valuations or scales. You are valuable because you are, not because of what you are “worth,” your job, your skills, your experience,  or even your reputation.

You can be flexible only if you do not identify with any externals; your security is internal and has nothing to do with any “facts.” Security is an internal feeling that cannot be dislodged by any external conditions or events.

When you no longer have any emotions regarding your external conditions, you are truly free, flexible, and secure. Practice personal evolution: see yourself as a fish in the sea of change; at ease, adapting, swimming and thriving.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Squeezing Parallel Mind Through Twitter 140 Characters at a Time

Tags

Creative coach, life-coach, life-coach coaching

The Night Bird © Aliyah Marr 2006 Assemblage: wooden box, black ostrich feather, feather from the wing of a mourning dove.

I have been posting exerpts from Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity on Twitter with the hope that they will get passed around the world. Help me to spread the word of creative freedom:  feel free to retweet, share and pass single quotes around; just include quotation marks, include proper credit and do not change the quote in any way. If you are blogging, please include the book’s name if possible, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity and a link back to the source article.

—–

“Artwork is only the by-product of the evolutionary process of the artist.” Aliyah Marr

“Art stops time in order to teach, expose, or reveal things that are normally hidden.” – Aliyah Marr

“We have this amazing, powerful gift of creativity until the first time that someone criticizes us.” – Aliyah Marr

“Creativity is play without purpose.” – Aliyah Marr

“Creative thought is native to the unconventional mind.” – Aliyah Marr

“The job of the artist is to be a keen, detached observer.” – Aliyah Marr

“Creative thought involves the capacity for introspection and time for incubation.” – Aliyah Marr

“Creativity thought is direct and spontaneous.” – Aliyah Marr

“Creativity is fearless immersion.” – Aliyah Marr

“Simplicity is to creativity as the match is to the flame.” – Aliyah Marr

—–

Excerpts from Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

Copyright 2008-2009 Aliyah Marr

Beyond Parallel Mind

Tags

life path coaching, Parallel Mind

Perceptual Games © 1991 Aliyah Marr

When I am not writing and producing tutorial movies, I work with a few clients privately: I work with individuals as a creativity coach, and with entrepreneurs as a business and communications consultant. Below is a transcript from a question posed by a reader on Library Thing:

“How did you get into your field as a Life Path coach and what was your motivation?”

That is a great question! My book is all about how to create and nurture the “mood of the artist.” Remember when you played with your children? Do you remember how it seemed that sometimes they taught you? Essential things like how to see the world, how to find joy in simple things, how to be messy, etc. Well, that is the essence of how to find your muse again. Think like a child.

Coaching evolved from the things that I talk about in my book: expression of emotions, listening to your intuition, finding joy in simple things, etc. Life Path Coaching is a natural expression and summation of various talents and life skills for me. I have been a design professor, a gymnastics coach, a creative director for Fortune 100 companies, an artist, and a writer.

I bring diverse talents and skills into play depending upon each client needs. For instance, I have one client who is writing a book. I help him stay on track (he has A.D.D.) and help him organize his thoughts and help him with his marketing efforts.

Another client is making a career transition and building a new business and website. She needs help with the business aspects of her life: design, communication, marketing, social networking, advertising, etc. which are all skills I possess as a creative business consultant. So my advice is applicable to her new career path.

But, this client is also a highly creative individual who is often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that her project entails: she has to learn a lot quickly about marketing on the web. While she has many skills and talents, sometimes she suffers from creative block even when she gets to do something in which she normally excels, like writing. So, as a coach, my job is to listen to her, like a caring physician, and prescribe the right creative medicine. My first prescription was for her to “go out and play.” I gave her instructions on the form and nature of that play. When she returned from her weekend of unrestricted creative fun, her whole voice and demeanor had changed. She had relaxed. She finished the next week empowered, and more efficient in all her tasks.

My motivation in helping people who want to be more creative is that I truly believe that we are all naturally creative, and finding full expression of our creativity is so joyful that I want to share it with the world! It is a great feeling when I feel that I have helped someone find this kind of fulfillment in their lives. I like to help each client find their own way. The joy is theirs, their success is theirs. I am only there to witness it and encourage them.

One good way to start is to sign up for my free newsletter on how to use creativity for personal development. It follows whatever I post in my blog:

https://parallelmind.wordpress.com

My book is available online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

http://www.parallelmindbook.com

If you want a signed copy of my book, email me, I will invoice you via Paypal and I will send the book to you via snail mail. The print version is $20.00 inclusive of shipping.

parallelmindbook [at] gmail.com

(All my Life Path clients get a signed copy of my book if they don’t already have a copy.)

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Seven Over One Hundred Forty: Tweet Quotes From Parallel Mind

Seven more quotes from Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. Feel free to retweet, share and pass them around; just include quotation marks, include proper credit and do not change quote in any way.

——

“Creativity is our birthright as human beings.” — Aliyah Marr

“The life you are experiencing today is the result of the thoughts you were thinking yesterday.” — Aliyah Marr

“We are holding our reality in existence by our focus on the elements of what we perceive to be our reality.” — Aliyah Marr

“Whether aware of it or not, we are thinking our lives into existence from moment to moment.” — Aliyah Marr

“I know of nothing with the same potential for self-discovery & empowerment as the process of creating art.” — Aliyah Marr

“What if we are not Aladdin making wishes, (but) we are the Genie granting those wishes to ourselves?” — Aliyah Marr

“As humans, creativity is our talent and our gift, an inheritance from an abundant universe.” — Aliyah Marr

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Celestial Navigation

We all have an internal guidance system: our intuition and our emotions. We have the choice at all times whether to listen to the voice of our intuition and pay attention to our emotions, but they will be there whether we do or not.

If you are like me, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the combined force of these internal tools. If you choose to make a decision that goes against the gentle advice of your intuition, you have a strange price to pay, in the emotions that result from your actions.

At one time, I couldn’t hear the voice of my intuition. It was a tiny voice that was often drowned out by the combined voices of my mind and my fear.

Slowly, I found ways to access my intuition and subconscious. I had a great resource and tool in the multiple art-forms in which I could engage. My art taught me how to know the landscape of my emotions, and gave me feedback on how I was feeling, and on what I was really thinking.

I learned that my emotions were a guidance system par excellence; if I held a potential path in my mind and felt bad, or felt good, I knew which was the better one to take. One day, my developing intuition delivered an amazing insight: that emotions are what we use to help us create whatever we want. They are the catalyst in the creative process that helps bring something into existence faster. This insight was such a gift for me that a year later, it formed one of the basic premises — Chapter 5, Emotional Wisdom — of my book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity.

If you were an explorer in unfamiliar territory, you would use a compass to help you find your way. In the same way, why ignore two of the most powerful tools that you own?

With the guidance of the compass of your intuition, you can navigate through the ocean of your emotions, and arrive at that wondrous destination that you envisioned long ago. You can do whatever you want: a field of pure potential waits for you on the horizon of your imagination, brought to you through the willing collaboration of your mind and heart.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Harry Potter and the Practice of Real Magic

Tags

fantasy, harry potter, magic, sci-fi, science fiction

“An artist has a privileged occupation: the observation of and practice of real magic.” — Aliyah Marr, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

I have been indulging in a guilty pleasure, one that I admit to freely now: I have been spending some quality time with Harry Potter.

I generally don’t like fantasy as a genre, but I have loved science fiction since 6th grade. I always liked the questions it poses. It is the questions that we ask that help us to imagine a new future, one that is different from our current reality, one that we can consciously choose.

But I could never appreciate fantasy, because it seemed so far-fetched, and silly. The protagonists and antagonists could do anything at anytime; they had magical powers that had nothing to do with their inner development. No inner discipline, no difficulty.

So I surprised myself recently when I found myself watching and enjoying the Harry Potter movies. The first thing I noticed was the sheer beauty of the production, and running a close second: I love the way the movies transport me into a feeling of magic, mystery and possibility.

Harry Potter and his friends don’t arrive at their powers easily. No, it is a difficult apprenticeship, full of danger and difficulty. Each lesson has profound implications: requiring the development of responsibility, ethical judgment, and clear discernment. The children learn how to establish true friendships and learn to see who is real and who is false. They discover how to navigate in a new wondrous world that has an entirely different set of rules.

This magical world exists  side-by-side with the hum-drum world of daily existence like an alternate universe. They go to sorcery school, learn their lessons and then return to the drab ordinary existence that has been somehow unaware of their absence.

Harry Potter and his cohorts — J.K. Rowlings, Chris Columbus, Steve Kloves and everyone on the set or in production — deserve kudos for their part in bringing magic to the world at large. It is as if suddenly everyone has been suddenly transported into a new realm of imagination and possibility.

The value of creativity is in the exercise of the imagination. Anything that we can imagine is possible, because we can imagine it. Somewhere, sometime, perhaps even in the near future, magic exists. It exists simply because it is practiced. We practice magic when we engage our creativity and our imaginations, and when we project our desires into a material form. That is the art of magic and the magic of art.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Light Enough to Fly Away

© Aliyah Marr

Why do we create? I’d like to say that it is in our nature, but I am not sure. Yes, I think that we are naturally creative beings, and our creations are mainly thoughts enlivened by emotions.

When negative emotions are attached to thoughts, our thoughts become heavy. We become heavy. You can see the emotional weight of some people in how they carry themselves. But we have a choice to do otherwise; we can detach our emotions from our thoughts.

Emotions are what makes the ego feel “real.” That is why many people are actually afraid to be alone, or to meditate to the place where their thoughts stop. Since those daily concerns are emotionally-laden, it seems that we might just float away without the anchor of our emotions. All emotions are ballast for an incredible “lightness of being” that is our true self.

When we are no longer weighed down, our thoughts are like the ephemeral spin of cotton candy; light and meaningless without the drama of our emotions. Clarity and vision becomes possible because your world and your view has become suddenly quite a bit larger. Can you bear becoming so light? What would you do if you found that you no longer are bound by the gravity of your thoughts?

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

What is Your Creative Working Style?

1: Spontaneous – bored by anything planned.

2: Planned – suspicious of spontaneity.

3: Planned Spontaneity – don’t ask me how this works.

4: Party Mixer – needs infinite variety and stimulation, hops around a lot.

5: Environmentally Dependent – workspace has to be just so.

6: Music Junkie – goes nowhere without iPod.

7: Java-Powered – what coffee jitters? That’s the way I draw!

8: Night Owl – this train only travels after midnight.

9: Regular Spigot – can turn it on and off at will.

10: Muse Within – inspired from within.

11: Wild Child – inspired by nature.

12: Shower Muse – ideas come in weird places, when you can’t write them down.

13: Pop-culturette – inspired by graffiti, tabloids, the smear on your shoe.

14: Art-aholic – inspired by all forms of art.

15: Workhorse – labors night and day, forgets to eat, sleep or pee.

16: Prima Donna – is the best, even if no one else agrees.

17: Tortured Soul – would cut off ear for each idea; worries doesn’t have enough ideas/ears.

18: Volcano – spews ideas forth like hot magma.

19: Mystic – ideas come from the very air.

20: Epicurean – tastes a little of everything.

21: Schizophrenic – wakes up a different kind of artist every morning.

Conditionals are Excuses

The first agreement in the book, The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz asks that you be impeccable with your word.

Be impeccable with your word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

I translate this to mean more than he does: I like to cultivate the idea that no one has limits except those we impose on ourselves. Others will try to impose their limits on you through their words and thoughts. You have the power to ignore or to counteract those limitations in how you think of yourself and in how you think of those around you.

Recently, a client of mine expressed an irritation with his parents to me. I told him that his parents could not see beyond the boundaries of their own limitations. His parents’ limitations come out in their words, which equal their thoughts. They cannot see beyond the limits of their thoughts. Why is this? Because the thoughts that they have practiced so long have hardened into beliefs. The beliefs practiced so long have become their reality.

He is right to be irritated, because he senses that if he listens too long to them, their negative beliefs will become his own. However, I encouraged him to see that his parents may have no other way to express their love and concern.

How do other people’s limitations become our own? Listen to these examples:

“You look good, for your age.”

“She can’t help being overweight, it runs in her family.”

“I am too old / young to ______ .” (put your own conditional in here)

“I am not ________ enough to be successful.” (put your own conditional in here)

“I am too ________ to be pretty.” (put your own conditional in here)

“Women / Men only like men / women who are ________” (put your own conditional in here)

What Don Miguel Ruiz is referring to by impeccability has more to do with your inner thoughts than what comes out of your mouth. In fact, what becomes conscious verbage is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of internal dialog. How would you rewrite those conditional statements? Without conditional limitations, how would the script of your life read?

Check your thoughts hourly to see how you apply conditionals to yourself and to others. Keep notes about your internal dialog in a little notebook. When you find yourself applying a conditional to another person, check out how your own limited ego is dictating these words to your brain. It’s bizarre how many limitations we apply to ourselves everyday in our thoughts.

Don’t let the excuses of others to limit you. Don’t let your excuses limit others. Be impeccable with your thoughts and your life will change. Instead of seeing only limitations, you will be standing on the edge of the known world with a broad horizon of endless opportunities stretching out before you.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

——

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.

What is Your Theme Song?

Tags

creative freedom

For those of us who are dreamers, there is an abundance of wisdom in the art that surrounds us. If you are like me you find inspiration in the lyrics of certain songs.

What songs would you want played at your funeral? What message of wisdom would you leave for those who follow you? I have had them picked out for a long time.

Somewhere Wonderful
by Israel Kamakawiwo ‘ole

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dream of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of
Dreams really do come true

Someday I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemondrops
High above the chimney top
That’s where you’ll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dare to
Oh why oh why can’t I

Well I see trees of green and red roses too
I’ll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Well I see skies of blue and
I see clouds of white
And the brightness of day
I like the dark
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
are also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands saying
How do you do
They’re really saying I, I love you

I hear babies cry and I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more then we’ll know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
world…

Someday I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemondrops
High above the chimney top
That’s where you’ll find me

Oh somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dare to
Why oh why can’t I…

——

The Abundance Card, Transformational Tarot © Aliyah Marr

Imagine
by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

—–

I Hope You Dance
by Leanne Warwick

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you’ll give fate a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they’re worth taking
Lovin’ might be a mistake
But it’s worth making
Don’t let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

—–

I hope you follow your dreams even if they lead you over the rainbow Maybe you’ll join me in my dream; a place where everyone has creative freedom. Whatever you do, I hope that when you have a chance, you dance.

Aliyah Marr

Freedom From Limiting Beliefs

Dream Vortex © 2005 Aliyah Marr

Here is  a creative exercise to achieve freedom from limiting or highly-charged beliefs:

1. Isolate your negative belief.

2. Express your negative reality in art: write a poem, paint a painting, compose a musical piece, write a play or short story. Allow it full expression, paint the darkest picture you can.

3. Write the essence of the belief (and history) you want to dump on small pieces of paper.

4. Keep these papers with you. Look at them every day.

5. Embrace your beliefs — and emotions about your beliefs — for a full week. Really embrace them, as if they were a person you loved that you knew was going away soon forever.

This step is the most important one, because, at an unconscious level these beliefs represent a fragment of yourself that has an emotional reality. This self has a message to give you. By bringing it up to the surface first through art, you have allowed it to deliver its message. But if you don’t honor the self that brought you this gift of insight, it won’t allow you to discard it. The ego that holds this fragment self in form thinks that the change you want represents its death and it does not want to die.

6. Just before the end of the 7th day hold a private ceremony in a quiet place. Assemble your pieces of paper, a candle, small bowl and a few matches or lighter. To go forward, you must dump your history, but you are not going to dump it like yesterday’s trash. That would amount to mistreating yourself, because your history is you, and at heart you cannot allow that. Instead you are going to honor it first and then ask its permission if it is OK for you to no longer hold this belief. Once you no longer hold an emotion about it, it will be easy to change, but you cannot if you are emotionally attached to your limiting belief.

7.  State the belief written on each paper, hold it in your mind for the final time, ask if it is OK for you to let this belief go forever, and then once you no longer feel emotion when you read the words on the paper burn it. The burning symbolizes that you are now done with your history of negative beliefs and limitations, and represents a commitment to a new life of freedom.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr
All rights reserved.

——

Aliyah Marr is a Life Path Consultant and Creative Projects Advisor available for private consultations and Transformational Tarot 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 via email. References are available upon request.

Email me at:
parallelmindbook [at] gmail dot com

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

One of the great functions of art is how it allows us to fully view and understand the past. An event doesn’t have any meaning but what we have assigned it. Meaning has no impact without the emotional glue that keeps it sticking to us.

When you find yourself stuck in a morass of emotions or a reality that seems to become more and more limited, there is a good therapy — and a solution — available through art. The past can serve us or it can limit us. It should be a conscious choice, but it is often anything but that. The reason? We are attached to our version of reality by our emotions, and our emotions define our identity at an unconscious level.

Getting to a view of total detachment (not numbness, or shock) is key to mental and emotional freedom. Once freed mentally and emotionally, physical freedom is not far behind.

Let’s say that you have a problem with money. You cannot seem to make enough, or hold onto it when you do. This story has a history which makes it more real; in other words, you have thought this thought “I cannot make enough money” for a long time. Every time you had this thought, you had an emotional reaction to your thought. Eventually, that thought has become a solid reality.

Would it surprise you to learn that you are addicted to this thought? More specifically, you are addicted to the “negative” emotion that gives you a little zing every time you have this thought. Emotions are energy, and are addictive. Practice that negative thought and feel it’s effect in your body right now. Like a drug addict, you find yourself doing it many times a day.

I remember reading about an experiment with a monkey where they hooked up the pleasure part of his brain so that he would receive a burst of electrical stimulation (emotional energy) every time he pressed a lever. This monkey pressed the lever so much that he didn’t eat or sleep, and died as a result. It might take us longer, but our limited reality is what eventually makes us die.

A reality that becomes more and more limited everyday unless we make conscious choice to change and evolve our addictions. You can replace a “bad” addiction with a “good” one, which amounts to replacing a “negative” belief with one that has more “positive” benefits, but, if, in the process, you forget that this belief was a choice, then you are still addicted. Addiction is the opposite of freedom. Freedom means choice.

You might say that until now you were taking two steps forward and one step back into the past every time you tried to change. Once you are able to achieve emotional detachment to your thoughts — and to your beliefs — you have true freedom and true choice. You can now go anywhere and do anything because your past history is no longer active in your life. The future is yours.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr
All rights reserved.

——

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.

The Fool’s Journey

The ship of fools, depicted in a 1549 German woodcut

The Fool’s Journey

In the Middle Ages, villagers called the local idiot, “a fool of God;”  they thought that the one who “knew” less must be “connected” more. An artist’s journey is to know less and less, while the artist’s mission is to experience more and more.

Only by knowing nothing of “what is” can you ever get to the place where you can receive inspiration for something new. This is what is called “beginner’s mind” and it is the secret of all creative people. They start with no preconceptions, judgments, or negative thoughts. And in truth, nothing bad can happen when you sustain this mood, because it is the mood itself that makes your reality and your future.

A fool begins his journey innocent of the potential problems that he may encounter. You may say that this is the particular wisdom of the fool. The fool starts out in sunshine and hope filled with the vision of the flowering of his inspiration. He has few belongings (knowledge) in his pack, and his face is turned towards the Sun.

Everyone else sees the cliff ahead, but the Fool walks blithely on.

A creative person allows a space inside themselves for the nurturing of an inspiration. This space is an incubation box of sorts. Outside the box, the inspiration and the person holding it might be viewed as crazy, but inside the box it is an oasis of inner sanity, the ultimate sanity of clear, unobstructed vision, unfettered by limitation or fear.

A child who says that they are going to be a movie star or the President of the United States will often be ridiculed by their peers. The outside pressure doesn’t change when we grow up. An adult with a vision of a new something, whether a new business, and new relationship, or new life, is often considered a foolish, impractical dreamer by his peers.

When your vision for a new future begins it is a tiny seed. You must protect it and let it grow. That means that while your seed is just an idea, you cannot expose it to negativity, any more than you would expose a newborn child to the elements or expose a seed on a rock to the desert sun. Other people’s opinions and negativity will only serve to make it whither and die. You must grow the seed of your vision with a good fertile soil of hope, the water of expectation and the sunshine of love.

People who live inside cages of judgment and fear can only see limitations and failure. No matter how much they love you, they cannot see more for you than they can see for themselves. They have not been gifted with your particular vision. So, if you tell them your idea too soon, they can only warn you of their own limitations, and infect you with their projections of fear and failure.

However, when you allow your vision to grow until it is a strong sapling or even a tree, it can weather the naysayers easier because you have proof of the strength and viability of your vision. After all, “it is already here,” you can point out as you look at your idea.

From the standpoint of normal society, any really new idea is insane. Bob Broska says that “insane” really means “sane inside.” His creative definition allows us to see something that has become common language from a new perspective.

A shaman in a tribal culture was revered for his ability to have a vision, and was expected to see ahead, and see through. But mostly what he was doing was to see inside himself, make a home for the birth of a vision. He allowed it to speak to him, and through him the vision provided guidance to the tribe.

The movie, “Being There,” by Jerzy Kosiński was a modern version of the Fool’s journey. Peter Sellers starred as the simple-minded Fool who wanders through life with the ultimate “beginner’s mind.” When the movie begins, he is leading a sheltered life as Chance the gardener in an old man’s house. All he knows is the house, TV, and gardening.

The old man dies and Chance is forced to wander the world penniless. Outside there are all types of menacing things, things that would make most of us fear for our lives, but the Fool innocently wanders on.

Because he has no idea of limitations, everything that happens to him is an opportunity. He ends up as adviser to the United States President, and is featured on TV. He only speaks of gardening, but others interpret his words as a broad, hopeful vision for the future.

At the end of the movie, he has become one of the most trusted advisers for Rand, the “King Maker.” He is surrounded by nefarious types who want to know his secrets and offer him wealth and power. But Chauncey is incorruptible; he is still a simple gardener without the burden of a mind full of preconceptions and fears.

He wanders through Rand’s estate, and finally starts walking on the surface of the estate’s lake. He is physically walking on water, but this fool has no idea that this is unusual at all. He is blissfully unaware that he is doing something that we all know is impossible. He pauses, dips his umbrella into the water as if testing its depth, then turns, and walks blithely on his journey.

May we all enjoy such Foolishness on occasion.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

All rights reserved.

The Way of Love

Tags

love, poetry

The Way of Love

Simple, gracious, Lovely in itself;
Love comes in unexpected moments
Slips inside like the hand of a small child
Love is trust in the moment
Tiny and large at the same time
Love is without expectations
Love is without desire
Love is requited and never wanting
Love is a garden of never-ending delight
Love is all sensation
Love is consumed by the eyes
Love is held in the heart
Love is the only thing that can be multiplied and divided endlessly.

Copyright Aliyah Marr, September 11, 2006

The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516)

Look Inside Parallel Mind

Tags

book review

Amazon just posted the “Look Inside” feature to my book on their site. It shows quite a bit of the first pages of the book, the front cover and the back cover. My favorite part is the “surprise me” feature which gives you a random selection of pages from the book.

Check it out: Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity.

I tried the “surprise me” feature a couple of times and ran the pages of the selection backwards and forwards. I even did it twice, and Amazon didn’t slap my hand. For those really cheap people out there, you could potentially read the entire book this way, but you’d have to have a non-linear memory and an ability to comprehend a book in random chunks.

(I think it would be fun to write an interactive book using a random generator like this, one that would limit the user’s view to random chunks of pages.  Maybe a romance novelette next?)

I also have an author’s page on Amazon for those who can’t get enough of me already. This blog gets cross-posted there too.

My Secret Double Life

Yes, I confess: I do lead a double life. I am an artist and a designer. I write about design and publish tutorials on creativity for designers with Graphics.com/learning.

My most recent tutorial for Graphics.com was called , “Designers with Double Lives,” (see the intro here) so the idea of doubling or reflecting has been on my mind lately. I posted a follow-up article on my double life my other blog, FreshAsylum. Then I spent some time wondering if it belonged on Parallel Mind instead. So, I’ll let you decide. Here is an excerpt from the post and a link.

I am both a designer and an artist. That is to say, I was educated as a fine artist, and later went into design. Design started out as a coping technique and then grew into an amazing medium for my art…

…You can see how I play with interactive media, story, and user choice in my artwork at: www.radi8.org. My video piece “Subtitulo” remakes two films, by taking out the story and dialog. Is it still a film? What makes a film a film? Is it the story, or is it the linear basis of the medium?

link to rest of article >>

The funny thing is that my double life is reflecting back onto itself; while I define FreshAsylum as my blog about design, and Parallel Mind as my blog about art and creativity, there is definitely some blurring. The reason I thought the FreshAsylum posting needed to be here was because it refers to art, but now it inspires me to post on a couple key topics for Parallel Mind. See the next couple posts…

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

—–

——

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.

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

Poem of a Silent Global Revolution

I found this on the web. I’d like to share it with you.
—-

“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

Dare to Dream It!

Tags

Creative coach

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.

——

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
Shy about starting or unsure? Get the most recent postings to my blog on creativity by subscribing to my newsletter:
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=524497

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

Letter from Steve Kaye Reviewing “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity”

Tags

book review

Hello Aliyah,

You have written a beautiful book.

I just posted the following review on Barnes & Noble and on LinkedIn. I’ll seek out amazon next.

—-

Review of “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity”

—–

This book has a beautiful voice. It is encouraging, gentle, and kind. It speaks to you like a good friend.

The book is about more than creativity. It’s about opening your mind to become the creative person that exists in each of us. So, instead of providing a catalog of quick techniques, this book goes deeper into the heart of creativity. It goes into the fundamental mindset that drives creativity. Once you master this, then you can use the tools like an artist.

And yes, the book also provides techniques. But the real value is in the profound wisdom about how people unfold into being creative.

I found this to be one of those rare books that deserves to be kept and cherished.

I strongly recommend this book. It belongs in any personal library.

– – –

Wish you the best,

Steve Kaye
Speaker, Author, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

– – –

Find over 90 articles at http://www.stevekaye.com

Sign up for the monthly newsletter

– – –

Today’s Blog: “Modern Version of an Old Problem”

http://stevekaye.typepad.com/meetings/

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http://twitter.com/stevekaye

Living in Passion

The sincerity of real passion is something terribly magnetic. People are drawn to someone with passion. When I came to Southern California with nothing but the burning desire to learn to surf, it seemed the way just opened up for me. People came out of nowhere to help me achieve my simple dream. Boards were given to me, someone gave me a place to live on the beach, I found surfers who were willing to teach me. A year later, I was talking to a surfer from the East Coast; he told me that he didn’t like it here. I asked him why, and he said that he didn’t find the people too friendly. I was stunned; it was so different from my experience.

A similar thing happened to me when I went to New York to pursue a career in design, and earlier to Paris to study art; the way just opened up before me. I now believe that it is my passion that has always sustained me through every  adventure. Moreover, it is the sincerity of my passion that other people respond to; they can’t help it because it speaks to their soul. Everyone craves passion in their life; most are afraid to live their passion, but they appreciate it when they see it in another. More, they want to be near it; passion is a fire that provides warmth to all it touches.

When others see that it is possible to live a life with passion, sometimes they suddenly change direction, wake up, take action. Often they find themselves doing something that they otherwise may never have dared. It occurs to them that they have always wanted to travel, do art, take up music, build a new career, or design their own house. Life for them is no longer a collection of habits, a nest of outdated ideas, but instead an exciting horizon of possibilities.

When you take that proverbial leap of faith off the cliff of security and familiarity, your courageous act generates an enormous surge of energy; this energy comes back to you tenfold. Extreme sports addicts are a good example of this: just the adrenaline rush alone is enough to addict one to taking risks. But one doesn’t have to run a rapids or jump out of an airplane to get the surge of energy that empowers you to change your life forever. Find out what feeds your soul, what makes you feel free, what you desire in life. Then just go for it. It is as simple as that. Go for it with full passion, unafraid of what others may think or say.

The best safe deposit box for your passion is not another person, not an organization, or a cause, but something that you alone can create: a passion that can hold and sustain your interest, teach you and elicit your excitement your entire life long. It doesn’t matter what you choose; if you master the art of sustained desire and non-objectified interest, you may find yourself on the most extraordinary journey. You may continue in the same medium or you may find yourself exploring avenues beyond your wildest dreams.

Make love to your passion, everything that you create in the proper mood of passion is good because of the absolving and purifying power of your love. If others respond to your work and think it good, that is just icing on the cake. You already have your reward in the work, in your sustained passion, in the organismic moment of creation. As you invest time in your interest, you will naturally gain the skills and the control of your medium that others mistake for art, but you are already an artist. Within the tiny seed exists the whole tree.

<—–>

“Action is the path in the dark forest of life, and passion is the light that illuminates our way.”

— Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Own the Moment

When you think about it, we own nothing but the moment and how we are going to spend that moment. I like to look at the birds when I feel down. A bird owns nothing but its wings, and it uses them to fly. We own our thoughts and with our imagination we can fly. However, we can’t do that if we are weighed down by our history or those really heavy coulda, shoulda, woulda’s.

A few years ago I moved from New York to California. In New York, when you meet someone whom you know on the street, they ask you what you have been doing. In California, they ask you if you are having fun. That’s a big shift.

How can you go from a life lived in stress to a life lived for fun? The trick is in getting really simple — down to a sensory level. If we get really simple, we realize that most of our “problems” are human-generated, and belong to the structure of the particular society in which we live. Even cancer is human-generated because it is the result of societal stress. Getting cancer is your body trying to warn you that you are living an unauthentic life. What is authentic about doing something that makes you anxious, stressed out or bored most of the time? What is the measure of an authentic life? Simply put, a life that you enjoy.

A bird, and every other being on this earth, has only a few real needs: food, sleep and shelter. Most of humanity’s “problems” are not real problems at all. They are only imagined problems built upon the expectations in our society. Our structure puts us out of touch with reality because it requires that we must do things to make money to have the basic needs met. We can never have a truly simple life, because we are removed from getting what we need directly, and we have grown to expect complexity, and our tastes are far from simple. We expect to have to have a job and a car so that we can have the things we need in life, but what we want far surpasses the bodily needs of food, clothing and shelter.

Now, I know that we have to live inside this society. The structure of our society demands that we have a decent house, an education, a car so we can get to work, etc. But when you are in a mental emotional meltdown brought on by the failure of this system to work for you, the only way out is to stop thinking inside that box. The only way out of that ever diminishing box is to get really, really simple. Take a walk out in nature, run through your senses one by one. Touch, see, hear, taste and smell everything in that moment. As you do this, you will find relief from circling thoughts, and you will find a moment to breathe. That moment is reality and the kernel of a truly authentic life.

Copyright 2009, Aliyah Marr

The Beginning of the End of Time

Welcome to the beginning of the end of time

With all the changes happening everywhere, many people are alarmed. We are concerned about how our lives may be affected.

I know what it is like to see how everything that had been working suddenly not work anymore. I am here to tell you that when you see this start to happen, just let go; don’t hold onto the dead weight of your past anymore. The quicker you let things go, the easier it will be to step into your future.

And just what is your future? If you let it (allow it to happen) it will be what you have always wanted at the deepest level of your soul. Or to put it another way, it will be what is best for you. It is your chance to live the life you were meant to live, an opportunity to live a truly authentic life.

When I went through these changes a few years ago, I went through a lot of angst. My circumstances forced me to change; one by one the things that used to work for me — career, home, finances, everything — just stopped dead. I felt as if I were abandoned and alone. I could not understand why; I couldn’t even understand how.

What made it most difficult was that I seemed alone; everyone else was doing well, while I experienced the most humbling years of my life. These days, the same thing is happening to those who previously were doing well. The only difference is that we are experiencing it as a group. We are learning that there is no security, no continuity, and no future in our old lives. Those lives are dead-ends. Why? Because they don’t belong to the new paradigm that is unfolding.

The new paradigm is one of individual creativity and freedom. Creativity and freedom cannot exist inside an environment of fear; they can only grow inside a matrix of love and openness. The new paradigm will not have the kind of security that comes from amassing great stores of money, or from building a fortress against unseen enemies. Instead, we will find security in our relationships and the quality of our lives. Our assets will be counted not in cold hard cash, but in the measure of our integrity, in the health of our children and society, in the quality of our goods and services, in the inventiveness of our ideas, in the consistency of our friendships, and in the honesty of our partnerships.

Artists are scouts into the unknown; I can say that I have seen the future. I have returned from my journey to tell you that you should not be afraid.

You should not be afraid to listen to your heart and follow where it leads. Years ago, the voice of my heart was a tiny, almost inaudible voice. It was almost drowned out by my fear and by the fear in the world around me. It was difficult to hear. I was not sure what it was when I heard it speak. Sometimes I was not even sure that it wasn’t the voice of fear.

How do you know the voice of fear from the voice of the heart? Fear makes your heart and throat feel constricted. New ideas, new paths, and freethinking people seem threatening from the limited perspective of fear. A fearful person wants to control everything. Fear puts leashes on people and cages around thoughts. On the other hand, the voice of the heart always speaks the truth of your soul, but it can seem irrational, and the paths that it proposes feel exciting and sometimes downright scary.

At the beginning, the two voices intermingle. For instance, the heart might propose an idea that the fear-based mind calls crazy and dangerous. When that happens, just listen to both voices in detached silence. Allow the voice of the heart grow louder, as it will over time as you continue to listen to it. Finally, you will just know what to do, and you will simply find yourself doing what the heart proposes without question.

You will find your individual truth and speak it fearlessly. How do you know it is your truth? The key is in how ideas and insights just seem to come to you: suddenly you will have an insight that seems to come from nowhere. You have never heard it before, but it resonates with you at a deep level.

Someone recently asked me (in reference to speaking my truth): “How do you deal with fear?” I replied, “The message has grown larger than my fear. My mission has grown larger than my fear.” This is really strange, because before this change I had no mission, and would have looked at anyone askance if they had proposed that I could have a purpose beyond my own personal development.

Something I have noticed in the last few years is that time is speeding up. In fact, time is accelerating year by year at an exponential rate. Each year seems twice as fast as the year before. Time is faster now than it was in the summer of 2008, and it was faster then than the beginning of the year. Now, like the Red Queen in “Through the Looking Glass,” we are virtually flying over the ground.

What does this mean? It means that we don’t have any more time to be afraid to follow our hearts and do what we are meant to do. We no longer have much time to dilly-dally around doing things that don’t serve us or anyone else. How much longer do you think you would have wanted to work at your old job? Check with your heart: weren’t you really glad when you lost it?

What better time to build that new green business, meet new people, sail around the world, have a child, adopt a baby, take loving care of your elderly parents, start a new career, take up photography, make a movie, climb Mt Everest, learn to ski, go on a archeological dig, teach reading, found a charity, start a school, go on a vision quest or walkabout, or just sit still and meditate.

The time to do what your heart wants is now, because these days mark the beginning of the end of time: as time accelerates toward the speed of light we will finally run out of time. Soon, we will have finally arrived at the finish line of the now. That day will mark the end of the tyranny of time. No longer will you mark your days with a clock, instead, your day will be as long as you want it to be; instead of marking time, spending time, wasting time, or running out of time, you will be able to make time to be whatever you want to be.

The end of time will come when we finally do whatever makes us most happy, when we are finally here and now. When we follow our hearts, which always tell us true, we become timeless and eternal. And so the paradigm shifts, time ends, and your real life can finally begin.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Written on the equinox of the Spring of 2009, March 21, 2009.

——

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.

Remember The Three P’s

Create What You Want Using Passion, Persistence and Patience

How does a creative thought manifest? There are three elements in this transformation.

The first element is Passion. Without Passion nothing can be created. Passion is the drive for something that is not yet here, a search for that something Other; a longing for a thought that flew into your head and left as suddenly as it came, trailing a tantalizing scent of possibility.

Manifestation involves movement or change, it is the point of creativity; creativity is proof of our movement in thought.

A person in their creative power understands the use of passion. When you are in-passioned you feel good, there is a buzz of energy that circulates in your body and needs expression – “x” meaning external and “pression” meaning pressed or made to travel. Expression therefore means to travel outside, or to move from the point of origin.

The energy of passion travels outside into the world through the vehicle of expression. Expression allows the energy of passion to manifest the object of desire.

Passion is the most important element in the process of manifestation. In fact, at another level, it is the only necessary element. Perhaps one day, perhaps even soon, we will arrive at that point where passion is all we need. However, because we still live in a system of time, space and history, we need to understand how to use the second and third elements of manifestation.

The second element is Persistence. Persistence is sustained interest, dedication, attention and service to the first element, Passion. Think of Passion as a flame that you light: it can be a brief, intense fire that burns everything in its circumference. Or you can build a fire that lasts by carefully banking the embers, shielding the fire and feeding the flames.

Without Persistence, the flame of your Passion may be noticed, but soon forgotten. Who is the observer of your Passion? I like to say that the universe responds to the three P’s, but in reality, you are the only one here, and it is you who has to notice and believe in your Passion. That is achieved by sheer, unremitting Persistence.

Your sustained persistence is the boat that will transport you to the object of your desire. It is your sustained interest, unselfish dedication, unlimited attention and service to your Passion that brings about the manifestation of a creative thought. You may think that attainment is what you seek, but that is not the point at all. Deep down, your soul craves the movement of creative thought. It is very energizing to experience the journey of an inspiration from its inception to its fulfillment. You enjoy the entire creative process without feeling a single want or need. The process is what nourishes and sustains you.

The final element is Patience. Patience is knowing what you are waiting for, and enjoying the anticipation as much as the fulfillment. Patience is knowing that the promise of your initial inspiration will be fulfilled. How do you know? You have the Passion, the Persistence, and the knowing in your bones. A woman knows that there is a time for conception and a time for birth; she knows what true patience is: Patience is joyous anticipation. Patience knows that at the right time, what you have envisioned will appear, and you are content in the delicious anticipation of the fulfillment of your desires.

When these elements are working in perfect harmony, you cannot fail, because the experience of these three qualities puts you in the quantum moment of both desire and fulfillment. Passion is the current, Persistence is time, and Patience is knowing. Set your inspiration in the river of Passion release it to flow in the current of Persistence, and patiently know that you will eventually come to the shore of your desire.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

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http://www.parallelmindbook.com

Parallel Mind Now in Print

It is listed with Ingram and will be available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Baker & Taylor. You will be able to order it in the United States and in the UK.

Signed copies are available directly from the author. Please order through the website at:

www.parallelmindbook.com

Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity is not about how to draw or paint, but how to think like an artist. Aliyah Marr draws from her experience as a teacher, visual artist, poet, graphic designer, and art director to demonstrate how you can change your body, your profession, your relationship, and your life just by changing your thoughts. A powerful reference guide for artists, educators, psychologists, entrepreneurs, scientists, and for those who have an interest in a practical form of self-development. Packed with practical examples and exercises from every medium: visual art, theater, music, video, poetry, scriptwriting, and dance, this book shows you how to use art to first express, and then clarify thoughts and emotions to create whatever you want.

	Subject Code	Description
1:	SEL009000	Self-Help : Creativity
2:	ART027000	Art : Study & Teaching
3:	PSY034000	Psychology : Creative Ability

ISBN/SKU:	0982105916
ISBN Complete:	978-0-9821059-1-7
Status:
Book Type:	B&W 5 x 8 in or 203 x 127 mm Perfect Bound on Creme
Page Count:	252

Speaker Series Based Upon Book, Parallel Mind by Aliyah Marr

Tags

corporate training, creativity training, team building

See following articles and posts on other blogs for materials on the speaker series:

Think Upside-Down: Prescription for Corporate Success

Speaker Series Proposal

Parallel Mind Endorsed by Michael A. Nitti, author of The Trophy Effect

“As a life coach with a focus on developing self-awareness I found Parallel Mind a fascinating read. Aliyah Marr demonstrates how developing one’s own creativity can help anyone, from artist to entrepreneur, change their lives. Aliyah presents a compelling argument for the value of creative consciousness; showing how you can use tools from the arts to shift your thinking through the power of self-understanding and love. She inspires you to be in your highest creative self at all times. This book is an incomparable reference guide; keep it in in your backpocket until the pages get dog-eared and worn — until the changes that she endorses become part of you like a pair of your favorite jeans!”

— Michael A. Nitti, Executive Life Coach and Author, The Trophy Effect

Michael Nitti is known as “The Blue Jeans Guru”

Parallel Mind Soon to be Released in Print

Tags

Parallel Mind Book

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“There is a treasure map inside you, a map to your deepest dreams, to a power that you have had since birth, a guide to a world of unimaginable riches.”

Encinitas, California – August 26, 2008 – Author Aliyah Marr, “The Guru of Creativity” soon to release in print the first of several books on the nature of creativity. The book is now available in ebook version for review by qualified individuals.

Parallel Mind is a book about how to access the creative force in all of us by awakening the inner child. Parallel Mind is not about how to draw or paint, but how to think like an artist. Aliyah Marr draws from her experience as a teacher, visual artist, poet, author, and designer to demonstrate how you can change your body, your profession, your relationship, and your life just by changing your thoughts.

This book celebrates the gift of creative consciousness. All great artists and creative thinkers know that the way to tap into the power of freshness and originality is to revive the creative “inner child.” The author helps you reclaim the birthright of your natural creativity through exercises designed to develop and inspire your full creative potential.

“You have the map, you have found the treasure — Parallel Mind invites you to open the lock and discover the life of your dreams.”

Design schools are interested in using Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity as a textbook on creativity, while corporations are interested in it as a topic for leadership training and seminars. Noted individuals in the arts and sciences such as David Heenan and Temple Grandin are championing this book.

The world’s first “living book,” Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity began in May 2007 as a conceptual art project. For an entire year the author / artist provided an interactive window into her own creative process as she wrote and edited her book in a blog online:

https://parallelmind.wordpress.com/

Aliyah Marr is a multimedia artist, graphic designer, and educator. She has explored painting, design, artistic gymnastics, sculpture, music, dance, poetry, prose, theater, and improvisational humor. As a visual artist, she works in a variety of mediums from painting and sculpture through to interactive art and video art, and has exhibited her work internationally.

A graphic designer with a stellar client list of Fortune 100 companies, the author is also a business and marketing mentor for startup companies and entrepreneurs. As an educator, she has taught graphic design, art, interactive programming, and new media at three top design schools in New York City.

The author is available for speaking engagements and seminars.

Contact:
Aliyah Marr
(please leave a comment in this blog to contact the author)
http://www.aliyahmarr.com/
https://parallelmind.wordpress.com/

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Please feel free to send “Parallel Mind” to whomever does your book reviews and author interviews.

Thank you for your time. Please enjoy the book!

Aliyah Marr

Author of Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity
To contact, please leave comment in this blog.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/aliyahmarr (professional profile)
http://www.freshasylum.com (design firm)

Blogs and Media
http://www.planetx.tv (creative director/sr producer/show host)
http://freshasylum.wordpress.com (marketing and design)
http://selfpromotion.wordpress.com (articles on how to self-promote)
http://alteverything.wordpress.com (reports on everything alternative)

Parallel Mind Nearly Complete

Now in the final chapter of the book that began nearly nine months ago. Magic numbers, 7 and 9. Seven for magic, nine for birth. With the completion of Chapter Seven, and with the end of the year 2007, I am already planning a new book, this time about creativity in the business environment: how to set up the proper structure that allows creativity to flourish in the work place.

— copyright Aliyah Marr 2007

publishers or businesses interested in my concepts or writing, please email me at:

myfullname@gmail.com

Chapter Six of the Book Parallel Mind by Aliyah Marr Now Posted

Chapter Six — Putting It All Together (working title) is where the magic happens. This is the chapter that shows how to use the connections between the mind, body, emotions revealed in former chapters. The alchemical reaction: healthy mind/emotions frees creativity into full expression, transforming the individual into a conscious creative.