Winter cocooning

'Beauty is where you find it', they say and that's how a monthly photo-project by Nic is called as well. I really do believe that we can find beauty everywhere if we open wide our eyes and hearts.

The word 'cocooning' has a special meaning in the world where I live. Working with kids I'm daily faced with all kinds of forms of cocoons. Little tents in the corners, secret spaces under the blankets, everywhere-you-go soft toys snuggles... I love how creative the kids are in 'nesting', be it a tree or in a tiniest room in the house. And have you noticed how transformed the kids are after coming back from their sacred space?!
Winter is a perfect time for practicing cocooning. Making yourself warm in a cozy place (no matter how old you are) is a precious gift to yourself. So, although not soft and snuggly, I find even the firewood in front of the house a great reminder and a symbol of taking the time for myself. What I'm trying to say - no matter what's your way of cocooning, take your time for it and give it a try! Enjoy!

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PS: find all the #BIWYFI2015 photo/word inspirations for the January word: 'Cocooning' here.    

A gift of today

Almost without words I'm saying thanks to this special day that it exists. It knows why.

And I begin this year with a thought to which I will dedicate more time this year (but more about that some other time):

'Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.' (- Albert Einstein)

Seeds

I don't know about you, but I get so focused on the harvest I want to reap, that I forget everything else.

#2 of Giving thanks, giving gifts: Seeds

Choose the soil, choose the healthy seeds, choose the weather, the moisture, the warmth. Focus on what and how will you plant, do everything what you need to do to make sure that something (what you want) will grow out of these seeds. Take care of them, love them, observe them. Water them when they need water, protect them from weeds and pests. Focus on your seeds...

I have to remind myself quite often to not get destructed by the thoughts of harvest of the day. I push away the time for the seeds... and then... if I'm not careful, they die from neglecting. Does it happen to you too? Do you have some wise words to share that keep you focused? 

So, today I'd like to wish you: enjoy growing seeds and focus less on the harvest! Have a wonderful month!

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PS: you can freely share my gifts (photos in my December posts) further. If you can’t save them from this website, you can save/share them via my FB page: CreatissimoLab FB page. I’m looking forward to celebrate this time with you!

Against it? Really?

Think again!

Life is the best school we’ve got to go to, I think. Lessons we learn are there for us exactly when we’re ready to deal with their message. Even when we sometimes think we can’t handle them, we always survive, right?

Mother Teresa once said (something like): 'I’m not against the war. I’m for peace.' At first they were just simple words for me, but later I thought I’d put more focus on those words and tried to understand why she chose to say them the way she did.

It’s all about energy, I believe. In whatever you put your energy, you will get a result. Actions are energy, words are energy, thoughts are energy. And if the energy is really strong, it becomes passion.
And now, think about what you’re passionate about. Are you for something or against something?
I stopped investing my energy into things I was against, when I saw my colleague passionately and with flame fighting a man whom he really hated. Criticizing him, proving what the man did wrong, focusing on the life of that man he didn’t like… in such a passionate way, that I thought he will explode (or get a heart-attack). And then I noticed that his passion against that man was as strong as of all those people who were for that man, believing he did everything right. They were on the opposite sides, but the power of their energies was the same. That’s when I started to understand Mother Teresa’s wise words and chose to put my energy into the things I wanted.

Of course, I still don’t want war, but I don’t give her power (energy) to help 'her' keep alive. Instead, I put doubled energy into actions, people and things that spread and grow peace, harmony.
You might still argue with me about this; but if you’re honest and you’re willing to evaluate one of your days, a single ordinary day of your life and answer this question: 'How much time and energy you invest in things you (would) like to see more in your life, and how much you invest into the things you are against?' Honestly? Now you probably understand what I want to say with this post. If you’re tired, empty, angry, upset, bored…, then you know where your energy went. Probably into fighting all the things you don’t want in your life. Think about it!

So, at the beginning of a new school year, I’d like to say to all the teachers and to all kids and their parents: stop fighting these silly battles 'against something', and rather focus on what you want to see (more of). Make a vision board if you’re visual, choose books that inspire you with positive (re)actions, find those potentials in people in which you want to invest your energy in. Live life and focus your energy into everything you want to see more of, in the classroom, too!

Imagine what seven billion humans could accomplish if we all loved and respected each other. Imagine. (A.D.Williams – Inside the Divine Pattern)

Utopia? Really? Think again!

And let this be the best school year for you ever! All the best from our creative Lab!   

Always there

"Our job is improving the quality of life, not just delaying death." - Hunter Doherty Patch Adams

When I heard about Robin Williams and his sad goodbye, my World stopped for a while. I was soaked into my deep Self, where things from my past were waiting to be awakened again. And that day came...

There he was, a boy from my childhood, the happiest kid in the neighborhood. Always laughing, always full of life, always making others people's lives a little bit brighter. And then, one day, he was gone. A suicide. At age 13. And a big wound in my heart.

Years passed by. The best years of my life were spent in a beautiful presence of a guy I really liked. He made us laugh, love life and he was our guide into a soulful life, focusing on the others. He was my inspiration - to live better, to do better. And then, one day, he was gone. Cancer. At age 20. And a big wound in my heart.

In a way, Robin Williams was for me a projection of those two people. He had the same 'glow' around him as I remembered I saw around my friends. He helped me to keep my friends in my heart - they were always there, very alive, very true.

I believe they were part of my path into Art therapy. I've always had a need to help people to be who they really are. The quiet ones, depressed ones, sad ones, the 'happy' ones, the abused ones, the poor ones... They were my teachers and they were my patients. They were my motivation and inspiration.

So I chose a path, called Art Therapy. But the World today doesn't want to deal with people who need help. The World closes its eyes and pretends they are gone. And for those, who do want to help, it feels like they are fighting with the windmills. The system wanted my money, but not my help. So, my life-path had to change a direction. I decided to invest the money into people, not a system. Because of that, my journey will be longer and harder, but Art therapy will always be with me, no matter what. And my friends, and Robin Williams and all the people I've worked with on my journey will always be there, too. Because of them I won't give up the things that are written in my heart, probably from the day I was born.

That's why I would like to dedicate this post and a video from my favorite Williams's movie role 'Patch Adams' to all of you who dream about a better World, better people and things we could do to make our lives brighter. Let the video inspire you to give, do and feel the best you can, and never give up your dreams, your true Self.

"You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome." - Hunter Doherty Patch Adams