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“If you can know where you're going,
You've gone."
– Stephen Sondheim
 I usually write the Artellagram right before it goes out, but this time I'm writing and queuing it's send-out a week in advance. Typically, this probably wouldn't seem so odd…for most of us, it's a pretty safe bet that anything we write right now will still be true a week from now. In our everyday lives, the gap between the present and the immediate future seems small and imperceptibly insignificant. We're used this fluidity from present to future; it comforts us, and protects us from being too fearful of change.
My two-year-old son Kai will be having major surgery in a few days, a total cranial reconstruction to rebuild his skull so his brain can grow properly. So, in this particular moment, the juxtaposition between the present and future seems at once both blurry and sharply jagged, like a young child's drawing of a ferocious and absurd dinosaur. By the time you read this message, the surgery will be complete, so writing this message right now feels a bit surreal, as I'm looking straight into the blinding light of the future's fragile unknown.
And yet, is this moment any different from ANY other moment, really? Physical science dictates that we can see everyday objects because of the light that is reflected onto them. If we look directly into the light source itself, our vision is distorted, and all we see are vague shapes, shadows, and outlines.
It's the same thing with time. Of course, we actually never know what the next moment will bring; the future can never be more than an outline. We don’t know what might happen that could change everything in an instant. When we can wrap our heads around this, we slowly come to realize that as much time as we spend worrying about it, the future really isn’t what truly matters most of all. In fact, what matters by far over anything else, is living for and living in these moments around us.
While making plans for the future certainly has its place, it is when we begin to stare longingly into the future's light, instead of looking lovingly at what's right in front of us, that we begin to take life for granted. I know I have often struggled with this myself, and the best way I know to avoid this and to keep focused on the beauty of what today offers, is to focus on love. For me, especially these days with his big surgery days away, it’s my love for Kai that instantly brings me back to these sparkly, shimmering moments at hand. But we don’t need an urgent health matter to do this all the time. You can have simple sweet love for a favorite pen you use to write in your journal, or a favorite place to walk, or even the smell of the air right before and after it rains.
A few evenings ago, after Kai was asleep, I was reading an essay about time and perception, and I read a line that said, "The measurement of time depends on the speed at which you move." Well, I mis-read it, and thought it said, "The measurement of time depends on the speed at which you love." I laughed to myself, closed the book, and pulled Kai's baby monitor close to my ear, and did nothing but listen to him breathe. Now, if the measurement of time did in fact depend on the ‘speed’ at which I was loving him just then, then there’s a good chance the clocks went haywire, and I’m actually writing this letter to you from a point far off in the future.
Hopefully back on earth in 2010, you too can travel at the speed of love for those dearest to you, and fly to the ends of the universe in your own cozy time machine :-)
For those short on time, to simplify this week's Artellagram, here are some ”quick links” to the highlights in this edition. You can simply follow the links that you're interested in and go directly to that section.
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1. NEW! Free ARTbundance™ Teleclass! Join me and some of Artella's ARTbundance™ Certification Training Alumni for The Awe of Attraction: Using the ARTbundance™ Principles to Break the "Law" and Find The Love, a playful and practical free teleworkshop in which you'll learn how to use art and creativity as powerful new tools to attract more of what you want into your life.
ARTbundance™ is all about tapping into the universal wellspring of creative wisdom to make powerful changes in our lives; it allows us to capture the power of creativity and actually use it as a life-transforming tool with real, practical results.
This free Awe of Attraction teleclass will provide you with practical tools to easily and joyfully use the nine ARTbundance™ Principles to connect with the dazzling power of love...all the while having a lot of fun and fulfilling your soul at the very deepest level.
The Awe of Attraction: Using the ARTbundance™ Principles to Break the "Law" and Find The Love is a free teleclass to be held on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 9:00pm Eastern Time (8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific), taking place via telephone conference line.
This free teleclass will include:
- Fun exercises to identify your core motivators and the most powerful (and perhaps most surprising) "loves" of your life.
- Innovative, hands-on art projects to creatively design your own personal Ka-LOVE-ascope to assist you on your adventure for new, unchartered, and unexpected prosperity, growth, and deep joy and contentment.
- All participants also will receive a follow-up workbook including inspiring and effective ARTsignments™ that you can use to harness the ARTbundance™ Principles to uncover new sources and opportunities for harnessing the "Awe" of Attraction!
- For those with an interest in applying for the Fall 2010 ARTbundance™ Certification Training Program, you are also invited to stay for a fun gathering after the call, where you'll hear from graduates of the Training Program, and get full details about the 2010 ARTbundance™ Coach Training program, which begins in November 2010.
To join us for the free Awe of Attraction teleclass on Thursday, October 14, 2010, sign up here!
 2.NEW! Back to YOU Special! You can still save 40%, through this Monday, October 4! While the kiddos are going back to school, Artella invites you to go back to you….and answer the true call of curiosity and creativity deep within. Our Back to YOU Special, in an effort to make it possible for everyone to receive rejuvenating inspiration through Artella’s flagship creativity eProducts has been a big hit and you can still save 40% on up to 2 eProducts of your choice. This includes allArtella e-courses, eBooks, recordings, downloadable collage kits, Digital Altered Books™ supplies, Artellabets alphabets, and all other downloadable art supplies!
It's our most inspiring sale of the year, and it ends this Monday, October 4th, so there's still time to come back to you!
Fill up your backpack with the Back to YOU Special here!
 4. Join the Affiliate Program and come to the A.R.T. Prize Party! Join Artella's generous Affiliate Program and receive your invitation to a free teleclass exclusively for Artella Affiliates: the ARTfiliate Revenue Training Prize Party - aka the A.R.T. Prize Party, to be held on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, at 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Get more info and sign up here!
 4. Interested in Becoming Part of Artella's Team?We are expanding our team for all the exciting things we're working on for this fall, so if you're interested in becoming part of the Artella Team, check out this page for details.
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 For today's "In the Studio" Interview, I'm delighted to present an interview with Certified ARTbundance™ Coach David Wagenfeld.
Since today's article is all about living in the present, I knew that David would be the perfect Coach to profile. As I've worked with him, I've been so inspired by the strength of his intuition, and I've seen it serve as such a strong anchor to help him embody the present moment. Enjoy getting to know David!
Artella: What led you to become a Certified ARTbundance™ Coach?
David: It was during the last week in December of 2009, and I was really frustrated because I felt like I had no direction and that I had just been meandering around all year. I really wanted to know what my direction was. I was thinking about it before bed and right when I was in that place between being awake and asleep, I had this flash in my mind that I was to help people use art to access their spiritual sides. And bang I fell asleep. I woke up a couple of hours later and what had flashed through my mind was still there. And I thought, “ Well great but how am I supposed to do that?” And again when I was right between being awake and asleep the word “Artella” flashed in my head, and bang I was asleep. The next morning I Goggled the word Artella, found the site, and then the section about the ACT training and filled out the form a few days later.
Artella: ARTbundance™ Coaching is based on nine ARTbundance™ Principles. Do you have a favorite Principle, or one that you really enjoy activating in other people? Which one, and why?
David: My favorite ARTbundance Principle is by far Intuition. I am a very intuitive person by nature and find that when one trusts and listens to their guidance that we are ALWAYS led to our right answers. And it was through the process of ARTbundance training that I became truly comfortable with my intuitive nature and now find it incredibly fun to play with and explore.
You can read the rest of David's interview, here
If you would like to receive notification and an application for the next ARTbundance™ Coach Certification Program, which is beginning in November 2010, simply fill out the form on this page.
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 In the Artella e-course, "From Here to ARTernity: A Mixed Media Metamorphosis for the TIME of Your Life!" one of the lessons invites you to create a "Stop.Watch." – a new kind of creative "timepiece" that reminds you to slow down and focus on what is most important.
Interestingly, we tend to associate time with motion, yet time can also be connected to stillness. Think of expressions like "quiet time", "down time", and the like. We may not be able to stop time, but we forget that we CAN, however, stop. In order to get back in touch with the present moment, and truly learn what nourishes us, we have to STOP. We must have some amount of free, open time each day where we just stop, and connect to ourselves. It could be as little as five or ten minutes to simply do nothing, except give our souls some empty time to just BE.
Here are some ideas of things to do when you "do nothing":
- Look around you and inside you.
- Listen within you and outside of you.
- Allow your mind to wander and see where it goes.
- Befriend your intuition.
- Focus on your "one word". (i.e., just close your eyes and think about breathing "joy" in and out...)
- Make new connections between things and ideas.
- Breathe deeply. Focus on your breath, and nothing else.
- Notice ordinary and extraordinary details around you.
- Really, REALLY do nothing.
I invite you to design your own "Stop.Watch", using any creative media you like. It could be an actual clock (such as my example here), or a collage, painting, or even a short poem you write. Ideally, you can place your Stop.Watch someplace so you'll see it at least once a day. When you see it, you'll then be reminded to take your time to STOP.
During this time, you can do whatever you like to acquaint your soul with stillness. It's amazing how productive "doing nothing" can be!
 If you like, you can learn more about From Here to ARTernity, here!
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This Quotz Crystal is a high-resolution jpeg image, suitable for printing. Print it out and hang it up to remind you of the power of the present moment.
~traveling at the speed of love,
 Marney
Artella Founder, Mango Lover, Hula Dancer
Artella Land ~ the creative isles of words, art, and spirit
Artella 9090 Skillman #182A-116 Dallas TX 75243
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