| | | | ARTELLAGRAM 11-27-2010:
"In the Studio"
An Interview with Christine Dijuliis
(This interview is continued from the November 27 2010 Artellagram... )
Artella: What led you to become a Certified ARTbundance™ Coach?
Christine: I had been a long-time member of Artella and continually intrigued and inspired by all the creativity coming from Artellaland. However, for many years my own creativity was nutured in a sporatic way and it seemed to be increasingly difficult to bring art to the place of prominence in my life that I so desired. My focus as a mother, wife and employee seemed to override my creative passion but I never lost faith and hope that one day circumstances would be different, so I kept my creative dream alive by reading about others following their creative pursuits, visiting creative places and dreaming creative dreams. And so, because I believe that the soul will always strive to heal itself and seek wholeness, life did change, though the change did not come in the way I was expecting (on some level anyway). Now, it seemed I had even more challenges and obstacles to overcome to develop creatively. First, my husband became ill with a life-threatening dis-ease bringing with it his forced disability retirement, long recovery and my caretaking responsibilities and then I lost my job without access to any compensation or benefits. This point in my life was definitely a Dark Night of the Soul and by God's grace I gradually began to heal. I do believe it was through divine intervention and grace that the ARTbundance™ trainining information showed up in my inbox and that I was intuitively prompted to open the email and contemplate its message and meaning for me. That was that. The whole process for me was very spiritual in nature and has a great deal to do with trusting my intuition.
Artella: In your mind, how are creativity and spirituality related?
Christine: I love this question and will try to keep my answer within a resonable amount of words. The connection between creativity and spirituality are vital for me. We are ALL created in the likenes of the Divine Creator and therefore are born creative. It is our birthright and it really is that simple, however, somehow, as with many truths we can develop false beliefs that can limit us or keep us from seeing what is true. For example, this may show up as we begin to think of our creativity as childish (vs. childlike), frivolous or unimportant, or we can succomb to the belief that a certain talent is required and that “art” is made by only a gifted few. We can then tend to put nurturing our creativity on the back burner and lose the connection between creativity and spirituality. This can result in a spritual crisis and can also result in creativity being used for destructive rather than positive purposes. You see, we are all constantly creating whether we realize it or not and the disconnect between our creativity and spirituality leads to the creation of hatred, war, poverty and numerous other ills of society and culture. Does it not make sense then, that if we choose to acknowledge and honor our creativity as sacred that it can then open us and open the world to love, peace, abundance and healing – the answer can only be YES. To be inspired is to be “in-spirit” and when we are creatively inspired we have access to the Divine Imagination – we can connect directly to Source becoming one with all that is - we have the ability to channell this energy and grace into our creations whatever we choose them to be. The connection between creativity and spirituality is there, it always has been and always will be – it waits for us to wake up to our own creative potential and remember that there is an artist in all of us. To be an artist is to see the creativity of the entire universe, to live with daring and courage and to manifest beauty and truth through you and as you – to seek to become your highest potential. Creativity is sacred and art is spiritual practice.
Artella: How is prosperity related to creativity and spirituality?
Christine: When I think about prosperity I first need to look closely at what is manifesting in my own life and how I am choosing that. I must take personal responsibility for what is manifesting as “my creation”. I believe that my life is reflecting and attracting what it is that I believe in and what I believe in I eventually create. So, first I must go to my thoughts, then my beliefs and then my words and deeds to see if these are in alignment with the prosperity I truly want. Art and creativity as spiritual practice allows me to retrieve all the fragments of Self, to remember that I am whole and perfect. Art as spiritual practice also helps me to recognize my shadow aspects where I can then choose to either allow them to hold me hostage in fear and reflect a negative potential or harness the light attributes for the greater and highest good. It is in choosing the hightest good that I am also choosing the light of love and this is what brings true prosperity into my life and what makes the world a better place. Prosperity, creativity, spirituality – these are all connected and through practice we gain greater insight into the workings and the oneness of it all.
Artella: What kinds of people do you most enjoy working with? Who is your ideal client?
Christine: There is no thrill or feeling of connection greater than when I am working with people who are open to receive the vast blessings of their creative potential. Just showing up with a willingness to learn, share and grow together is all it takes to begin the journey of transformation. I thoroughly enjoy working with people who see their creativity as a means for self-exploration, discovery and change. It is especially rewarding to work with groups or individuals who recognize the creative-spiritual connection and who want to use art and creativity as spiritual practice. I believe in the artist in all of us and enjoy witnessing creativity and possibility come alive in people who are drawn to this path.
Artella: What does your future hold? What projects are you working on now?
Christine: Right now I'm working on offering online classes both live and recorded. I'm very excited about being able to utilize this wonderful medium to reach more people!
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?
Christine: My favorite ARTbundance™ Principle is Intuition. My philosophy is that we each have the potential to access our own inner wisdom in the form of intuition and when we allow ourselves to trust in this miracles can happen. Our intuition is connected to our inner truth and our authentic nature – that wholeness and perfection that our souls call us to remember. Intuition is very primal in nature and has been successfully used as a guiding compass by many for a very long time. We would do well as humans and as a society to turn our mind to once again fully respecting and honoring the great gift of intuition that is ours. Again, I go back to art and creativity as spiritual practice and find that as we practice and reconnect to Source and to our own divinity we gain full access to the power of our intuition. We can learn to listen, to recognize its voice, know its feeling and benefit from its wisdom. We really do have all the answers we long for within us, we can sometimes just forget this is so and can benefit greatly from being guided back to this truth.
Artella: What does your future hold? What projects are you working on now?
Christine: When I think about the future, I can't help but conjure up fantastic images of my ultimate grand vision. It is so big and delightful, so full of love and joy it makes me want to burst! The challenge for me is not with the principle of Vision but with keeping mindful, practicing presence and taking steps, while keeping what I like to call “The Bigger Painting” close to my heart. Therefore, I continue to mindfully add to and update my website www.creativity-changes-everything.com which is currently home to my expressive art workshop offerings, creativity coaching and other art-related services. My next projects involve turning my in-person workshops into deliverable products such as e-books, e-courses, guided meditations and creative playbooks. The bigger painting is to have the new materials become part of the overall development of Art Without End School of Creative Mysteries. Art Without End will be dedicated to making the world a better place through art with focus on providing creative-spiritual educational programs as well as Art Healing services. It is my hope to become involved more deeply in partnerships with organizations such as hospitals, mental health programs, grief counseling, youth services, hospice and nursing homes as an Artist Healer. I can see providing on-site and bedside healing art services, on-site art exhibitions, open studio space where people can be given an RX for creativity and making art in a safe supportive environment and I would love to establish a pool of Artist Healers that can be called to create art, sing, dance and perform for those in need. All I need is just the right someone to donate just the right space for the A.W.E. studio and gallery. In addition to all this I continue to design jewelry, hats, purses and even wings from found and recycled materials and have recently opened a shoppe on etsy. Other intentions include writing articles on creative spirituality and making presentations on the same. Oh, and did I mention I am writing a book of poetry and one on the spiritual role of our creative soul? Okay, what was that about steps, presence and mindfulness – practice, practice, practice – and it will happen!
Christine Dijuliis is a certified ARTbundance coach whose coaching integrates mindfulness, meditation and guided visualization and seeks to help clients become better acquainted with their authentic selves. She is also the author of Art Without End, a book which presents six simple steps that anyone can implement to awaken the creative spirit and nourish their unique soulful expression. Find Christine at www.creativity-changes-everything.com or Email: christine.dejuliis@gmail.com
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