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Last week, I enjoyed a beautiful vacation on the beach, along with my husband and three-year-old son Kai. It was the first family vacation we've taken together, and I admit that at first I was worried about parenting Kai since we were away from our normal habitat and routine. It didn't take long, though; after the first 24 hours, I took a hint from the crashing ocean outside my window, and rode the waves to try to worry less and live more. It was deeply nurturing to step away from those regular routines and embrace spontaneity, and I rediscovered new aspects of myself, especially in allowing myself to be much less rigid regarding the schedules and plans that we tend to convince ourselves are always so necessary in a busy life.
On our first night, the three of us were driving back from dinner and Kai asked, from his car seat, "Can you roll down the window? I want to see something." Since it was unbearably hot in the midst of the Texas heat wave, we explained that the air conditioner was on, and asked him what he needed to see. Kai proceeded to answer, "To see how wonderful the world is." Of course, we had no choice but to roll down the window, realizing that some things are more important than air conditioning, even on a hot day.
The next morning, Kai's daddy took him on his very first fishing trip (a special rite of passage for any half-Greek boy), and I was lucky to spend some time alone writing in my journal. Reflecting on the renewed spontaneity that I was enjoying in myself, I wrote that the vacation felt like rolling down the windows of possibility, getting a clearer glimpse at the kind of person I most naturally am, and want to be, while seeing, as Kai said, "how wonderful the world is."
Most of us experience, sooner or later, that life doesn’t always work out as we planned and isn’t quite as tidy and magically perfect as we may have thought at one time. Still, I think we all can benefit from purposefully rolling down the window, even in life's blazing heat, to get those glimpses of the wonderful world that can be and how we truly want to live in it. In a couple of weeks I'm presenting a free class called Live Your ARTobiography, which is all about using creative tools to transform the stories of our lives. If you are feeling like you're living in an "oughtabiography", feeling pressured by all the things you think you "should" do, then I invite you to keep reading to learn more.
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…Live Your ARTobiography! Join me and some very special guests for Live Your ARTobiography: Using ARTsignments™ to Discover the Story You Are Meant to Live, a playful and practical free teleworkshop in which you'll learn how to use art, creativity, and storytelling as powerful new tools to discover and live the life you were meant to live.
This fun workshop is based on ARTbundance™ philosophy, which is all about tapping into the universal wellspring of creative wisdom to make powerful changes in our lives as we capture the power of creativity and actually use it as a life-transforming tool with real, practical results.
In this very exciting free event, I'll be joined by some of Artella's ARTbundance™ Certification Training Alumni, as well as my ultra-special guest, Brian Andreas, the creator of Storypeople books and products, who will share from his vast treasure chest of knowledge about the role of "story" in our lives. It will be one great big party as we all share practical tools to easily and joyfully discover new insights about your path and how to make your story come to live! Live Your ARTobiography: Using ARTsignments™ to Discover the Story You Are Meant to Live is a free teleclass to be held on Thursday, September 8, at 9:00pm Eastern Time (8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific), taking place via telephone conference line.
Sign up for this free class and you will…. - Engage in transformative tools to learn how to transition from living your "oughtabiography" to your "artobiography", so you can do more of what you love, more of the time.
- Participate in hands-on ARTsignments™ - fun exercises to help unveil new insights about the story you are meant to live!
- Hear candid personal stories from me, Storypeople's Brian Andreas, and ARTbundance™ Graduates, with our best examples for bringing the power of story to life.
- Receive a dynamic follow-up workbook including inspiring and effective ARTsignments™ that harness the ARTbundance™ Principles to uncover even more new sources and opportunities for tapping into the story you are meant to live.
- For those also interested in hearing more about the Fall 2011 ARTbundance™ Certification Training Program, you are invited to stay for a fun gathering after the call, where you'll hear directly from actual ACT graduates, and get full details about applying for the 2011 ARTbundance™ Certification Training program
To join us for the free Live Your ARTobiography teleclass on Thursday, September 8, sign up here!
 2. Applications for IDDI due Monday! There are still a few more days to apply for the Fall cycle of Intuit, Dare, and DO It (aka IDDI), the intimate training and transformation group that I facilitate with best-selling author SARK. Creatively combining with "mastermind experience" with specialized and supportive individual coaching, IDDI is a unique opportunity to work very closely with both SARK and me, within the context of an intimate, affirming, powerful group. You can learn more about IDDI here, and when you request the application, you automatically receive your free IDDI Application Activators with fun inspiration, videos, and stories from us to support you during the application process.
 3. Free ARTbundance™ Goodies! If you are considering applying for the ARTbundance™ Certification Training, or if you'd just like to learn more about the ARTbundance™ Philosophy and ARTsignments, here is a whole bundle of new inspiring freebies for you:
- NEW ARTbundance™ Community Events for September! We've just posted five new free teleclasses that are part of the ARTbundance™ Community Events Series in September, all presented by our talented ARTbundance™ Practitioners in training. See the descriptions of the new events and sign up here!
- Listen to Audio ACTimonials! The Audio ACTimonials are a consolidation of about two dozen ACT Graduates sharing their personal experiences with the program. The recording is approx 24 minutes...so you can feel free to dip in and listen to a little, or a lot! :-) Listen to your recording, here!
- Get a Free ARTbundance™ Coaching Session! We're also once again accepting volunteer clients to work with our talented Coaches-in-training in the newest group of trainees in Artella's ARTbundance™ Certification Training Program. ARTbundance™ Coaching Session! You can get all the exciting details and sign up for your complimentary session, here!
If you think you might be interested in applying for the Fall 2011 session of the ARTbundance™ Certification Training (ACT), note that applications are being accepted through September 12, 2011, including those applying for a Lonnie D. Kliever Scholarship, through the fund we created in memory of my father. You can get full details about ACT and request an application at: http://www.artellaland.com/ACT.html
 4. Join the ARTfiliate Program! Join Artella's generous ARTfiliate Program and enjoy all the new affiliate tools that we've recently added! You can get more info by clicking here.
 5. Interested in Becoming Part of Artella's Team? We are expanding our team for all the exciting things we're working on this year, 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 a talented artist named Stephanie Marie Jones, a participant in my and SARK's "Intuit, Dare, and DO It!" program. Stephanie's art and life are so deeply authentic, and working closely with her in IDDI has inspired me greatly. Stephanie's work is grounded in inspiration and delight, and I knew her interview would be a natural tie-in to the theme of this Artellagram.
Enjoy getting to know Stephanie!
Artella:Describe yourself as an artist. What does art mean to you, and what kind of art do you create?
Stephanie: I’m an intuitive artist and creator. Most of the works that I exhibit are two dimensional paintings and drawings, but that’s really just a small part of what encompasses my artistic passions. I dabble in numerous other mediums and love, love, love the spontaneous, the random, and the seemingly unfocused, often resulting in limited runs of one-of-a-kind “nifty&gifty” retail creations. In the end though, everything I create is generally connected to themes of joy, innocence, wonder and delight.
Artella: How has Susan and Marney's IDDI program made a difference to you?
Stephanie:Susan and Marney’s IDDI program has been springboard of action for making my dreams an ever-evolving reality. They, and my IDDI colleagues offered the best of themselves to help me find the external and internal resources to access the best of myself and bring greater focus to my creative passions and joy spreading purpose. In fact, the dreams I entered into IDDI to accomplish, turned out to be not only attainable, but just a small piece of a life journey of dreams that I now know are completely doable, and definitely never-ending. Before IDDI, I was a pretty big Possibilitarian, and now I think I’ve evolved into something of a “Possibili-do-it-tarian”.
You can read the rest of Stephanie's interview, here
A new session of IDDI is coming in September 2011, and applications are available through this Monday, August 29. You can get the full program details here. |
 As I was writing metaphorically about windows in the above article, I thought about one of the self-portrait projects in the Artella e-course, "Mixed Media ME-flections". The project is called "Look Back", and it literally involves looking at your back! Here are the steps: Step One: To start, think about something - anything - that makes you very happy when you look at it. Close your eyes and imagine yourself looking at it - and pay attention to what your senses are taking in. What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch? Step Two: Open your eyes and make a list of the overall feelings that you would like to convey in this piece. Step Three: Design a self-portrait of yourself looking at what you love. To start, decide on the basic details: what is the setting? What are you wearing? What is the background? And most importantly, what will you do to convey the feelings that you listed in Step Two? How will you allow your body to show "expression", since your face is not showing? And remember, since it's your self-portrait, you can make your back-side look however you want it to look! :-) Step Four: Begin to work on your self-portrait. As you work, allow your feeling about this object of your happiness to wash over you and fill you with a deep sense of joy and contentment. Allow those feelings to be reflected in your painting.
Since your face is not seen, this is a wonderful opportunity to allow your "expression" to be shown in other ways. Have fun with this...don't be afraid to get happy and rediscover new parts of yourself!
 The project is excerpted from the Artella e-course, Artella's Mixed Media ME-flections: 30 Self Portrait Projects to Change Your Life
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This Quotz Crystal is a high-resolution jpeg image, suitable for printing. I invite you to print it out and remind you to life the live you are meant to live!
~rolling down the windows with,
 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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