Confessions of a Tree-Hugger

Branching Out With Trees

Cherie Roe Dirksen - Official Tree HuggerI love trees.  Any kind.

They are captivating, calming, beautiful, mysterious, life-giving (not only converting carbon-dioxide into oxygen but housing many a life-form), shade-providing and gracious.

So many poems and great works of art have taken root around trees — they certainly capture the human imagination.

To cut what could turn out to be a long blog short — pictures speak louder than words, so…

Today’s art blog is going to look at some of my favourite tree paintings (please note that all the works below can be purchased as prints, posters and greeting cards — just click on the pictures):

Thanks for looking!

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Are You Using Your Heart Properly?

Listen to Your Heart

hand on heartTo avoid the cheesy violin strings and perhaps the urge to start singing a Roxette song, I’m going to get straight to the point of this blog.

Your heart centre tells you where you are heading.  Your gut instinct is a great thing to follow and that usually tells us when we have strayed off course.  You know, the butterflies in the stomach or sinking feeling felt in the solar plexus (stomach area).

When you can shift the feeling of surety up into your heart centre and feel an overwhelming confidence for what you are doing, then you are working from your heart and you can trust the process.

If you feel a strain in this area when you move your feelings up into your heart centre, then you need to reflect on your decision, something is still amiss.

The Importance of Feeling

Why is it important to feel things?  Our emotions are our internal guidance system, much like a GPS trying to steer us onto the right course, if only we pay attention.

“…we reconnect with our soul and can realign ourselves to our purpose.”

DisconnectedIf you are working with a GPS in your car and you keep ignoring the signals then you will be in a state of chaotic driving, going nowhere at every turn.  Feeling lost and disconnected whilst at any point in time, you could have just listened to that voice on the GPS to get you back on track.

This is why meditation is so useful, we reconnect with our soul and can realign ourselves to our purpose.

Are You Lost?

It seems like a no-brainer but we often decide to just ignore our gut instincts or turn off the voice of reason in the head.  That is when we wander from our path and get lost in the forest of uncertainty.

Do You Know You Have a Compass in Your Pocket?

So take time out to meditate, realign and trust the heart.  You have an internal barometer — use it.  Trust yourself more.  You do know everything, it is all there at your core and when you tap into that, you are tapping into the knowledge of the Universe or what is sometimes referred to as the Divine Matrix.

You just need to learn to be still, patient and to listen.

Blogs you may find useful: 

Taking Responsibility For Your Co-Creative Abilities

Letting Go For Your Own Good — Detaching out of Love

6 Techniques to Stop Worrying

 Is Your Past Tripping Up Your Future?

12 Things Successful People Do To Excel

 

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Don’t Let the World Get You Down!

How to be in the world but not of it

As things stand now, you are most likely reading this blog from a computer somewhere on planet earth.  My marvelous skills of deduction are quite remarkable, I know.

We seem to all be in the same boat, paddling around in circles, paddling against the current or drifting out to sea.  How can we be in this beautiful world but not let it get us down?

Let’s face it, there is a lot of stuff that can, and does, lower our spirits and dampen our whetted desire to be on this planet.  But then, when we look around, we see that this planet is an exquisite paradise, filled with beauty, intrigue and adventure.

Why is it that life can be so damn tough when there is also so much fun to be had?

Heaven on Earth?

There is a simple truth to life.  We can create heaven on earth but we can also create our own personal form of hell.

Our very thoughts and actions will determine which destination we end up in.

Are you living in fear?  Meet Jack Soap…

When you live in fear you are perpetuating fear.

Let me give you an example.  If Jack Soap listens to the news constantly on the radio (which primarily reports bad news and how terrible the world out there is, along with all there is to be fearful of), he will be in a conscious or even unconscious negative frame of mind.  His preset to life will be tainted with a neuro-linguistic programming of doubt and fear.

You may even find that Jack has a preconceived idea that he should trust no-one.  He may even not like to venture outside his own home, let alone comfort zone, for fear of being attacked.  He may even cringe at the thought of an overseas holiday, he’ll think you mad if you were to suggest such nonsense, what with all the potential terrorists on-board planes these days!

Poor Jack may not even realize that there is a sunny and bright side to life.  It is as if he could be living on a different planet to John.

Are you living in love? Meet John Doe…

Meet John Doe (yes, alright!  I know my pseudonyms leave something to be desired).  He enjoys listening to uplifting music rather than put on the news.  He enjoys walks in the park and getting in touch with nature.

He sees the beauty that the world has to offer.  He smiles at people as he walks along his path and they smile back.  He is certain that there is goodness in everybody because that is his experience.

John is living in the world and enjoying it.  He is not letting the world dictate his experience, he is dictating his own experience.  He is detaching from potential drama because he knows he has the choice to only focus on the positive aspects of life.

When John does this he is in control, he is mapping out his destiny according to what he wants to manifest.

He is not a victim of circumstance and he is certainly not an unconscious creator.

Jack vs John

Jack, on the other hand, is in the world and of the world.  He is getting trapped in the lower vibrational frequency of negativity and he is letting the world dictate his experience.

He is unconsciously creating an undesirable life.  He may not even be aware that he can change this at any time if he so wishes.

Jack was blessed with freewill, just like John.  Jack, however, can’t seem to see it.  He can’t take responsibility for his life choices because he feels he hasn’t made them.

But he has.

Whether he chooses to accept that or not, he has made his bed and he is tossing and turning in it.

Can you see the message behind the metaphor?  Be in the world not of it.

Freewill and Choice

Choose your experiences.  Choose what you expose yourself to.  Choose to engage in drama, or choose to love from afar and lend your support whilst creating strong, effective boundaries.

You do not have to get involved and bogged down in drama if you don’t want to.  You can always help those in need but you can do it with detachment.  This means that you can still help in this world but you are fully aware that it is not required that you get involved with a problem — most certainly not to the extent that it encapsulates you in drama.

Detachment

Detachment is not a word that describes the state of not caring.  Quite the opposite.  You care enough to help and you care enough about yourself to remain neutral.

Think of detachment like Switzerland — the neutral zone.  You can lend a hand but you are not getting hooked into anything.

You can live in this world, enjoy it and be mindful of the ‘drama’ and/or the negative aspect of life.  This will give you the freedom to pick and choose your experiences and know when to help and when to say no.

Do you feel that life is taking you for a ride?  Or are you in the drivers seat of your experience?  Share your stories…

Related Articles:

Are You Clinging on by Your Fingernails?

What Freddy Mercury Can Teach Us About Detachment

 

Don’t forget to subscribe and receive your FREE copy of ‘Creative Expression — How to find your inspiration….’

You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily inspiration and articles:

   

‘Divine You — Redefining Love in the New Earth’ is now out at all leading bookstores worldwide — don’t forget to order your copy: