10 Bands, 10 Paintings…Let the Rock Art Begin!

Coming Out of a Black Hole and Having Revelations

Yeah, the global energy of late has been intense.  Making us all bunker down for some quiet time, and if not, forcing you to cease and desist.

Have you been lacking inspiration, creativity or get up and go?  Well, I have.

Hatshepsut TempleThese last few weeks since I returned from Egypt have been damn right frustrating.  I’ve lost my pluck, mojo and anything else you want to call it.

I’ve picked up the paintbrushes and seem to be trying to repeat old patterns in creativity that just don’t work for me anymore.

“It could be realism, abstract, impressionism, crapism or bullshitism…who knows?  We’ll just have to wait and see.”

But this weekend I had a revelation…

Who The Hell Am I?

Yes, that old humdinger.  What can I truly offer the world that is unique and not only that,  stay completely in alignment with who I am?

Not easy and a question I am not alone in having to come up with an answer to — this seems to be the common thread or million dollar question among most people this year, if not this lifetime!

I Am…

I sat down to have some quiet time to reflect and saw a storyboard of everything I have done since I left school.  I know that I am intrinsically an artist, musician and a writer and I have tried to merge the 3 in this website but something still hasn’t clicked into place. In a nutshell, it went like this:The Bends

Above (Photo of our band The Bends taken in 2001)

Cherie playing BassThe Younger Years — Left school and played bass in 2 rock bands.  Last band (The Bends — you guessed it, we were all Radiohead fans…yeah yeah) recorded 2 albums and got some radio play.  After the music scene cooled off and my weariness set in I up and left for the UK.  Photo (right) — in Paris Studio recording our 2nd album.

Travel Bug — In the UK I started painting again.  Got back home, 3 years later, and started painting full-time.

Crossing Abbey Road London

Above — In the UK, at the famous ‘Abbey Road’ crossing, London

Profile PictureDivine Revelations and Ants in my Pants — Started feeling ‘pushed’ to write my book ‘Divine You’ in 2010 and did so, focusing all my energy and attention into getting it published and promoting and blogging, etc.

Footnote — Here I am, having come full circle with all 3 of my major interests but I feel like I need to break free from the confines of every single one of them.  I need to fuse them into a trinity of talents that will truly showcase the uniqueness of my being.

New Realizations:

I am a rock chick, a philosopher, a creative, a free spirit, a wanderer, a listener, an adventurer, a seeker, a trailblazer…so what am I trailblazing?

” I am more than the ceiling limit I have built over my head.”

I feel like at the moment I am trying to conform to the standards of any other self-empowerment writer (who just happens to paint and compose on the side).  No, this is not working for me.  I am more than the ceiling limit I have built over my head.

Major Refurbishing

I am going to be blowing through the ceiling.

My first adventure, that incorporates all 3 of my pursuits, will be to do a series of 10 paintings to my favourite bands or musicians from the dawn of my time here on Earth.

Musical Mural A little background:  I love to turn on the stereo in the morning and blast out my favourite music much to my husbands annoyance.  It just happens to usually be quite loud and obnoxious music for this time of the morning.  However the upside is that this ensures that the car gets washed, or that the lawn is mown (husband seeking refuge outside of the domain).

“I want to be activated into action first thing in the morning — and this plus a cup of coffee seems to do the trick.”

There is nothing like a bit of Airbag by Radiohead to get the blood flowing after a long nights sleep or head-banging your way to the bathroom to get cleaned up to Hysteria by Muse.  Who can’t be put into a good mood when you are listening to Queen’s I Want to Break Free?  Or even better, David Bowie belting out ‘Drive in Saturday’?

Yes, I know, I am a bit odd.  This is probably not the best morning music soiree (I am told this is strictly night-time music) but I simply can’t wait for night-time to arrive, I want to be activated into action first thing in the morning — and this plus a cup of coffee seems to do the trick.

So Where is This Heading?  Get On With It, Girl!

Okay, okay…I love rock.  Yes, oh yes.  So I have selected 10 bands to do 10 painting to.  I want to see what comes out whilst listening to their music.  I hope this experiment will be a visual feast and have no preconceived ideas of how any of it will turn out.  All I can guarantee is that I am going to have fun in the process and do whatever comes to me in the moment that I set aside to paint.

It could be realism, abstract, impressionism, crapism or bullshitism…who knows?  We’ll just have to wait and see.

I will be blogging (obviously) about each artwork and the process (so watch out for Tuesdays art blog).  And will reveal the top 10 bands/musicians that have been the greatest influence in my life in next Tuesdays blog.

So in the words of the famous Monty Python…”and now for something completely different”.  Bring it on!

READ THE GRAND BAND REVEAL HERE

Note to self:  Need to add new word invented in this blog to Wikipedia — ‘crapism’.  Needs no definition either, self-explanatory. Bullshitism seems to be a valid word because my spell check didn’t pick it up.

Share Your Insights:

What are you struggling with?

Do you have yourself all sussed out or are you still in flux about who you really are?

Do you think it is important to align yourself with your core essence or do you think that is just a bunch of crap?

10 Ascension Tips You Need to Know

Cosmic Dance

As tongue-in-cheek as this article title intended to be — there is something to this biblical concept of ‘ascension’ but it may not be what you think.

To Be or Not To Be…What Was the Question?

Who am I?  

If this has been your question, then I would like to officially welcome you to the human race.

What needs to be clarified is that you know who you are.  You are the I Am that I Am.  This is not just some new flavour caption or the latest (or possibly, oldest) spiritual declaration of the times. This is a statement that holds no ego, no space and no time.  This is your true identity.  When you question your identity, you believe that you are less than what you are.  You are never this — you are only stuck in the illusion or the dream that you are lacking in some way or another.

Your Personal Spiritual Path

Now to find true meaning behind the saying is your spiritual path — your journey to enlightenment.  To say the words with no meaning or context is useless and is as effective as saying any prayer like a parrot and not feeling the words being said.

“You do not need to ‘find’ yourself because you were and are never lost.”

We so often miss this vital point.  Your ‘homework’ is to give juice to this phrase.  You do not need to ‘find’ yourself because you were and are never lost.  You need to rediscover who you are because you have forgotten – that’s all.  How you get to this point is entirely up to you.  Every soul takes a unique path to their spiritual awakening and this can be fun and daunting at the same time.  Now, this brings me to ascension – the latest hot topic.

Don’t Be Fooled by the Rapture

EscapismWill some be beamed off the face of the Earth (possibly like the Mayan civilization – disappeared never to be seen again) or will we all die and move on to the wondrous 5th dimension that has been promised by so many prophets and soothsayers?  Will the religiously righteous be taken up to heaven while the rest are left to fight out the apocalypse?  Is this all just one big hoax or money-making scheme?

They do seem like rather strange questions, don’t they? But believe it or not, they are being asked. We are looking outside ourselves for answers and we want them fast.

Some were even led to believe that the 21st December 2012 was going to be ‘the date’.

Now here’s how I understand this cosmic rapturing conundrum.

Could Love Be Key to the Ascension?

Ascension is a state of elevating yourself into a different level of consciousness and, in my humble opinion, is not a physical event.  This is a lateral and not a literal experience.

What has love got to do with it?  Let’s examine this more closely.

Firstly, fear is the catalyst for being in an eternal drama.  I say eternal because if you don’t break the pattern of fear it will lead to the inevitable cycle of karma – cause and effect.  You will be doing it again if you don’t learn this time around.

“You incarnated with the intention to overcome the illusion and fear is the root cause of all illusion.”

This is not some form of punishment – this will come from the will of your over soul – your higher self. You incarnated with the intention to overcome the illusion and fear is the root cause of all illusion.  Love is the reality and love will cancel out all fear.

So your job is to examine fear – not to push it aside like most of us are guilty of doing but to take it out and look at it.  We need to face the fear and walk through it.  You can take this literally or metaphorically, the choice is yours and will fit the situation.

Trust Your Gut Instinct

Your discernment is the key factor in outing your darkness.  Only you know what cobwebs are lurking in the deep caverns of your soul.  Only you can dust those corners and expose them to the light.

If some fears need facing head on, then do it!  If some need therapy, then do it!  If some need deep reflection and meditation, then do it!  No more excuses.  If you are making excuses, for whatever reasons you have, be very sure that you are fully aware that your excuses ARE your choices.

“No-one else is responsible for you.”

If you choose to excuse yourself from your lessons then you will be in for another round on the karma wheel – your choice.  Some people take longer to pull finger than others – this applies to lifetimes too, you know.  So it is appropriate that some will not achieve full enlightenment in this lifetime, there will be other lifetimes to battle this out – your choice.  If you are a go-getter, then why not make it this lifetime?

As Yoda said, ‘Do or do not – there is no try’.  But the bottom line to this bollocking is that you must be responsible for your choices.  No-one else is responsible for you.  If this is your mindset you are in for a rude awakening!  No pun intended.

I Am that I Am

Now let’s get back to ascension. Ascension, for me, is embodying your experience here on earth by:

  • knowing at a deep soul level your ‘I Am’ presence (being resolute about who you are),
  • accepting what is and always knowing when to take appropriate loving action when there is something you can change,
  • understanding that unconditional love holds the answer to all problems,
  • finding the compassion in any situation and forgiving freely,
  • giving freely with no attachment,
  • seeing divinity en-masse, with no exceptions,
  • knowing, at all times, that there is divine order,
  • knowing you are a part of the entire system called ‘life’ therefore stepping into unity consciousness,
  • honouring all life — in whatever shape or form, including self,
  • being comfortably in the world but not of it.

We need to face everything with resolution that all is in divine order.  Whatever is just is.  There is a peace that comes with this acceptance.  If you are fighting this phrase you still need to accept that there is divine order and that you are divine.

If you do feel this then when you are faced with a fear based situation, be the calm presence.

“There simply is no ‘ceasing to exist’ – even if you do leave your body behind.”

Even if this situation means death – all you have to do is state I AM THAT I AM.  If you die in fear you will generate a lesson that you will have to walk through again…yup, the good ‘ol wheel of karma.

If you die stating and knowing in your heart that you ARE the divine, you have accepted mastery.  You are in dharma or nirvana.  There simply is no ‘ceasing to exist’ — even if you do leave your body behind.  If you ascend with or without your body —state the I AM THAT I AM.

Your only job is to make sure you know what you are stating and that it is felt in your heart.

The Heart Chakra

When you are faced with fear, try to concentrate your energy on your heart center.  Feel your heart swell with love and gratitude for whatever brings you these feelings in your life – whether it be your children, grandchildren, pets, friends, anything that brings you joy and feelings of elation — this is how you will elevate yourself into a different frequency.  Now expand that feeling.

Practice this over and over again until you can switch on the sensation of immense love whenever you have to.  When you send out love and light to the world or to anyone or anything, make sure you are feeling the love in your heart centre (chakra).  This makes it more potent and it will bring more of that feeling back to you – so it’s a win-win situation.

When you love, there simply is no space left for fear.  You will be on a different vibratory plane.  Fear won’t ‘fit’ anymore.

Truth Be Told

I read a channeled message saying that we need to speak our truths.  If you don’t speak your truth for fear of what people may think of you, you are not ready.  That resonated with me and I am now fully motivated to stand up and say it like it is and if people think I’m a nutter, well, why the hell not!

I am proud to stand up at AA (abnormal anonymous – although not quite so anonymous anymore) and say, ‘Hi, my name is Cherie and I am completely abnormal.  But hey, I Am that I Am.’

The ascension is the awakening to your divine self, the knowledge that you are a part of God and the acceptance that everything has divine order and purpose.  In order to do this, you must also see this divinity en-masse — in everyone and everything.  How can peace and love not arise with this attitude?

Other articles you may enjoy:

Are You Being Challenged Today?

How to Get and Maintain that Positive Attitude

The Secret to Excellent Living

Finding Humility Through Wisdom

Taking Responsibility For Your Co-Creative Abilities

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