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"Art & Transformation" #75
6 Plays7 months ago
In this episode @betsyhoo and @halcyonpink reflect on how powerful art can be to help process and move through difficult times. They share examples inspired by Janus' passing, and lots of ways to let energy move through your voice, hands, and body. Special bonus song at the end by Krista Richards.
LINKS MENTIONED
Krista Richards
https://kristarichards.com/
- Custom songwriting (weddings, birthdays, etc)
- Coaching and mentoring other singers & songwriters
- Live performances at public events & private concerts
Lisa Littlebird's Whole Hearted Community Chorus
https://thebirdsings.com/wholehearted/
Adelaide's music mix & fire with Michael
https://youtu.be/0hQXqPV9i5w
HOSTS
BETSY FINKLEHOO is a healer of massage therapy, CranioSacral and Dharma Coaching. She is an 8 year burner and has spent the last several years seeped in the personal development world, cultivating her passion for transformation and growth. Her recent project, The Power Affirmation Journal and virtual group empowers women to cultivate self awareness and healthy habits so they can live in greater freedom, mind body and spirit.
http://poweraffirmation.com/
Click here to get a FREE affirmation for Stay Sparked Listeners!
HALCYON is full-time Love Ambassador. He is the founder of Hug Nation YouTube channel and daily zoom gratitude circles. He is co-founder of the Pink Heart Burning Man camp and the 1st Saturdays project for people experiencing homelessness. In his free time he coaches individuals on how to live joyfully and authentically. His other podcast is "Hard on the 80's."
http://LifeStudent.com
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction: Art and Grief
00:00:02
Speaker
On today's episode, we talk about art and transformation.
00:00:07
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We share some of our sparks on how art has supported us in processing our grief and more challenging moments in life.
00:00:15
Speaker
And if you feel the spark, we encourage you to get out a piece of paper and draw and paint and doodle while you listen.
00:00:21
Speaker
Enjoy the episode.
Meet the Hosts: Betsy and Halcyon
00:00:24
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Hello and welcome to Stay Sparked.
00:00:27
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I'm Betsy Finklehu, the creator of the Power Affirmation Journal and Somatic Bodyworker.
00:00:33
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I am John Halcyon, the host of the Hug Nation YouTube channel and men's work practitioner.
00:00:40
Speaker
And this is Stay Sparked, a podcast that...
00:00:43
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aims to light you up.
00:00:44
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Our conversations are authentic and never planned.
00:00:48
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We come up with a theme with the core inspiration of bringing sparks into all those who have an opportunity to listen.
Gratitude and Family
00:00:57
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And we always start with gratitude.
00:01:00
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And so what are you grateful for today, Halcyon?
00:01:04
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Today, I am grateful for my bio son, Asher.
00:01:08
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It is his sixth birthday.
00:01:11
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I was so blessed to be a sperm donor after I froze my sperm 15 years ago, before a vasectomy.
00:01:16
Speaker
Yeah, it was before.
00:01:18
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I froze it before.
00:01:20
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And then, yeah, so he's six years old.
00:01:22
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I get to visit him tomorrow.
00:01:23
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I'm going to go celebrate his birthday.
00:01:25
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So blessed to have this beautiful little human in my life.
00:01:28
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So grateful for Asher.
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And Amy, because Amy is raising him.
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Amy, the mother, is amazing.
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Grateful for you, Amy.
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Thank you.
00:01:35
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You're amazing.
00:01:37
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Happy birthday.
00:01:39
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Oh, yay.
00:01:40
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Well, my gratitude today is for the trees.
00:01:43
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The forest here in North Carolina is just amazing.
00:01:46
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starting to bud as we went through a pretty long and cold winter and there are now blossoms and little buds coming out and it's just such a beautiful process to be in like it's just communing with the trees and feeling their their majesty so thankful for the trees today
00:02:07
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Can I just tie our gratitudes together?
00:02:09
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And if you're listening, you won't be able to see this, but I'm holding up an amaryllis that is just about to bud.
00:02:15
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I sent an amaryllis bulb to Asher several months ago, and I planted one at the same time, and so we could watch our flowers bloom together.
00:02:23
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So budding flowers, gratitude in it.
00:02:26
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What a beautiful way to stay connected long distance.
00:02:29
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Yeah, it's, you know, I can't really play Minecraft with him from here, but we can both garden together.
00:02:36
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so sweet that's beautiful
00:02:40
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Wow.
Art's Role in Grieving
00:02:41
Speaker
Well, today's episode, we are going to explore a conversation around art and how art contributes to transformation and more specifically to healing.
00:02:52
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Because many of you who have been listening to Stay Sparked or maybe you're new to us, we have been on quite the journey of grieving our former co-host, Janus Redmoon.
00:03:04
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Our previous episode spoke a lot about it.
00:03:07
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And one of the things that we've been contemplating and experiencing is how art has been a really powerful and supportive part of the grieving process.
00:03:19
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And I personally have been so grateful to have so many different mediums to express myself through art since I was young.
00:03:27
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My family is very creative.
00:03:30
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All my sisters and my mom are just absolutely creative in all kinds of different ways.
00:03:35
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And it's just it's in my blood.
00:03:37
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But I more recently have started to embrace it from that place of getting to process some of my more challenging moments in life, like grief.
00:03:48
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And so we're just coming off of the life celebration that we held for Janus, where we had about 100 or so people come together to honor him in all these different ways.
00:04:00
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And one of the things that was so apparent was the creativity of
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The incredible amount of creativity that was poured into this event.
Creative Tributes for Janus
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Books were made of him.
00:04:13
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Multiple books.
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Multiple songs written in his honor.
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I personally made these really cute stickers with him on it.
00:04:22
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Someone made bookmarks.
00:04:23
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There was a dance fire performance.
00:04:27
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Halcyon, you put together the episode from our star Remembering Red Moon.
00:04:33
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So much art that has come out of it.
00:04:35
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And so I'm recently just speaking with you behind the scenes, too.
00:04:39
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We've been talking about how art is such a pathway for moving energy.
00:04:44
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So, yeah, I'd love to hear from you, Halcyon.
00:04:46
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How has the art been for you in your process of doing this?
00:04:50
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It's been so significant.
00:04:52
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And I just want to touch on that, refer people to an old episode we did.
00:04:58
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I think it was titled Creativity or Around That, but that, you know, Burning Man has taught us that art and being an artist is something
00:05:06
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so much more all-encompassing than paint and canvas.
00:05:11
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And so any type of expressions and creativity can be part of that artistic expression.
00:05:18
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And so initially, I'll admit, when we talk about the healing of art,
00:05:25
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through this process, I didn't connect that, oh, I spent the weeks following his passing editing, working with video.
00:05:36
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And at first I was like, oh, I haven't made any paintings.
00:05:40
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But no, I was submerged in...
00:05:45
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Submerged in creative thought, submerged in kind of almost like an alternate consciousness.
00:05:51
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And it was so powerful for me to not run away from reality, but also not...
00:06:04
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kind of get overwhelmed with grief.
00:06:08
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It was this like medium place of a creative, fertile container where I could be with him and also be creating and making something.
The Healing Creative Process
00:06:24
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And it was, yeah, it was, it was,
00:06:28
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And people, when they saw it afterwards, like, oh, thank you so much for making that.
00:06:31
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I was like, it was, I mean, you're welcome.
00:06:35
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And if no one ever listened to it, it would still have been such a valuable thing for me to have done.
00:06:44
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I keep hearing it's like, it was a portal for your process.
00:06:47
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I've had this same thing, but not through video editing, but I could understand.
00:06:52
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Actually, no, wait, now that I think about it, I created a video on Instagram, which is like a video editing app.
00:06:58
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for reels and sitting with that and contemplating it and moving the images around and really being with all of what came through was definitely a part of my process it's take some time to be with it and then also I I kind of went into a similar state where I was when I was making these stickers I was in a
00:07:19
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little Canva portal.
00:07:21
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I'm familiar with Canva, but it's so fun.
00:07:23
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It's a graphic design tool.
00:07:25
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And I was just, you know, playing with his picture and putting all these different things that represented who he was.
00:07:30
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And I stayed up so late because I was just in it.
00:07:35
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And I, it felt this deep level of focus that I really needed because in the
00:07:42
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pain of feeling the loss and the sort of shock and overwhelm of all of the emotions.
00:07:49
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It kind of felt like maybe I was flailing around.
00:07:52
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I just didn't even know what to do with myself.
00:07:55
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But when I was able to sit down and make that art, I was focusing and I was directing it.
00:08:01
Speaker
And it was like something coming up through my spine and up out my heart, through my hands and into what I was creating.
00:08:10
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And it was that particular medium of digital art.
00:08:16
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That's so cool.
00:08:17
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And it just occurred to me that...
00:08:20
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As I was going through hours of video and finding little clips and little pieces that captured essences and ideas, that kind of pile of raw material, all these little quotes, was then used by Adelaide.
00:08:39
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She made a music mix that they did a fire performance to, but she then used the clips that I had mined from the raw material, and then she used it.
00:08:51
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to create this song with his voice in it, which then was this whole other artistic creation that was really many collaborators from Janusz to myself to Adelaide and then Adelaide's dance partner, Michael.
00:09:05
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It was this really kind of bonding, communal expression.
00:09:10
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Really, really helpful.
Art's Transformative Power
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah, art is so powerful in that way.
00:09:14
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And you're reminding me also, so I have, we have a mutual friend, Denver.
00:09:19
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Shout out to Denver.
00:09:20
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He's an incredible artist and builder, and he's building an art piece right now for Burning Man.
00:09:26
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And it is a butterfly and a cocoon called the Wings of Resonance.
00:09:32
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And I'm so honored to get to be kind of part of the behind the scenes team on that project.
00:09:38
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And what we were talking about is how
00:09:40
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The art piece is actually serving as a tool for his deep embodied transformation.
00:09:45
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He is on a very deep, um,
00:09:49
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part of his journey where everything's changing everything's changing so quickly where he moved and out of a relationship and a lot of different things and he's able to direct that energy into an art piece that is going to serve many people in the playa and it's like me up as well getting to participate in something i'm passionate about which is transformation and the butterfly wisdom and so this is just one tiny example of so many people that use art to
00:10:19
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move through these big things.
00:10:22
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And so with the times that we're in, I feel like it's ever more important and it's really a powerful catalyst for our emotions and our feelings.
00:10:31
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You know, you think about it, some of the most impactful ways to elicit change is through music.
00:10:37
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You look at how so many artists have made huge, huge impact with the words that they put in their songs.
00:10:45
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You know, how can we get a message out through art?
00:10:49
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The song that Christa Richards wrote for us to play at the memorial was so... Like, it hit so hard in the heart and at the same time connected everyone's hearts that was there and connected us to Yanus.
00:11:07
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Ugh.
00:11:09
Speaker
I did this, co-hosted a men's group several weeks ago, and my co-leader, Ishmael, kind of one of the big focuses of our experience was this framework of our lives, of are you seeing things as, is life happening to you?
00:11:28
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Is life happening for you?
00:11:31
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Or is life happening through you?
00:11:33
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And, you know, and I think about that now, like, oh, this is with grief, you know, there was.
00:11:42
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Yanis was taken from me, you know, like I at first this happened to me, this happened to us.
00:11:49
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And then over the beginning of this year, I was really starting to tune into, you know what, this is such a classroom.
00:11:57
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There's so much about grief and loss that is so critical for life and for clearly the rest of my life that I'm so aware of it happening for me.
00:12:08
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And then art, like, is the way, one of the ways that it moves through you.
00:12:15
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And without, like, an intellectual reason, it's this kind of surrendering to some inspiration, energy, and really, yeah.
00:12:34
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Thank you, classroom.
00:12:35
Speaker
Thank you.
00:12:37
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Powerful.
00:12:37
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You know, and maybe we can play Krista's song at the end of this episode just to give people a little glimpse of it.
00:12:45
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Yeah.
00:12:45
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Yes.
00:12:47
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You know, one of the things that has really helped me on this topic was,
00:12:53
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When I feel stuck, whether it's in my work or relationship or just not really certain on which step to take next, my usual go-to is some form of creative expression.
00:13:10
Speaker
And that might be movement.
00:13:13
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It's oftentimes movement, especially with music.
00:13:16
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I love dance as a creative expression.
00:13:18
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It tends to unlock something.
00:13:21
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It also helps me process darker emotions.
00:13:24
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Actually, just recently I had something that stirred up in a conversation.
00:13:29
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It was like an old wound that kind of got a little rubbed on.
00:13:34
Speaker
And I was like, oh, that's ouchy.
00:13:36
Speaker
And then it was like, okay, well, now what do I want to do with this?
00:13:39
Speaker
And so I actually, one of the things you might not know about me, but now you will, is I love Tool, the band.
00:13:47
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Tool is just such a wonderful ally on my journey to help me move through tender things, especially anger and sadness and frustration.
00:13:58
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So after that conversation, I was like, okay, you know what?
00:14:00
Speaker
I just need to dance.
00:14:02
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So I turned on 46 and 2, and I just moved, and I cleared it out, and it felt so good to dance and to express myself.
00:14:11
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And then afterwards, I was like, ah, okay, yeah, that felt so much better.
00:14:17
Speaker
So movement is definitely art as a way to support healing transformation,
Art Beyond Social Media
00:14:23
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in my opinion.
00:14:23
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:14:25
Speaker
I just realized a blockage that I have had recently around
00:14:33
Speaker
art and expression as a tool, which is that I sometimes get caught in the social media pressures of you create things to share them, to get attention, to get views.
00:14:48
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And, you know, as algorithms do this and that, it can be easy to feel like no one's seeing what I'm making.
00:14:56
Speaker
And then I interpret that as like, why bother making art?
00:15:01
Speaker
And what I just realized what I've been doing the last few months is I've been making art for micro audiences.
00:15:09
Speaker
So I made a elaborate animated birthday card for my dad where I used AI to write a song and then I animated it and took all this footage, spent a lot of time for, and there's probably seven people in the world that, you know, would consider it to be worth watching.
00:15:29
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But it broke me out of that social media kind of drive into, oh, I know who will love this.
00:15:36
Speaker
In fact, I have a friend who's a recording artist.
00:15:39
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And yesterday, I spent all this time playing with a green screen.
00:15:43
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And I put myself into his music video.
00:15:45
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So an audience of one.
00:15:47
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One person, I made him laugh hysterically.
00:15:49
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But it was a way to just like touch the creative spirit and separate it from the stuff that sometimes gets icky for me.
00:15:58
Speaker
I love that so much.
00:15:59
Speaker
Yes, I wish I could have been there.
00:16:02
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Yeah, you know, it's so funny this concept of being an artist or being creative.
00:16:09
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And I've had this conversation with so many people.
00:16:11
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Even my mom thinks she's not creative.
00:16:14
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And my mom is an incredible crochet artist.
00:16:17
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She is like just so talented at a lot of different things.
00:16:21
Speaker
But she was programmed to believe that she was not creative because she couldn't draw or paint.
00:16:28
Speaker
so funny it's like oh i'm not an artist i can't paint and it's like well that's the program because one of the things that i've noticed is that when we can try all kinds of different mediums whether
Singing and Emotional Release
00:16:44
Speaker
that is clothing arranging things
00:16:48
Speaker
Setting the table in an artful way, making a bouquet of flowers, tending to the landscape, you know, making a card, doing something digital, maybe something on not digital, collaging.
00:17:03
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There's so many mediums.
00:17:05
Speaker
to play with.
00:17:07
Speaker
And I feel like when we can get out of our own way and really shift a belief that says I'm not creative, then we get to start to see something move through us.
00:17:19
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Maybe it's the piano.
00:17:21
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Maybe it's some other instrument, you know?
00:17:24
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And so as somebody who is an affirmation enthusiast, and I, I really learn and teach and focus a lot on belief and
00:17:32
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reprogramming.
00:17:34
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I feel like it's such an important thing for us to claim our creativity as unique to us.
00:17:41
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Yeah.
00:17:42
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And you don't have to be good.
00:17:45
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It's like, oh, I'm not creative because I see incredible paintings and I can't do that.
00:17:50
Speaker
There's a beautiful exchange at my dinner table.
00:17:54
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My partner, Lisa, my fiance, Lisa, she leads choirs and they are no audition choirs.
00:18:02
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Anyone can come and be a part of it.
00:18:04
Speaker
So actually there's one happening in Monterey and San Diego starting in May.
00:18:07
Speaker
So if you want to sing.
00:18:08
Speaker
So we're at the table and
00:18:11
Speaker
We're really trying to get, I think my mom would love it.
00:18:14
Speaker
And my mom's like, well, I'm in this church choir, but I just, I'm a terrible singer.
00:18:17
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I'm a terrible singer.
00:18:18
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And I go, and Lisa deals that all the time.
00:18:21
Speaker
And it's like, and I go, mom, can I make a request?
00:18:26
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Can you, if you can, not say that in front of us ever again?
00:18:31
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And she paused and she goes, I enjoy singing.
00:18:36
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I was like, yes, yes.
00:18:38
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That's the way you think.
00:18:40
Speaker
Not I can create something that is sellable.
00:18:44
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I enjoy the process of being creative.
00:18:47
Speaker
And that is how we can get in the headspace of things moving through us.
00:18:55
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Yes.
00:18:56
Speaker
Way to call her out.
00:18:58
Speaker
That takes something.
00:19:00
Speaker
I love that.
00:19:01
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To be able to have people in our lives that are willing to catch us on those negative
00:19:06
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ways if we speak about ourselves and make a request good on you thanks i really i tried to be very careful that i didn't say she was wrong for doing it or you know but like for would you just for me for me would you do that and and she she immediately shifted and and a beautiful spark came from her out of it yeah
00:19:29
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Yeah, well, and singing is a very powerful way to process emotions as well.
00:19:36
Speaker
And it's a similar story that I hear from a lot of different people.
00:19:39
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Oh, I don't sing.
00:19:40
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No way I don't sing.
00:19:42
Speaker
Or no way I don't dance.
00:19:44
Speaker
And it's like there's some block in there.
00:19:46
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But when it comes down to it, if you sing for yourself or dance just for yourself, nobody's watching.
00:19:52
Speaker
I mean, it's the same thing, right?
00:19:54
Speaker
Dance like no one is watching.
00:19:56
Speaker
It's very healing.
00:19:57
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:19:58
Speaker
Because our vocal cords can get trained and toned.
00:20:04
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It's a muscle.
00:20:06
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And Krista, I want to give Krista a shout out again.
00:20:08
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I've taken many of her vocal training courses and classes and same with another friend, Larissa.
00:20:14
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And I've learned that simply by doing vocal exercises like do-re-mi, it has been so helpful for my ability to communicate in my relationships.
00:20:27
Speaker
It has been so helpful for me to be able to share what my message is or what I'm working on expressing.
00:20:34
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It has been so helpful to be able to have a healthy open throat chakra.
00:20:40
Speaker
I feel like the singing is really helpful.
00:20:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:44
Speaker
My partner and I do something really fun.
00:20:46
Speaker
Sometimes we don't do it all the time, but we will sing to each other at the end of the day about our day.
00:20:51
Speaker
And neither of us are very good, but we don't care.
00:20:56
Speaker
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
00:20:57
Speaker
What did you say?
00:20:58
Speaker
I mean, we're okay.
00:21:03
Speaker
But in the standard of like, I would never post this or share it, you know, but we love and accept each other for all of our, you know, when our voice cracks or if it doesn't rhyme.
00:21:14
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We just let it flow.
00:21:16
Speaker
And it's so fun.
00:21:17
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It's a really fun exercise to just sing our day.
00:21:21
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I used to have a very clear story that I can't sing and I don't sing.
00:21:26
Speaker
I never did karaoke.
00:21:27
Speaker
I never sang.
00:21:28
Speaker
And then I attend these retreats that often at the end of the night, the leaders will say, does anybody want to share a song?
00:21:37
Speaker
And I never shared because I don't sing.
00:21:42
Speaker
And then I was there and my boss at the time was there and he sang and he sounded terrible.
00:21:52
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And it was a revelation that you're allowed to sing because you enjoy singing.
00:21:58
Speaker
I'm like, what?
00:22:00
Speaker
It doesn't have to be a performance.
00:22:01
Speaker
It doesn't have to be like, and it totally changed.
00:22:04
Speaker
So the next night of the retreat, I sang a song.
00:22:07
Speaker
And it, like you said, something, something happened, something came out.
00:22:11
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It was so
Embracing Imperfection in Art
00:22:12
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incredible.
00:22:12
Speaker
And so now I improv a song, a melody and words every morning on my 9 a.m.
00:22:18
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broadcast.
00:22:19
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I start by just starting singing because it's, it just, it's like a, it loosens up and the things come through me.
00:22:26
Speaker
And I actually, occasionally I will try to do improv at a, at a retreat.
00:22:31
Speaker
And, and when I nail it, it's so applause.
00:22:35
Speaker
And occasionally I, I,
00:22:37
Speaker
The rhymes don't come and it ends in a big fizzle.
00:22:41
Speaker
And Lisa gave me the greatest response ever as I sat down and the whole room was kind of like, okay.
00:22:49
Speaker
She leaned to me and she goes, way to go for it.
00:22:54
Speaker
And I was like, yes, right.
00:22:56
Speaker
Like what I did not need was that's okay, baby.
00:22:59
Speaker
You do it good sometimes.
00:23:01
Speaker
But just like the celebration of the effort.
00:23:06
Speaker
I'm like, oh, yeah, way to go for it.
00:23:09
Speaker
Yes, I did the same thing.
00:23:12
Speaker
I sang in a circle one time and I was like, it was kind of like, you know, when a car starts and...
00:23:24
Speaker
It took me a while to get my voice, and it was so off.
00:23:28
Speaker
The cue was off.
00:23:29
Speaker
I finally got it.
00:23:31
Speaker
But, you know, it didn't sound that great.
00:23:35
Speaker
But afterwards, I actually got up and went outside, and I actually gave myself that same pep talk.
00:23:41
Speaker
Yay.
00:23:42
Speaker
Way to go for it, Betsy.
00:23:44
Speaker
Even though it didn't really sound that great, you sang.
00:23:47
Speaker
I'm proud of you, and you don't need to be embarrassed because you're human.
00:23:52
Speaker
And that felt really good.
00:23:55
Speaker
I mean, that sounds like it could be a whole episode of reframing life, not into achievement, but into effort.
00:24:02
Speaker
You know, like in coaching men, it's often a, like, my job is getting the pom-poms out.
00:24:10
Speaker
Then you asked her out.
00:24:12
Speaker
You asked her out.
00:24:13
Speaker
Let's celebrate.
00:24:14
Speaker
You asked her out.
00:24:16
Speaker
She said no, but I mean, who cares?
00:24:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:20
Speaker
Exactly.
00:24:21
Speaker
You did it.
00:24:22
Speaker
And that's cultivating courage.
00:24:24
Speaker
And courage is a really important part of life.
00:24:28
Speaker
Because if we don't do the things and we just constantly hold ourselves back and say that we are not good enough or that we can't do it or what's the point, then by the end of our life, we may be like, wow, I really regret how much I held myself back.
00:24:45
Speaker
You know, so I am a huge fan of just leaning in, like singing even if your voice cracks, you know, making that art piece that you've been so scared to paint, whatever it is that you're here to express, you know.
00:24:59
Speaker
And on this topic of art and transformation, one of the things that kind of like sparked in this conversation is really recognizing that
00:25:08
Speaker
We are shifting from right to left brain and left to right brain in these different operating systems, right?
00:25:16
Speaker
The analytical is the left brain and the artistic is the right brain.
Refreshing the Creative Mind
00:25:21
Speaker
And so if we're just sitting here chatting and we're talking about life and all of the things... And then all of a sudden I'm gonna start singing my song and opening up my heart.
00:25:32
Speaker
Let's see what happens when I start to flow.
00:25:37
Speaker
Well, we'll never really know if we don't go on and do this show.
00:25:43
Speaker
They were like, pop into the right, you know, and it's so refreshing to just go back and forth.
00:25:50
Speaker
And then also like intentionally making art.
00:25:53
Speaker
If we know that we've been in the left brain for most of the day, like I love being able to do that.
00:25:59
Speaker
If I've had a very particularly busy day, especially if I'm doing a lot of admin, then I will make sure that on my breaks I will dance.
00:26:10
Speaker
I want to just say you are exceptional at leaning into doing.
00:26:17
Speaker
And if you are listening and looking for guidance, you should hire Betsy.
00:26:22
Speaker
She's amazing.
00:26:23
Speaker
Oh,
00:26:23
Speaker
Oh, thank you so much.
00:26:25
Speaker
I appreciate that.
00:26:25
Speaker
Yeah, it feels I love supporting people one on one.
00:26:28
Speaker
Also in the groups that I do is I I love getting to remind people.
00:26:32
Speaker
I feel like that's what I'm I'm here to do.
00:26:34
Speaker
My mission is to remind people, you know, it's just we all know this stuff.
00:26:40
Speaker
We all know the value of living an artful life.
00:26:43
Speaker
We're allowing ourselves to be creative.
00:26:44
Speaker
We're creating rituals in our lives to help us to live our best lives.
00:26:50
Speaker
And here's one, another one that I love that is really about unblocking
00:26:56
Speaker
something so what I will often do so I'm pretty hard on myself sometimes when it comes to creating the next product I have made these products as you know and many of you out there know I've made a journal and cards and I've had I have some other beautiful products that helps people to write affirmations and rewire their thinking and I have a course and all that and when I put the pressure on to make the next thing then of course it's not going to come through
00:27:26
Speaker
You know, I'm like, oh, man, I should really tend to the emails.
00:27:30
Speaker
You know, I better I better really work on the next edit.
00:27:33
Speaker
And it's like, I don't want to do that.
00:27:35
Speaker
You know that feeling like put it off, put it off, put it off, put it off.
00:27:40
Speaker
Well, one of the hacks that I've actually been playing with that has been working is to play with another medium.
00:27:48
Speaker
And let myself explore with a different type of art that I'm not actually used to working with.
00:27:53
Speaker
So this winter I was like, okay, I really want to continue making a library of affirmations.
00:28:00
Speaker
And it wasn't coming through.
00:28:02
Speaker
And so then I was like, instead of beating myself up, I started watercoloring.
00:28:07
Speaker
I don't watercolors.
00:28:08
Speaker
It's very new to me.
00:28:09
Speaker
I just pulled out.
00:28:10
Speaker
I've got these metallic watercolors and I just started painting and it wasn't very good at first, but then I just kept going.
00:28:17
Speaker
And anytime I started to hear that voice like, oh, you really should be making those affirmation audios.
00:28:22
Speaker
You really should be writing to your email list.
00:28:25
Speaker
I was like, no, I'm allowing the creativity to come through in another way and giving myself permission to
00:28:32
Speaker
to allow the art to move through me.
00:28:35
Speaker
It was, I was kind of like flushing something out.
00:28:38
Speaker
It's kind of like running water through the pipes to clear things out and to let the pressure go.
00:28:46
Speaker
And then, you know what happened?
00:28:48
Speaker
I, like, the next three days, then I started recording.
00:28:52
Speaker
I just added three new audios to my insight timer, you know?
00:28:57
Speaker
And then I ended up having a whole new round of edits for my affirmation cards come through.
00:29:02
Speaker
And so it really works when we can stop being so hard on ourselves and just allow art to come through in a different medium.
00:29:11
Speaker
That's great.
00:29:12
Speaker
And I love the idea of permission.
00:29:14
Speaker
And I think that, you know, in addition to permission, you know, a little maybe fake it till you make
Art During Hard Times
00:29:22
Speaker
it, force yourself.
00:29:22
Speaker
I know that my experience and so many people that I am encountering in recent days, there's a lot of overwhelm and sometimes even a feeling that it's irresponsible to be feeling anything but
00:29:41
Speaker
or sadness or grief or frustration.
00:29:45
Speaker
And I think that rather than spiraling down into being less capable and less skilled in doing anything, of giving yourself permission to watercolor, to doodle, to just allow something to come through,
00:30:07
Speaker
That is, it is not in the opposite direction of what's needed in the world.
00:30:12
Speaker
It is exactly what is needed so that you can be more functional by being freed from the anchors that are holding you down.
00:30:22
Speaker
Yes, absolutely.
00:30:23
Speaker
Well said.
00:30:25
Speaker
Actually, our nervous system health, our mental health is vital to make this world a better place.
00:30:32
Speaker
Because if we are trying to operate from a frazzled, stressed out place, we're
00:30:39
Speaker
We are going to short circuit and we're not going to have the longevity that we need in order to be able to live our best life.
00:30:46
Speaker
You know, and so I love that you said doodle.
00:30:49
Speaker
I started thinking of coloring books, you know, for those people that are like, what an artist.
00:30:55
Speaker
Try a coloring book.
00:30:56
Speaker
See what happens, especially, you know, coming in back to where we started, especially when things are hard, especially in grief.
00:31:05
Speaker
You know, you we lost someone.
00:31:08
Speaker
you know, sit down with your colors.
00:31:10
Speaker
See what happens when you just focus on coloring in the lines.
00:31:14
Speaker
Just be with your thoughts.
00:31:16
Speaker
Maybe have some tea.
00:31:18
Speaker
See what wants to move when you allow that right brain activity to come online versus, you know, sometimes just like, you don't really know what to do.
00:31:27
Speaker
Like I shared earlier, like, I don't know what to do with all these feelings.
00:31:31
Speaker
Put it into the colors or into whatever the art is.
00:31:34
Speaker
So
00:31:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:36
Speaker
And your objective is not to create a beautiful picture.
00:31:39
Speaker
Your objective is to create.
00:31:44
Speaker
And with the intention of transformation as well.
00:31:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:49
Speaker
Well, I love this conversation with you, Halcyon.
00:31:52
Speaker
Always a spark of inspiration.
00:31:56
Speaker
And here we are getting to embody this remembering, even if no one listens to this, I'm feeling sparked.
00:32:02
Speaker
Me too.
00:32:03
Speaker
Me too.
00:32:04
Speaker
And, you know, and, you know, earlier today, it was like, I don't know, maybe I don't know if we should record.
00:32:09
Speaker
I'm feeling very micro audience lately.
00:32:12
Speaker
But I'm really glad that even if no one hears this, thank you for being here and helping to spark me.
00:32:19
Speaker
Yes, my pleasure.
00:32:21
Speaker
And if there is some people out there listening and this has sparked you in some sort of way, please let us know.
00:32:28
Speaker
It's always fuel for our fire to keep going and to keep recording.
00:32:34
Speaker
We love hearing from you.
00:32:36
Speaker
whether you are friends that we know or if we've never met, a great way to do that is send a review on Apple Podcasts.
00:32:45
Speaker
That is really helpful to help us spread the sparks.
00:32:49
Speaker
Or you can go onto our Instagram, stay sparked and put a comment on one of our posts or send us a private message.
00:32:56
Speaker
Let us know that these sparks are reaching you.
00:32:59
Speaker
Always such a joy to get to connect with our audience.
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:04
Speaker
Yeah, it feels like a dialogue just whenever we hear that the conversations we're having are touching another conversation.
Full Expression Through Art
00:33:16
Speaker
So thanks for being a part of these conversations.
00:33:20
Speaker
Do you have any closing sparks?
00:33:24
Speaker
Make art.
00:33:26
Speaker
make art to make art you know i think that that's the big spark is remembering that just making art to make art can be so healing it can be so transformational and it doesn't it doesn't have to be a big thing it doesn't have to be for anyone but it could be and it might actually just shift your state and it's a good reminder for me too
00:33:51
Speaker
Yeah, me too.
00:33:53
Speaker
And I'll add my spark that be aware of when you are feeling like you should feel or do a certain way based on grief or anxiety.
00:34:08
Speaker
injustice or whatever and allow yourself art as a way to let things move through.
00:34:18
Speaker
It's not in the opposite direction.
00:34:20
Speaker
The art is part of how the complete expression of your humanity can continue to be a part of this whole whatever's happening, the art is a part of it.
00:34:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:35
Speaker
Well, you just sparked up one more closing spark.
00:34:38
Speaker
I'm just contemplating there's a lot of protests happening right now in the state of the world.
00:34:43
Speaker
Here we are in April of 2025.
00:34:46
Speaker
Lots of protests.
00:34:48
Speaker
And I'm imagining that hundreds and thousands of people are making signs.
00:34:53
Speaker
And in their process of making signs, that that is the art that is helping them to transform their anger and their frustration into a force for good.
00:35:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:06
Speaker
It makes me remember that, like the signs that people were making and that I was making when we're stuck inside with COVID.
00:35:13
Speaker
It's like, what can we do?
00:35:16
Speaker
You know, rather than shut down, how can we move through?
00:35:20
Speaker
How can things move through us?
00:35:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:24
Speaker
If you've been doodling while you're listening, send it to us and we'll put it on our Instagram.
00:35:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:34
Speaker
Hey, well, let's give a little plug as well.
00:35:38
Speaker
Thank you for giving me a little shout out that I work with people.
00:35:40
Speaker
I know you work with people also.
00:35:42
Speaker
So if you want to find me, you can find me on my website, poweraffirmation.com.
Creative Services and Coaching
00:35:48
Speaker
You can also find me on my socials and everything's in the show notes.
00:35:53
Speaker
But I love helping people one-on-one virtually or in person.
00:35:56
Speaker
Mind-body-spirit transformation is a big part of my service.
00:36:01
Speaker
I love doing body work hands-on as well as coaching and guidance into rewiring mindset as well as somatic practices.
00:36:10
Speaker
So you can reach out to me.
00:36:12
Speaker
I also have some awesome products, as I mentioned, on my site, the Power Affirmation Journal, which is a tool for reprogramming limiting beliefs.
00:36:21
Speaker
and a deck of affirmation cards.
00:36:24
Speaker
So good.
00:36:26
Speaker
You can find me online at lifestudent.com.
00:36:30
Speaker
And my micro-audience movies I've been putting up on my Instagram, which is halcyonpink.com.
00:36:37
Speaker
Which, man, now that I'm not pink, I'm going to have to figure out what else.
00:36:42
Speaker
Anyway, Halcyon Pink Instagram.
00:36:44
Speaker
You can find the movies for my dad and Asher and such.
00:36:47
Speaker
And I am focusing my coaching now with men.
00:36:53
Speaker
So I have openings for one or two more men if you would like to be...
00:36:58
Speaker
stepping into your gentle masculine strength that's really what I'm feeling called to right now and having the most rewards and so if that's you reach out and let's have life move through us together any chance we could close with some affirmations of course one of my favorites
00:37:22
Speaker
Yes.
00:37:23
Speaker
All right.
00:37:24
Speaker
So based on our conversation here, I'd love to invite an affirmation knowing that we are all creative.
00:37:32
Speaker
And so if you like hand on your heart, gentle tuck of the chin, it's like a little internal bow to yourself.
00:37:39
Speaker
I am inherently creative.
00:37:42
Speaker
I'm inherently creative.
00:37:45
Speaker
I am inherently creative.
00:37:48
Speaker
I allow art to move through me.
00:37:52
Speaker
I allow life to move through me.
00:37:55
Speaker
I allow art and life to move through me.
00:38:04
Speaker
Art is a tool for my transformation.
00:38:06
Speaker
I allow art to be a tool for my transformation.
00:38:12
Speaker
I allow art to be a tool for my transformation.
00:38:14
Speaker
And I'm an amazing artist.
00:38:16
Speaker
I'm an amazing artist.
00:38:18
Speaker
I am an amazing artist.
00:38:24
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening.
00:38:26
Speaker
Now go make some art, people.
00:38:28
Speaker
Stay sparked.
00:38:30
Speaker
Stay sparked.
00:38:31
Speaker
We love you.
00:38:36
Speaker
You were the flame that shines so bright, a guiding star in the darkest night.
00:38:43
Speaker
You listened well and we felt heard with every laugh and every word.
00:38:51
Speaker
Tall and regal, full of grace, with wisdom written on your face.
00:38:58
Speaker
In every room so easy to see.
00:39:02
Speaker
presence strong so wild and free.
00:39:06
Speaker
You led us to the mountains high, through the depths our souls would fly.
00:39:13
Speaker
With your reflection you helped us grow, dancing in the light and into our shadows.
00:39:23
Speaker
You are the song that my soul sings The heartbeat of our gatherings You held us close, you made us see The beauty of life in you and me Though you're gone, your love remains The desert wind whispers our names Movies like your legacy
00:39:50
Speaker
Giving our devotion as family.
00:39:56
Speaker
Through sacred plants you showed the way.
00:40:02
Speaker
We opened our hearts, we learned to pray.
00:40:05
Speaker
You shared your soul, you spoke your truth.
00:40:10
Speaker
You led with grace and playful youth On the river of life your steady flow The seeds you planted blossom and grow You taught us all to be our best To rise in love this is our quest Through this pain and with every tear The path we walk becomes more clear
00:40:35
Speaker
We hold your wisdom deep inside, where spirit soars and love abides.
00:40:42
Speaker
You are the song that my soul sings, the heartbeat of our gatherings.
00:40:49
Speaker
You held us close, you made us see the beauty in life, in you and me.
00:40:58
Speaker
Though you're gone, your love remains.
00:41:01
Speaker
The desert wind whispers our names.
00:41:05
Speaker
Roomies like your legacy.
00:41:09
Speaker
Giving our devotion as family.
00:41:28
Speaker
And if I chuckle under my breath thinking of something hilarious that you once said I feel your presence drawing near Your image in my mind is crystal clear
00:41:52
Speaker
You are the song that my soul sings, the heartbeat of our gatherings.
00:41:59
Speaker
You held us close, you made us see the beauty of life in you and me.
00:42:07
Speaker
Though you're gone, your love remains.
00:42:11
Speaker
The desert wind whispers our names.
00:42:15
Speaker
Roomies light, your legacy.
00:42:19
Speaker
Giving our devotion as family.
00:42:26
Speaker
You are the song that my soul sings, the heartbeat of our gatherings.
00:42:34
Speaker
You held us close, you made us see.
00:42:38
Speaker
Beauty and life in you and me Though you're gone, your love remains The desert wind whispers our names Roomies light your legacy Giving our devotion as family And when the fire fades We know you'll be there lighting the way
00:43:04
Speaker
For every soul you've touched, so deep and so true With gratitude, deep bow, sweet friend, we love you We love you, we miss you, we thank you We love you, we love you, we miss you, we thank you
00:43:32
Speaker
Thank you