Photo by Joyce Takeda
1975: Walking one day with my dad in San Diego’s Balboa Park. I was a younger version of me and dad was a younger version of him. What he said during that day stayed with me all these years.
There was a popular song by Mac Davis called “Stop and Smell the Roses.” It played over and over on the radio (note to young readers: “radio” was an iPod before iPods were the brainchild of Steve Jobs).
We stopped to look at rows of delicate pink roses. The roses grew straight up and blossoms proudly opened to reveal layers of soft petals.
“You know, people always say that we should stop and smell the roses,” Dad said that morning,
“But please remember that someone took the time to plant them and nurture them so we can stop and enjoy them.”
Creativity/Virtues/Values are a bit like those roses: they grow best when we take the time to tend to them. When we accept our Creator’s invitation to partner in our own tending.
We cannot outsource our own Nurturing.
My adventure in the Be Gentle, Be Love eCourse gave me the tools and the support. I (finally) slowed down and began to tend.
By (finally) taking the time to pause, ponder, read, reflect, synthesize, and create, my awareness and gratefulness blossomed. The experience has been reminiscent of sophomore English class only without the vocabulary to memorize. Or maybe a new vocabulary to internalize!
What I know: I am different after Day 30 than I was on Day 1
via sweetbluephotography
Like the rose, I have blossomed. I’ve been nurtured by the course, Amanda, and the course community.
…and especially by an Abundant Creator.
These gifts were there all along from the Creator to (me!)
I continue to regain my once-(loud) voice and remove the
parentheses around (me)!
I am also the first nurture-tenderer to finish the course!
As a fun celebration of crossing the BGBL finish line, Amanda Oaks, course and book creator, has offered to give a free course ebook to a friend who also wants to tend to the blossoms of her own Creativity for awhile.
Whether you're an artist, writer or someone that doesn't think you're creative at all, this book was tailored to help you dig deep inside yourself & then use what you find to create meaningful, life-shifting art.
Is that you? I hope so!
If you would like to be entered into a drawing to receive a BGBL e-coursebook, please leave a comment below describing a way
you tend to the blossoming creativity of your life. (journaling, music, dancing, praying, reading, cooking, baking, painting, etc…)
Feel free to comment each day through Wednesday, August 31.
On Thursday, September 1st a new month will start with a new gift (my first blog give-away!) for a randomly selected special someone.
Filed under: Because of Grace | Tagged: Amanda Oaks, Balboa Park, Be Gentle Be Love class, Because of Grace, blog author |
BecauseOfGrace
Because Of Grace 
There are so many ways to tend. Lately, I think I have been tending by just allowing myself to create without an end product in mind. I love knitting, journaling and praying. Sometimes, I think the first two are a form of prayer.
Keishua: what a lesson you have shared: create for the flow of it…and to remember that there are prayers in our everyday life….yes! Thank you wise friend!
Slowing down has such high benefits and rewards spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally…even in our relationships. Slowing down makes room for proper tending.
Jeri: I am so glad we met via the Faith Barrista FB party! I can already tell that your insights will be a blessing for me! Thank you for the prompting to s-l-o-w i-t d-o-w-n!
[…] My first blog give-away […]
I wake up everyday with gratitude and joy for life. The last two years I’ve been focusing on tending my garden. I do yoga, I weight train, I swim,I meditate,and I take long walks. I read books,so I’m always learning new things. I focus on the good in my life. Going deep within yourself is important for growth and blooming like a Rose.
Janet: I did not know you had a garden ! Another new thing to learn about you and love! I love that you “Focus on the good in my life” and for me, that good is you and the example you share. I will try to not be timid about “going deeply within (my)self” because i do want to grow and bloom like a Rose! Thank you!
I love your dad’s comment. Of course, it is much easier to grow roses and just about anything else in San Diego. :)
Lately my creativity needs are finding great satisfaction in making jewelry. A few months ago a friend treated me with a visit to the Dallas Museum where we enjoyed the American Indian exhibit. I was so impressed with the intricate bead work, absolutely beautiful. When we left, our next stop was a bead store. I’ve not been able to stop since. My pieces involve bead embroidery where beads of all kinds are sewn to fabric and then finished as necklaces. Very different. I love looking at a blank ‘canvas’ and coming up with a free form design. Like tending roses, there is technique involved and the ground has to be prepared properly, but the mystery seems to manifest itself best when I trust the process and let it flow. It’s going to take awhile to let that happen….
Wow, Sue! I am nodding my head up and down and savoring your words, “the mystery seems to manifest itself best when I trust the process and let it flow”
Trust the Process. Yes! Thank you!
At the age of 50 something I am starting my first art journal. Always feeling insecure about my artistic abilities/creativity, this is a huge step for me. Your blog looks very inspiring. Thanks for having a giveaway. Cari
Thank you, Cari! What a wonderful gift you are giving yourself to start your first art journal! You are so right: this is a big step and it is for you! Would love to see some of your journaling, when, of course, you are ready!
helen
Oh oh oh! This looks like so much FUN! Maybe something like “The Artist’s Way”? I’ve been tending and nurturing my creativity by watering with watercolors, weeding through my blog about transforming anger into love and fertilizing by experimenting with pan-Asian cooking! I’ve got a lot on my plate with all this, launching a life coaching practice and nurturing my husband and 2 darlings under 3…but I just might find the time to do the creative book, too!
xo
shannon
yearoflivingangerfree.blogspot.com
Hi Shannon! I love the progression you write about: Watering, weedking, fertilizing: i just sigh a sigh of admiration for all you are accomplishing and learning. I have visited your awesome blog and I have learned from the insights you share. Thank you!
helen
Pinterest is such a lovely place.. After much inspiration, I now make my own birthday gifts. Each time there’s a birthday, I dont know what I will make but when I sit down on my writing desk, I get a hundred ideas and I use them all to make one terrific gift.
Few things are more fulfiling than giving a 100% handmade gift to friends and family.
Oh, Mubin: what a lovely comment and kind suggestion you have given me to also move more toward creating and away from consuming. I feel the gift of your statement: “I get a hundred ideas and I use them all to make one terrific gift.” Brilliant! Thank for this word picture and your comment! Please consider returning and sharing pictures of some of the gifts you create!
helen :)
I am learning to just sit down pick up my art journal and materials and let my heart guide my hand as I put color to the page. This is now allowing me to hear and see my inner self that has been buried or given to others. I love that my creativity is letting me see myself
Thank you cmjones, for a reminding me to “let my heart guide” not only my hand but my stubborn head too! You write so truthfully that you and I (and perhaps most of us) DO bury and giveaway our inner self to others. Your creativity is letting you see yourself and helped re-center me this morning! Please consider sharing sometime!
helen
I blog. It makes me very happy to see the photos and words on the screen. I draw. I have my own little signature bird with flowers, vines and leaves, maybe a bee or two. I journal – a little. I write in my date book the things that inspire me, and vent a little at times. Thanks for the chance to win!
Big hug,
Deborah
What a great idea, Deborah, to craft your own signature bird with beauty around it! Great idea!
Thank you,
helen :)
Beautifully written. Creativity requires a pause in my day. A moment to just be, to breathe, to listen, to be grateful. I am gifted with a career that is inspiring and enlightening but tending to my own inner creativity is crucial.
So true, Kim! “tending to (our) own creativity is crucial”! I wrote a blog post about pausing for gentleness. Now I can include pausing for creativity too!
thank you,
helen
[…] Posts Roses and My First Blog Give-awayThe Creativity Tending Giveaway Winner Is…Day 15~Compassion~Be Gentle Be LoveDay 26~Courage~Be […]
[…] Posts Roses and My First Blog Give-awayThe Creativity Tending Giveaway Winner Is…Day 15~Compassion~Be Gentle Be LoveDay 26~Courage~Be […]