Since I was a little girl I’ve been fascinated by stories of gypsies and tinkers, the folks who wandered from town to town in caravans, and collected at night around bonfires to dance and sing.  My modern nomad soul still loves the idea of the freedom of the road, seeing new places, and at the same time having a community of fellow souls to travel with.

While for me the word gypsies is full of romance and adventure, some of the Roma people prefer not to be called that anymore. The term “gypsy ” has  and still is used in a derogatory way. The Roma people continue to be subjected to persecution and oppression. Watch this portrait through time on their history and culture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD3Tpqvpia0

Everybody has there own private Mount
Everest they were put on this earth to climb

You may never reach the summit; for
that you will be forgiven. But if you don’t
make at least one serious attempt to get
above the snow line, years later you will
find yourself lying on your deathbed,
and all you will feel is emptiness.

Hugh MacLeod

Christmas is over. I survived without any emotional meltdowns, either private or public. The first year yet.  Hallelulah! it didn’t require great willpower or stuffing down my emotions with food, or other such strategy. How did I do this?  Read on.  But first to fill you in more with a little background.  As I wrote in an earlier blog post, while I love many of the carols and sacred music, along with other Christmas traditions, I usually feel like a bit of Scrooge around Christmas.

Christmas has always  been a difficult time of the year for me to fully enjoy, because of past family events, and patterns ingrained in my subconscious.  This year I resolved to use energy techniques to help clear some of the old patterns, in particular the Healing Codes system of Dr. Alex Loyd.  Even though I knew how effective these techniques can be, I didn’t get my expectations up.  After all sometimes it takes awhile to get to the root. And the Christmas holidays were coming on fast.

Also I have to admit, in the last rush of preparations I slacked off in doing some of the clearing.  Even though it involved just a few minutes a day, over a short span of time some days I just didn’t  always make the time.  But it turns out the little time I did take, was enough.  I had a lovely Christmas day, with not even twinges of the old negative emotions coming up.

I didn’t stuff my emotions down with food or run to a room to be alone, and stifle turbulent feelings. I was relaxed and present in a way I have never been as long as I can remember.

Since around Easter time this past year,  I’ve been using the Healing Codes on a regular basis with to clear old emotional patterns, as well to help health issues.  I’ve been so impressed with the results, I’ve been introducing this method to clients and friends.

The one resolution, I have no doubt I will keep this year involves continuing to use and deepen my knowledge about this marvelous system.  After all who doesn’t want more peace, happiness and health. And I for one, am prepared to invest the small amount of time that it takes , to bring more into my life.

What about you? What have you discovered this past year that brings you more joy and fulfillment in your life?  How are you going to make sure that you continue along that path in the New Year?

A video with words and images to start or finish the day celebrating life’s beauty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=7-BUt08CTt4&vq=medium#t=89

Usually when I hear things about the Christmas season being the happiest part of the year, I roll my eyes.  Because I know it’s a hard time emotionally for so many people.  And I include myself high upon that list.  So instead of blithely wishing you a happy holiday season, I’d like to share with you a little about my Christmas experiences.  Just so if you are one of the people, that find themselves even a little dreading the holidays and feeling like a Scrooge, you won’t feel so alone. 

I come from a family of mixed religious origins, my mother being Catholic, and my father (of Jewish ancestry) for most of his life being an agnostic.  We celebrated Christmas in the Catholic traditions of my Mom.  Both parents did their best to make it a happy day.  However my Dad, used to be emotionally on edge Christmas days, and usually one or more of “us kids” would set him off.  I was most often the one who played this role, despite all my best intentions.  After the inevitable meltdown came, my brother Joe would always sing under his breath, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” 

I never did find out why my Dad was so upset those days.  I often wonder if it had something to do with the Catholic Church’s role in the Holocaust.  Many of his relatives, including his beloved mother perished in concentration camps. The celebration of Christ’s birthday, might evoke other than joyful feelings in that on text.  Or it might  have been that on those days  of family celebration, he would think back to both his mother and father who had died, and feel the sadness of neither of them being with him.  As my father died a few years ago, I have no way of asking him now.  But I do know that for whatever reason he felt emotionally edgy around Christmas, he passed it on to me, his eldest daughter.  

Add that to the other stresses of Christmas: deciding on which presents to buy, braving the crowded stores to try and find the gifts, and doing one’s best to keep within budget. Just thinking about it all is enough for me to say ” Bah!” “Humbug!”  For the record, I won’t be a complete Scrooge and forgo Christmas.  My 13 year old son would never forgive me, and there are things I do love about the season.

I love the sacred Christmas music- like Handel’s “Messiah”, and songs like  “Joy to the World.”  Even though I no longer am a Christian, and feel some ambiguity about the lyrics, I love to sing Christmas carols.  So I’ll be doing that.  I’ll be buying a few gifts, hanging out with family and friends and celebrating. I’ll enjoy wonderful food, and drink and connecting with loved ones.

And you can bet I’m also using the healing modalities such as EFT and the Healing Codes to clear some of the old memories, and scripts that keep me from enjoying the season.

I hope for all of you, whatever might be going on that makes this season difficult, that you also can experience many moments of joy and peace.   I found this short video that I hope will inspire you.  Renowned Cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, talks about the ideas behind his Christmas song collaboration album “Songs of Joy and Peace” of (2008), and includes some excerpts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxChPS9Bm1E

To me the video embodies the spirit in which I seek to celebrate the holidays, with generosity, creativity, friendship and joy.  Enjoy!

I love flash mobs involving the arts, and just adore the Hallelujah Chorus. Here are the two combined  in this short video:

More on Flash Mobs

My son just asked me what is a flash mob, so I went to wikipedia to check out the definition. Glad I did as my attempt to explain the idea to my son left out several key aspects.  So here’s the Wiki definition:

A flash mob (or flashmob)[1] is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then disperse.[2] The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The term is generally not applied to events organized by public relations firms, protests, and publicity stunts.[5][9]

I’ve not yet had the chance to participate in a flash mob, although they seem like a great deal of fun. It’s not just the arts ones I’d love to attend/ The mass pillow fights in a public space appeal to me.  Only I think I’d die laughing.

Here’s a list I found of some of the best flash mob videos.  Check them out:  www.listropolis.com/…/24-flash-mobs-you-need-to-see-to-believe-videos/

My sister Philippa has just donated one of her beautiful warrior necklaces for a raffle in support of the UEnd.org, an online funding  “which empowers U to END extreme poverty by gifting different.” You pick one of their projects to donate to by going to their website at http://www.uend.org/, and making a $10 donation online. For each $10 donation  you make, you are entitled to one raffle ticket for the necklace. The draw takes place on December 31st, and Philippa hopes to raise $1500 for the Uend.org through this raffle.

Interested? Message me at katiecurtin@mac.com or on Facebook and I’ll send you more details.

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

                                              Patanjali (c. 1st to 3rd century BC)

Although I came from a family of artists and was brought up with a background of appreciation for the arts, I never was particularly encouraged as a child to develop my artistic gifts. I remember growing up thinking that I had to be an artistic “genius” or at least outstanding to merit becoming an artist. In fact, when I thought of becoming an artist, I could imagine members of my family whispering behind my back, “It’s a pity she’s decided to become an artist; she doesn’t really have the talent”. This effectively stopped me in my tracks. However, in my late twenties, I felt more and more the call to follow my artist’s soul. I had to learn to steel myself against my inner critic, who kept saying, “You are not really creative,” ”Why bother,” and “You will never succeed at this.”

In her book, “Loving What Is” Byron Katie says these wise words: “If I had a prayer, it would be this: “God spare me from the desire for love, for approval or appreciation.” This is true in all aspects of our life, and particularly true with our art. We can get absolutely paralyzed in our artistic practice by fears that our work may not be appreciated, that we may fail to impress, that people may not like our work and think badly of us.

There’s a very interesting paradox that exists in art making. We have to be conscious that we are creating our artwork for an audience; that it is a form of communication, a way of creating beauty and magic and of giving other people pleasure. However we cannot be bound by the dictates of trying to please those people while we are doing our art.

We have to listen to our inner voice, to the inner truths that the art making process reveals. We have to tune our sensitivity to the messages and images that are contained within the subject and medium we are working with. If we turn our sensitivities and attention to what people may think, we deprive ourselves of the true nature of art.

Art is an examination of life, a noticing and extracting from life, its lessons and essence, and conveying it through the molding and shaping of our artistic medium. It is the expression by our bodies or our voices of our individual and collective experience of joy and sorrow and of the mysteries of the universe. It a cry of rage against injustice, it is a celebration of beauty, it is an examination of our own and others values.

It is not through pandering to our ego’s need for acceptance that we find such truth, because in doing so we turn away from the call which is shaping our art and towards the voices in our head that dictate and create boxes in which our creativity cannot thrive.

All the technique in the world used to dazzle the eyes and ears of others is of little avail when we are not tuned into the soul of art, the deep message it wants to convey. Of course when technique is married with full soul expression, it is a marvelous thing, but never let your concern for impressing others let you forget the true source of your art.

Part of the job of being an artist is to be a warrior for your own soul project, the artwork that you know the world needs, even if its message will not be understood by all and may confront opposition or rejection.

These qualities of courage and tenacity that the artist must have often don’t get full acknowledgment, but they are the protectors of your creativity. Take a moment and think about how you can be a warrior for your creativity. Summon up that inner courage that lives inside of you, along with the deep knowledge of artistic truth that needs to be aired and go forth. Only then will your creative self  thrive.

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Attention Artists in Any Media:
Like to showcase your art. I’d love to have more artwork in my blog so if you’d like your work exhibited on my internet pages, just shoot me an e-mail at katiecurtin.com and we’ll talk.

Make sure to listen to this two minute inspiring video on the possibilities opened up for creative people and artists by the new technologies. Brenda Walker says at the beginning of this video, “This is an incredibly fertile time for artists, There’s no cap on what you can do in terms of expressing your creativity, because the tools are there to make it happen.” 

Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGbOzQReaIU