Thursday, October 8, 2015
Seeing is Believing
HIGH NOTES TRILLS
October 2015
Nothing will happen in your life that you do not inspire by your own initiative. Creative vision is the power that inspires that personal initiative. Napoleon Hill
SEEING IS BELIEVING
When you see this phrase, some of you may think immediately of the colored leaves peeking through the green trees and the amazing recognition that it is fall!!
True, but not totally what I think. It does emphasize to me how so many of us rely on vision for our source of data or reality. I would guess that the greatest marketing also uses this fact as a technique. See the amazing new product then buy it!!
I think we can also use this principle to "buy in" to beliefs and attitudes that help us live the life of our dreams, creative and wholesome. I have belief signs posted in strategic places all over my house and studio. Seeing in print daily what I believe helps me buy in through action and actively live what I believe.
Some signs reflect Biblical beliefs and are favorite scriptures.
Some signs are originally sourced by literature or musical scholars…Shakespeare, Thoreau, Emerson.
Some signs are attitude encouragements from current thinkers, speakers, and writers.
You choose what fits best as favorite encouragements to you. Print the phrases. Post them on cupboard doors, bathroom mirrors, exit or entrance doors to your house or office. Shift your life action choices to your beliefs, visually reminding yourself with posts!!
Someone in my family has encouraged me to collect my posts. Here is an important one…the phrase is surrounded by colored circles made in pencil track elaborations, like a kid would do:
GO FORWARD IN FAITH!!
Genesis Creative Concepts
Promoting Natural Wonder
ltcarlson.com.creativity@blogger.com
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Mindsets Matter
HIGH NOTES
MINDSETS MATTER
August 2015
I have a coffee friend who aptly declares that he is the smile distributor for the Upper Midwest! Be like Wayne…brighten others' lives. Linda
MINDSETS MATTER
Every once in a while we come across a book or a person who speaks bold wisdom to us. A spirit filled friend recommended such a book to me! Perhaps the author's inspiration will touch you as well.
Kelly McGonigal, PhD, has written The Upside of Stress. I like that this author has balanced writing about concepts along with research data. Her reference to "mindsets" is quite profound. In particular, she describes mindset interventions, which are defined as experiences that open our minds to a new way of looking at life or the facts. These intervention events are like seeds planted. They always impact the person even though there is no prediction for sure about when or how that will happen.
Our world is full of traumatic stress, however, not all stress is bad. Challenge stress applies to people committed to goals that make life better. It is hopeful to me in new ways that a light can impact forever for good even those people who have spent way too long in darkness. Of course, I think first about kids…our future!
In a previous Genesis book , Claiming God's Power and Purpose With Creativity, this is what I recommended to anyone who has faced trauma.: "You will need to look in the mirror and say to yourself: I am sorry that you were hurt. You are a wonderful person, and I love you." I call this mindset intervention now!!
Recently, I described myself as an empowered optimist:) This book has added fuel to my fire! I trust that this warmth of hope will rub off on you, too.
"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore."
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Photo by Melissa Capaul
In endless rolling fields
Crops are planted.
In only a few months
Every farmer's wish will be granted.
New life will reach up;
Growth happens, against the odds.
Most know they added their labor,
But the credit is God's.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Jiminy Crickets...It's June!
HIGH NOTES TRILLS
June 2015
"Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Thomas Edison
Someone on classical radio said a composer and a poet working together are like 1+1=3. C'est moi:) If you want world logic, you likely won't hear it from me. Linda
WEDDINGS
A friend was recently talking to me about a 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration in her family. It reminded me of someone I knew who painted a wheelbarrow GOLD for her parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary. It took a lot of work to maintain a relationship that long, through good times and bad! I think that all of the young couples hearing wedding bells this June or whenever need to spend time with someone who has made it 50 years. Perhaps this task needs to go on the list proposed by the wedding planner, along with choosing the flowers and counting the dinner guests:)
SUMMER
I just heard that Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer. What does that mean to you? For most kids it means no school. It can be a time for renewal with hammocks, lemonade, baseball, movies, and picnics with friends and family.
The focus for most people is on "doing" more than "being." But as my friend, Callie, reminded me today…. we are human beings not human doings. So draw in a deep breath and allow renewal to wash over you and fill you. Allow time for play and activities that bring you peace. Be fully with people you love. It doesn't really matter what you do together.
You HAVE heard this here: fill up, fill up, fill up, spill over! Be intentional about filling up with and spilling over love.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr.
GENESIS CREATIVE CONCEPTS
Promoting Natural Wonder
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Friendship.
Your friend will listen!
Your thoughts always matter.
Your plans describe you…
Ahead, behind, organized, or scatter.
Your friend will lead you…
Look up and learn well.
Be unique like a snowflake
But today is new, who can tell!
Light overcomes darkness--
Maybe friendship is the sulphur on the match.
Strike up a conversation and see.
Undoubtedly there is wisdom to catch.
A hug, a touch, a gleaming eye,
Words spoken in earnest clearly say
Thanks for sharing my path.
Seeing you, knowing you, has brightened my day.
Your thoughts always matter.
Your plans describe you…
Ahead, behind, organized, or scatter.
Your friend will lead you…
Look up and learn well.
Be unique like a snowflake
But today is new, who can tell!
Light overcomes darkness--
Maybe friendship is the sulphur on the match.
Strike up a conversation and see.
Undoubtedly there is wisdom to catch.
A hug, a touch, a gleaming eye,
Words spoken in earnest clearly say
Thanks for sharing my path.
Seeing you, knowing you, has brightened my day.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
HIGH NOTES
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. Dalai Lama
SPRING UP
Recently a High Notes reader I haven't seen for a long time said in a note that she was sure that I was "connecting to others and making this world a better place." Thank you, Jodi. All readers' notes help me spring up to new ways to give and earn such an awesome comment. Together, we make it happen. Linda
WINNING
We have just come through March Madness. Our culture is mad about winning. Many of us have a competitive spirit. Sports play a big role in entertainment and education. Beyond the joy of the game is perspective…people are even more important than the game or winning. Are you spending time, are you playing sports or games of any kind with people you love? Be a good sport! Find an activity everyone can enjoy and do it!! It matters.
SPRING…A TEST IN PATIENCE
Many of us think about spring as a great metaphor for new life. It is. But, as I watch the new leaves bud on my trees, I'm aware that in the darkest of snowy winter, I KNEW this was coming! Maybe some part of me could hardly remember or just hated to be patient. Or maybe it is easy for us to ignore this cycle of life. Some parts we might like better than others but surprise is probably not one of our reactions to spring. I do love the familiar French expression, Carpe Diem, that tells us to focus on today. I mused about Seattle weather recently and decided that the phrase I used fits spring everywhere and life in general. Keep watching…something lovely is coming!
INSPIRATIONAL READING
Books can inform us and inspire us. People can inform us and inspire us. The two words that describe for me an important part of our process for either are "open" and "seeking." It was great to meet with fellow artists to discuss a book that brought inspiration to us about differences and the power of seed planting. Kids are usually curious about differences, not afraid and judgmental. Maybe young children need to be our model in this regard. In this story we read how through a neighborhood experience with gardening, many leaps over harsh global perspectives were made. It says to me that we can plant seeds, take on big issues in small ways, and make a difference. If we are to BE the change we want to see in the world, it means being open and seeking the new and different not just same and familiar.
AND...
A Cadillac ad says: It is not the critic who counts. Credit belongs to the person actually in the arena! At the best, know the triumph of big achievement. At the worst, fail while daring greatly!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Soon...SPRING...New Life
Under the cold, hard earth, tulip bulbs are sleeping.
The sun will warm them, and suddenly they will stretch.
They will stretch from their winter's slumber.
Silently they will reach until daylight.
For them, the sun will show through the ground.
For me, the green suddenly appears.
Under the harsh ice,
Under the white snowdrifts,
Under the frozen dark earth,
Suddenly green will break through.
Then red or yellow buds will show up.
The color warms my psyche.
The spring sun has warmed my soul
Winter dark days are forgotten.
New life is here.
Spring. Again.
Eternal hope.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
EMPOWERMENT UNLIMITED
HIGH NOTES
February 2015
INVITATION: Come. Be Inspired. Grow your story.
If you live in my area, check with me or the Chaska Library for information on the Inspiration Gathering that will be held monthly at my home/studio starting in March.
EMPOWERMENT
As the New Year moves forward, some people I have talked with find themselves wondering just where they are headed with their lives. Some like the forward visions they see and some still feel unfulfilled with their possibilities. It has reminded me of a poem I wrote many years ago that seems like a perfect Valentine gift for people in both certain and uncertain circumstances.
POCKETSIZE
Stories are pocketsize.
Just remember that your stories are your lives, not just your memoirs or written tales. What do people read when they see you? This is a poem about empowerment, my wish for all of you. Within you lies the mystery of your life purpose fulfilled in delightful ways. Check your pocket!
UNIQUENESS
Fortunately we are all different. It seems like an obvious and innocent truth, yet recently it dawned on me that we are often touched through a unique gift that someone else possesses and shares. Sometimes our own qualities seem so common, yet we are a part of a great mystery, often providing for someone else the uniqueness they need or value. Sometimes we'll never know when it happens, but believing that this does occur will give us a new perspective on our own gifts and qualities.
Proceed boldly in the direction of your dreams and destiny. Linda
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