Deep gratitude to Spillwords for the publication of my poem and art. https://spillwords.com/moistures-grace/
Category: art
Making some changes
Greetings loyal readers,
A new year and a new host. I am in the process of migrating my WordPress site to a new host—a challenge for me, or so it seems, as I find glitches along the way, like who really owns my domain, as I have moved a couple of times.
This is a heads up that my site might be out of commission for a week or two as I redesign and upgrade. Hopefully I won’t loose any subscribers in the transfer but if it seems you aren’t getting a blog into your email by say the 19th of January, you can still find me at www.janisdehler.com and subscribe again. But in the end, I am hopeful all will go smoothly.
I am excited for the new hosting at Blue Host with better support and an enhanced commerce site for selling my art, books, greeting cards, and art prints.
Happy New Year to all with gratitude for your kind support and enthusiasm over the years.
Keep the creative juices flowing,
Jan
BE YOUR DREAM
Just as the winter winds come and go,
so too the dreams that seek to be born.
Some come alive in truth
while others fall after deceit is near.
What is the heart’s desire
if not to be alive in love and longing
for the day when all arises
in beauty, and we believe
in all that we are,
beyond this physical form,
beyond these fears,
beyond all being into eternity.
On this solstice,
the energy of light returns
to guide us into what we wish to be:
to see, to taste, and live
as we set our intentions clearly,
and birth anew into possibility,
with dreams created from the heart.
We are told, you are what you dream.
Be all that is your dream and live into
the wholeness and the wonder of who you are—
light, cosmic love, and truth.
Within it all, be you.
(image: Winter Winds by Janis Dehler
“This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future.”
-Margaret Atwood
“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.”
-Gary Zukav
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
-Pope John XXIII
FROM THE BOOK PAGE
Holiday Greetings,
Last year at this time I was anticipating the publishing of ONE WORLD: A Journey of Becoming, on January 10th. It is now coming to the end of the year which held book events, book and art events, my art hanging at Gladje Gallery, offering a workshop on art and spirituality, meeting new people, and enjoying such heart felt responses to my words and images. As an artist and writer, I paint and write because I derive such enjoyment from each, however, selling my works and bringing joy to others lives is frosting on the cake. the cherry on top, the bees knees. And I try to keep it that way. Fun/not work.
I decided to show up today and remind you of a book that could make a lovely gift for you or a loved one. ONE WORLD is available through me, Scout and Morgan Books in Cambridge, and Gladje Gallery in Lindstrom. Also, Amazon in paper or ebook.
I am offering an end of year 20% off discount in my shop now through December 31. Click here http://janisdehler.com/shop/ to order. And check out the greeting cards for sale.
FROM THE STUDIO
My most recent work, Heart Coherence, took a blue ribbon award of excellence at the five county Image Show put on by the East Central Regional Arts Council in central Minnesota. What an honor!
I have not had much time to paint this year due to many many things happening but to get me moving, I took a twelve week abstract art course on line and this inspiration came during the short teaser course before the full course started. I used acrylic, pencil, and ink. After the framing and the show, I am happy to have it at home. I will enjoy it for a while and decide if it is for sale. Some are just hard to let go of. 😊
We The People
We ran in fear.
We towed the line.
As consciousness rises
we stand in truth
of who we are,
no longer choosing
from what is hidden
in shadow,
no longer following
blindly in darkness,
we rise to heart’s bidding—
the All, unfolding before us,
that calls us to live
in simplicity and love,
as we learn to believe,
what is good for all
is good for me.
(Image: From the One World Series, We All Belong by Janis Dehler)
“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing – building empathy for the people that you’re entrusted to help.”
-David M. Kelley
“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”
-Margaret Mead
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
-Voltaire
A Prayer of Gratitude
I lift my gaze to the sun, the moon,
the stars, to the birds of the air,
to the universe of mystery, to the
everything and the nothing.
I lower my gaze to the earth,
to the plants, the animals,
to the crawling things,
to all that grounds me into Gaia—
the bosom of the mother who
nourishes, protects, challenges,
and grieves, who is alive in
her evolution, who pulses life.
I open my heart to those before me,
to the whispers of love and compassion,
to the cries of war and hate, and on to
my shadow of fear, pain, and sorrow.
I look to the mountains, the seas,
the vast life before me—the unknown.
For it all, my heart says, yes,
in gratitude for life, for the journey,
the opportunity to be in body,
in human form, walking each day
with those who seek, who carry light,
who reach to touch the stars to earth—
an angel's kiss. I bow in gratitude.
(Image my own)
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.”
-Henry Van Dyke
“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”
-Lionel Hampton
One Crazy Ride
When we arrive at the door of sorrow,
our hearts grieve what is lost and
awaken to what is before us as we
sit in the narrow wedge we call home.
Let us come alive to all life, all being,
as we navigate rough waters, and
wish to enter morning dawn unharmed.
Let go of safety to be in the stream.
Let go of secure to ride the wave.
The risk is before us with the choice
to sit safe or move into form.
Let go, let life arise.
It is our choice.
Our hearts response.
Our one crazy ride.
Image is mine
“Taking risks doesn’t mean shirking responsibility but embracing possibilities.”
-Vick Hope
“Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.”
-Hermann Hesse
“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”
-Golda Meir
The Colors of Life
See the beauty
in the colors of life
that unfold the truth,
buried within each of us,
waiting to come to light,
waiting to be released
into a world of change.
When the old die off
we enter a new way of being,
seeing, and living. Trust
in the way of evolution.
Trust in the heart of life.
Grieve what is set aside
as space opens for new to enter.
Change unsettles the balance
we thought we had created and
now we release into an unknown
that beckons us forth.
Step into the void. Step into
the mystery—the change
unfolding before us.
Step into and let go.
Breathe into life.
You are re-born.
The colors that seem lost
will arise in vibrant hues.
Search now for your color.
It will guide you.
(Image-my own)
“Under the anger, under the fear, under the despair, under the broken heartedness, there is a radiance that has never been harmed, that has never been lost, that is the truth of who one is.”
-Gangaji
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
-John F. Kennedy
“A human being is a part of a whole called by us the universe.”
― Tsoknyi Rinpoche
From the Events Page
There is still space available for my workshop, Growth Through Creative Spiritual Practice. I’d love to see you for an evening of poetry and art with playful writing and/or painting. No experience necessary, it is all creative play. Come and enjoy.
Visit www.wisdomwayscenter.org or call 651-696-2787.
