To continue yesterday’s post about Van Gogh Lighting the Darkness: It gives me great pleasure to grow things, although it’s been a few years since I’ve maintained large gardens. There is something so satisfying about dropping tiny packet seeds of life into the ground, then nurturing them to their full-blown potential. Sunflowers were among my favorite annuals, and a few of them always graced my back garden among the perennials.
Sunflowers are magnificent in full bloom, but as an artist I am also attracted to their waning fall beauty. I have drawn and painted them many times, as did Vincent Van Gogh. The other day I was searching online for a few Van Gogh images, and there are several large museums worldwide that have given open access to some in their collections. One of them is The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. (Also affectionately known as simply “The Met”.)
They have a few nice Van Gogh pieces, including one of some withered sunflowers lying on a table (Sunflowers, 1887). I have among my own art images several of withered sunflowers at the end of the season.
So here’s a question for you: Is one of the images below a “Van Gogh à la Susan Hart”, and the other “Susan Hart à la Van Gogh”? You may snicker at the suggestion of Van Gogh imitating me, however, that amusement would be based on several faulty assumptions: a) that time is linear, and since he lived before me, how could he “know about me”, and b), that he is famous and I am not, so again, even if time could move backwards linearly, how could he “know about me”?
In actual fact, fame is rather irrelevant to this thought exercise. My message is really about our perception of time, and our conscious awareness of everything. So…
Since time is not really linear (we just measure our lives that way) – all time actually exists at once, and our consciousness can connect to all ideas and knowledge in the ether throughout all time – it is not entirely impossible that he also “knows about me”. We are both huge lovers of sunflowers, so it’s possible (for example) that we have a connection of consciousness simply in a shared passion for giant yellow flora.
It’s a metaphysical puzzle for your Sunday, one that may hopefully make you question why we live in a world that is so intent on keeping our conscious awareness, and therefore our experience of life, so small…
You do, you do, you do… have magic within you! You are at your very core and essence a creator. Just like Dorothy and her ruby shoes in the Wizard of Oz, the power to create your own best life (as well as to change the world around you) has always existed within you. The challenge is to believe you can do it, so do not let naysayers convince you otherwise. Believe in yourself!
How do you tap into your ability to create? You were born with powerful tools at your disposal; I urge you to use them:
Now that’s a lot of power at your disposal! It’s time to create some magic…
Inspirational Quotes:
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” ~ Roald Dahl
“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.” ~ J.K. Rowling
Believe in your heart that you’re meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.” ~ Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ~ W.B. Yeats
“I address you all tonight for who you truly are: wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, and magicians. You are the true dreamers.” ~ Brian Selznick
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!” ~ John Anster
“Stories you read when you’re the right age never quite leave you. You may forget who wrote them or what the story was called. Sometimes you’ll forget precisely what happened, but if a story touches you it will stay with you, haunting the places in your mind that you rarely ever visit.” ~ Neil Gaiman, M Is for Magic
What will you create with your mind today, your dreams and aspirations, or your worries and fears?
Observe the thoughts running rampant like little monkeys in your head. What messages are playing there? Are they a replay of the media hype you just watched on the news? If so, how are you feeling from it?
Resist letting your mind become a slave to someone else’s idea of what reality “should be”. The mass media constantly feeds us news that degrades our sense of self-worth. Disengage. Start listening to yourself.
Humanity is awakening. Trust in the power of your own mind and create with it. Every positive thought, vision, and action that comes from you can help to outweigh the negative forces in this world.
“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?” (Rumi)
Start of a new day. Have you given your thoughts space to bring good to you?
This morning I woke up thinking about sunrises and sunsets – not how many I have enjoyed in life, mind you, but how many I have missed – followed by the “requisite regret”. There was quite a bit of negativity built into that first thought of the day. I quickly self-observed and adjusted accordingly, but in the stress of our modern day life, how often are we waking up with anything but thoughts of what to do, how little time we have to do it (time to watch the sun rise? Hah!), and all the problems associated with getting our ducks in a row and making ends meet.
I dipped into my Hart Haiku collection to write today’s post, and decided that “Today” was the perfect one. Have you – did you – give your mind time to formulate the correct thoughts to bring good to you today? Those first thoughts may be the most important work we do each and every day. They set the tone and our intention for our lives. Once we have developed the habit, it is no longer work to think positively. It simply becomes who we are. I don’t know about you, but I obviously still have some work to do in this area…
I’m wishing for you a wonderful day full of good thoughts, and hence, good things. 🙂
Susan L Hart / Author 