Living your Purpose Archives - Page 2 of 6

April 8, 2016April 8, 2016

Life is a Poem

It’s April – National Poetry Month. I’ve been spending March and April writing haiku – a form of Japanese poetry, in preparation for my upcoming June art exhibit with the talented Judy Jacobs titled “See it with Words.” This exhibit features writing and visual art. It opens June 11th at ARTHOUSE Gallery.

In honor of what I believe is the rawest, most saturated and divine form of expression, I’m presenting you with 3 poems, in different forms. These are, of course, some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them. If you’d like to add a poem that speaks to you, please do so in the comments. I’d love to know what speaks to you! It’s a good way to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Mary Oliver’s “The Journey” is a poem that spoke to me as I transitioned from working in the corporate world to becoming a full time artist. I’m sure this piece speaks to your experience with transitions as well…at least I hope it does.

This Maya Angelou poem speaks to the indomitable human spirit and the common, perhaps familiar feeling of being opposed or defeated. I love that the author is reading it….the sound of her velvety voice is comforting to me and makes me smile. And Still I Rise.

Finally, I present a “boss poetry jam” by Derrick Brown exploring what is “holy” in our world. It might be more than you think. This one gives me chills for the obvious reasons. It is worth every second of your time.

Also, a gentle reminder, April 21st is Poem in Your Pocket Day. (Click to Tweet) Click on the link to learn more and download a poem for your pocket. Of course, writing your own would be a fine thing to do, too. Feel free to share these and celebrate….

Because Life is A Poem,

Michelle Andres is a writer and artist who cultivates her own Well Lived Life by drinking in the beauty around her, following her passion, respecting others and doing her best to own her own dookie.

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April 1, 2016April 22, 2016

No April Fool

I may have been a fool in March, but refuse to be an April Fool. No joke. The tail is wagging the dog in Michelle Land, and of course, the tail is my computer addiction and social media. Bear with me. I think I can pull this thing together before the end.

Monday a bottle of water took a spill on my laptop. I had to (almost) go cold turkey without my “device fix,” forcing me to sing the praises of iPads and phones. You know my struggles, and I had to wonder, was it irony, justice or both?

Then, blog reader, Amy brought to my attention the time requirements of social media and how it might contribute to my “addiction.” True that…but we can’t live sans electronic devices, especially if we’re using them for business. I began to consider I could be working smarter. Maybe, I could take a page out of my consulting playbook and implement the Pareto Principle and some time management techniques on my own bad self. Seems doable.

Finally, yesterday I had a conversation with a dear chum about friends. Seems most of us have our close friends, our garden variety friends, acquaintances and strangers. Our inner circle of friends know us the best and support us the most (click to Tweet). They are to be valued above all else.

Then, I realized….

When it comes to social media, especially Facebook, many of us have lots of “friends.” Being that they’re friends, I’ve made a habit of getting to know almost all of them…like you would with good friends. I’ve met several people who live in cities different from my own, in person, and it’s been a blessing because they’re delightful. But, lately I’m beginning to feel the weight of focusing energy too many different ways. On Facebook we’re bombarded with family deaths, friends facing health Continue reading “No April Fool”

March 18, 2016March 18, 2016

The REAL Picture

The REAL Picture

There’s a lot of information in the webosphere and a lot of should do’s and should be’s. It’s almost like we’re being told how to live a life; like we wouldn’t otherwise know how! It’s easy to get the impression you’re not cool enough, clever enough or happy enough. Hmmm….let me tell you –

There isn’t only one way to live and there’s certainly not only one “right” way (click to Tweet). People will try to control you by telling you so – think organized religion and retail marketers. I guess there are some “wrong” ways to live – but none of us here are encumbered by such poor behaviour and devious deeds, right? Sure, occasionally we stumble, that’s why I write and you read it – we share little human foibles – but nothing serious, nothing, ahem, pathological – right? Sure, it’s right. I have the utmost faith in you. Continue reading “The REAL Picture”

March 11, 2016March 11, 2016

Give Me Room

Give Me Room

Give me room
To be who I am
To think how I think
To believe what I believe

Give me permission
To be different from you
To share those ideas
To listen to yours

Give me acceptance
To walk in my light
Extend me respect
You know I’m your sister

Allow me to love you
I care who you are
I marvel at our differences
Still, I know we are one.
~Michelle Andres

Some of you know I’m working on a June art show that involves words in my work. I’ve been writing haiku and poetry – which is rather dangerous for me. When I do this work, my nerves get sort of raw to current events and my surroundings…not conducive to the current external climate (i.e. election year). I’m finding I search deeper for the humour in my days and have to practice self-care to insulate myself from the meanness people are embracing. I also find, I have to control my own impulses to judge, because it’s natural. When we judge we trick ourselves into thinking we understand the world.

I suppose for me, right now, it’s my spiritual practice to learn to explore this space and still find the joy and beauty in day to day living. Why do we punish one another when our authenticity shows? Isn’t that what we value in life? Want to see more of? I wish I could put the world, America in particular, on a big, fat time out!

I saw this and thought it was beautiful…substitute your own colours, beliefs, whatever. Enjoy and be love.

Be Yourself, Be Love ~

Michelle Andres is a writer and artist who cultivates her own Well Lived Life by drinking in the beauty around her, following her passion, respecting others and doing her best to own her own dookie.
Follow Michelle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter
Join the Tribe and get updates by signing up on the left sidebar!

January 1, 2016January 2, 2016

The Path’s Purpose

Have the planets aligned? It’s New Year’s Day and a perfect chance for me to harangue you with a bunch of questions, like “What’s your word for 2016?” “What big, audacious goals are on your horizon?” “What steps do you have planned to achieve your dreams this year?” or “What’s your New Year’s Resolution?”

© 2015 Diannepoinski.com — © 2015 Dianne Poinski Photography

Not. This. Year.

I think 2016 is time for a grace period. Why? Well, I recently saw this from my friend, Joseph White Wolf:

My New Years resolution is to not change a thing about myself and to simply love myself just the way I am… Never do I want to change the path that I am on, my path is here to change me… ”

Continue reading “The Path’s Purpose”

December 18, 2015December 18, 2015

An Equation for Self-Worth

$self-worth$ I don’t want to write today. This fine morning, I have a choice. I’ve written this blog for you for over 3 years – I think – but I’m not good at math, really. Well, except in the idiot savant sense, when I baffle and amaze…but I’m veering off track. I always post on Friday. 3 years ago, I made a commitment to myself to write every week. I didn’t care if you read it or not; I wanted to write it. Well, now, I’m giddy and grateful you read it – or at least sometimes you read it. I really feel blessed when you leave comments or share it. You’ve encouraged me and I’m considering a book…but that’s another story. The point is, I don’t want to write today, and I wouldn’t, if it weren’t for that darned equation of self-worth. But, like a quick talking, fast moving, snake oil salesman, I’ll explain the math later.

Know how that is when you don’t want to do something -especially when it’s good for you? Have you ever had a hard time finding the motivation to keep your commitments? Does it ever happen to you? Continue reading “An Equation for Self-Worth”

December 11, 2015January 19, 2016

YOU – Get Off Your High Horse!!!

Yeah, you – you self-righteous, name-calling, fear mongering, judgmental … YOU! Can’t we change the focus….please?

I’ve seen YOU on my social media feed and some of YOU on my television. I’ve heard your fears being, not just shouted, but shrilly wailed from the roof tops. You’re divisive. Your insistence we break into camps helps no one. Worst of all…you are disturbing MY chi!

Newsflash –

Your high horse is NOT a unicorn!

Click To Tweet

There are so many beautiful things in this world. Can’t we just focus on those? Can’t we focus on the beauty of new life, the excitement of new opportunities, the celebration of accomplishment? Can’t we focus on the incredible fall colours and the fact light will be coming back to the Northern Hemisphere soon? Oh, the light!!! Let’s focus on that – both literally and metaphorically speaking. Continue reading “YOU – Get Off Your High Horse!!!”

November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

Lightening the Load

There’s been something on my mind lately. It has to do with lightening the load, letting the past go, forgiveness. Basically, it’s about not dragging your baggage behind you…forever.

I’ve wanted to write about it, but realized I’ve written something similar before and I don’t want to be redundant. Let me repeat that, I don’t want to be redundant.

Yet, I realize, life is a spiritual practice. Truly, it is.

Sometimes, I find myself repeating the same lessons over again. I suppose it’s either because I haven’t fully learned them, or perhaps I just have a short memory. Did I ever tell you that? Does it happen to you, too? Which, you ask? Whichever.

Anyway, lately I’ve been shedding stuff. You’ll remember I let go of the stuff with my neighbor. I’ve also let go of some past relationship baggage – where I’d felt wronged. Maybe, rather than feeling we’ve been wronged we should feel we’ve been “informed.” Seems easier on the soul. (click to Tweet)

I’m not sure what triggers that moment when we choose to drop the load and move forward. It’s strange, but we drag it behind us – the stories, the wrongs – sometimes for a long, looooong, time. They begin to feel like part of us, this extra weight. Maybe eventually we don’t even notice it. These things become part of our identity.

Maybe that’s why we refuse to let them go. We think things like, if I wasn’t a “victim” of so and so, who would I be? If I hadn’t had that bad employment experience, who would I be? If I didn’t have that difficult relationship with that awful person, who I make wrong so I can be okay being me, who would I be? I’m not sure exactly who I’d be, but I’m sure of WHAT I’d would be….lighter. I’m sure I’m okay without the bags.

Seems some of the bags I carry aren’t even my own; they’re the bags of those evil twins, judgment and expectation; the twins who steal our levity, our joy, our liberation. They keep us in the world of our stories, which may or may not be true…but who really cares?

Time to dump the bags, only rookies carry other people’s bags, anyhow.

Click To Tweet

So, as I move ahead, I thought I’d share my inner-ramblings with you. Because, while I’m a bit crazy, I’m no more or less crazy than you are… and you’ve probably carried some bags, too. I think you’ll find, if you put down the bags, the colours are more vivid, the heart is lighter, life is sweeter. So….

Check your bags,

Michelle Andres is a writer and artist. She writes this blog to share tips for a well-lived life and finely run art business…just for you!

The “2016 Art and Inspiration Calendars” are HERE!!! Buy one for you and one for friend while I still have some in stock! Each month features a painting and quote from the blog. The cost is $20 plus a shipping fee of $3.99 or they can be picked up in my R. Street Studio. 12 months of art and inspiration!!! You can order them at the bottom of my art page (see the tab at the top).

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October 16, 2015October 16, 2015

Wanting What’s Best

Just because we want it, doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for us.

You may want to read that again.

This point was driven home this week when I had a conversation with a friend. She was wondering how to deal with some “~~crazy~~ spirited” extended family members. You know the old saying,”You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family?” Sorry, Mom, I don’t mean YOU! Anyhou, convinced large family gatherings would fill her heart, she was wrestling with the idea of her unwieldy and unreliable “attendees.” She dreamt of a large family gathering and, of course, that was the family she had to work with. Just because we want it doesn’t mean it’s good for us. Imagine hosting a family gathering where you issued straight jackets like party favors at the door.

I remember when I worked in corporate. I’d apply for advancement positions. I did it because I wanted it…or sometimes, I just wanted to be the chosen one. Honestly. I just wanted to be selected…competitive much? All the demands that accompanied the position, well, those might not be for me, but I wanted to be the pick of the litter. This addictive desire got me into tight, unhappy spots on more than one occasion. My ego made my bed, then I had to be the one to lie in it! It’s taken some time, but I’m so over it.

What do you want? Is it your ego or inner-child doing the begging – or is it your heart’s desire? How would you know the difference? It’s worth taking some time to think about, me thinks. Sometimes, our best information comes in times of contemplative silence. (click to Tweet) Continue reading “Wanting What’s Best”

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015

The Price of Giving Too Much

My cup is almost empty. There’s no more wind in my sails. I can only think in trite clichés.

I’ve given pretty much all of it away.

I’d like to think I’m a bottomless-well, serving buckets of goodwill, assistance and cheer to everyone I meet – but it’s a negligent practice that can lead to a parched throat and scowling countenance. Ooops, there goes the cheer.

I’m not that generous. At least not now.

I offer a lot of assistance – I know that about myself. I will generously promote you, tirelessly applaud you, praise you, share with you, give of my time. Don’t feel sorry for me –

Human beings do not repeat behaviours that don’t have a pay-off in it for them. (click to Tweet).

Continue reading “The Price of Giving Too Much”

September 25, 2015

Potential is the Pits

Several weeks ago, I put an avocado pit in some water with some toothpicks to steady it.

It sprouted and grew several glossy, healthy leaves.

A friend came by and said (sort of sarcastically), “Oh, GREAT in 20 years you can have some avocados.”

But, that was not at all the point.

The point was:

That little pit wanted to become a tree.

Never, ever underestimate the power of potential.

Michelle Andres is a writer and artist. She writes this blog to share tips for a well-lived life and finely run art business…just for you!

The 2015 – Art and Inspiration Calendars are HERE!!!
Buy one for you and one for a friend while I still have some in stock!

Each month features a painting and quote from the blog. The cost is $20 plus a shipping fee of $4.99 or they can be picked up in my R. Street Studio. 12 months of art and inspiration!!!

To visit Michelle’s studio art site – click here.

Find Michelle on Facebook or on Twitter

For a free gift that will help you boost personal productivity “Join the Tribe” and subscribe to this blog (Over there on the left sidebar)!

September 11, 2015September 11, 2015

Burn Notice – Insights from Burning Man

Insights Burning Man 2015 — Photo Courtesy of Incredible Winemaker & Friend – Stuart Spoto

Insight comes in unusual places. In the middle of a desert, I suppose one would expect a few good insights. Jesus found and resisted temptation in a desert. In Paulo Coehelo’s “The Alchemist” the desert stood between the characters and their dreams, until they learned to embrace its offerings. Insights in the desert – I had some at a festival called, “Burning Man.”

I spent days preceding and the weekend of Labor Day on a salt flat in the desert, being reminded of things that really matter in life. It was a wholly unique and personal experience. Although there were over 70,000 other people with me. I have feeling for each person…

the insights revealed were uniquely their own.

Perhaps, some had no realizations at all. I’m always inviting wisdom into my life; whether or not I recognize it as it comes, is debatable. And, I still maintain those who claim wisdom are the very people it eludes (click to tweet).

For many days I breathed through a scarf because winds and dirt devils made it impossible to breathe and see clearly – the irony is not lost on me here. Days passed and I didn’t have the luxury of bathing…but, in the desert’s defense, it was a really, really dry dirt. It was impossible to drag a comb through my hair. Even a Really. Wide. Toothed. Comb. It was all okay, because when the skies cleared or the sun set, I was treated Continue reading “Burn Notice – Insights from Burning Man”

September 4, 2015October 13, 2015

Silence

(This post is republished from 9/1/15 – still pertinent. I hope you enjoy. As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome. We learn through sharing. ~m )

Silence is priceless. It’s a precious space where the feet of our souls, not the soles of our feet, find solid ground. In silence we can contemplate, innovate, be.

Silence provides a reprieve, walling out the chatter, the opinions, the judgment, the noise.

Silence provides a feather bed for deep discovery. (Click to Tweet) Continue reading “Silence”

August 14, 2015

You Can Quote Me!

My friends’ studios often impress me. I love that the spirits of the artists come through in the energy of the room. It’s exciting to see their preferences, their tools and their work in their space. Have you ever noticed how art studios usually sport at least one motivational saying on the walls, often more? I’ve been to studios and teaching spaces where quotes were painted on the walls – that’s my favourite! In corporate, there were motivational posters, too, but they usually involved people in boats or cartoon characters – not as pretty or inspiring.

This week, I offer you art quotes. You can click on any of these to download them. Feel free to print them out and put them in your studio, workspace – keep them in front of you to help encourage and inspire you through your day.

Feel free to pin or share them on social media, too. At the top right side of the image, there are buttons to all the social media sites. These quotes all involve my artwork – which can be seen it entirety here.

Feel free to share your favourite art quote below in the comments; if I choose it for a future post I’ll be sure to contact you for a link to the site of your choice, cuz I love collaboration and giving credit where credit is due! Enjoy and….

Keep Living and Creating a Well Lived Life!

Michelle Andres is a writer and artist. She writes this blog to share tips for a well-lived life and a finely run art business…just for you!
Find her on Facebook or on Twitter

For a free gift that will help you boost personal productivity “Join the Tribe” and subscribe to this blog (Over there on the left sidebar)!

July 30, 2015July 31, 2015

You Say Devices; I Say Divisives

Every week I send an email to my accountability partner, listing things I’ll take care of in the upcoming week. She does the same. We have Alyson Stanfield to thank for our professional relationship, which has evolved into a fine friendship over the years. This week, “Stay away from the computer” was on my list, and my partner’s interest was piqued, admitting she had a little social media addiction problem, too.

I’ve copped to my addiction in the past, but never offered the concrete solutions I’ll offer in this post. WARNING: These concrete solutions can, and will at times, feel more like a pair of cement shoes.

I began to examine what is commonly referred to as FOMO – Fear of Missing Out – but needed to understand the ‘why’ behind our obsessive computer-seeking behaviour. I came to these conclusions about why we’re drawn to our divisives devices: Continue reading “You Say Devices; I Say Divisives”