KIMBERLY'S KREATIONS...: February 2017

Saturday, February 18, 2017

BREAK OUT OF PRISON...

If you live a life in which you are predominantly asleep ninety-nine percent of the time (work, home, t.v.), and you feel that nothing good ever happens to you, then it's time to break out of prison...the prison you have made for yourself, whether you knew it was happening or not. You get this one shot at living your life...why wouldn't you live it to its fullest? Granted some or most of your self-imprisonment could have been instilled in you during your "formative" years by the people in your life at that time, however how you choose to live now just might be the lock that binds your shackles.

If you have never read or watched The Secret, then you owe it to yourself to do so. I have spoken about it in past posts, but I cannot stress enough what a great tool it is to help you take that first, all important step to making your life a positive, healthy and prosperous one.

One of my favorite sayings, and I think I love it because I am working so diligently toward it myself, is "Never let your fear decide your fate." Those of you who know me know that this particular, four-letter, "F" word (fear), is one of the most powerful, potent and damaging words in the English language. It keeps us from doing so many of the things we want to do. When we embrace it, generally subconsciously, it keeps us from living life, at all...it keeps us limited and small when we are otherwise meant to be living large, with abundance. Embrace it and live a life of imprisonment. As I have said in the past, turning your entire life around can seem a daunting and difficult process, however you CAN do it because you have the power. Lately I have encountered this topic with others quite frequently, so I thought I would lay out the steps that work for me with the hope that they will help others as well.

STEP 1. Monitor your thoughts...those which are not positive or self-serving, after a time, will set off an alarm, but to begin with try to write down a thought every time you catch yourself with a negative or damaging thought.

STEP 2. Know your damage...How do you know if a thought is negative or self-sabotaging? Sit down and make a list, which helps you to first understand what you are looking for. We have so many things racing through our brains that we literally need to be monitoring heavily in the beginning in order to put markers on those that hurt us. Ask yourself if this thought went straight to the negative side of the coin or the positive and how to can turn it around.

STEP 3. Know that thoughts are things...and because of this, and because we are made up entirely of energy (which houses our soul in this realm), what you think about, you bring about. Do you ever wonder why it is that when you think about a person you haven't heard from or spoken to in a long time that they will contact you in some way or someone else may bring them up in conversation? It is because you were thinking about them....or why, when your morning starts out a little rough (spilled cereal in your lap, dropped a banana on the floor after you peeled it and broke the heel on your shoe as you were leaving for work), the rest of the day seems to follow? It's because you took that negative energy and already decided that the rest of your day was going to go just like that...so it will. What about during an election when the popular person, who has most of the votes and who you know is going to win, will lose to their opponent simply because the oponent is so negative and controversial that everyone's energy was focused upon him/her and their bad behavior.

STEP 4. Know what you want...This was my toughest one, personally. I know what I don't want but by thinking those thoughts I bring about the very thing I don't want. If you are thinking things like, "I don't want to get fat," or "I don't want to have a heart attack," or "I don't want to take this job," then you are increasing the odds that you are going to get fat, have a heart attack, and take that job. Why? Because you said or thought the words fat, heart attack and job. You gave them energy and power they needed to manifest by thinking about them and saying them. Say and think about what you want, i.e. I want to be thin or I want my weight proportionate to my height...I am heart healthy, I have a healthy body...I want money and I want financial freedom. Is this any easy process to begin? For some yes, but for most...not even (it wasn't for me either). It takes time to reconstruct thought patterns that are so automatic, but it can always be done and it is up to you to decide if you find it worth it or not. I have seen the proof of what positive living can do in my life and I have just barely scratched the surface as I am still working these steps myself.

STEP 5. Stop complaining...Complaining, whether you do it out loud or just in your head, it draws all of that negativity right into your lap. If you find yourself in a situation where you would normally say that you don't like something, try stating only the things you do like and go around the outside of the negative thought. An example might be having drinks with friends after work and a person you don't care for at all (let's call her Cassie) will be there and you find yourself filled with dread. One way to combat this is to not go, obviously, but that limits you and keeps you from seeing your other friends who you are excited to see, so find the good. Find the good qualities in Cassie and make those the things you tell yourself, like Cassie might have had a hard life and she doesn't know how to be around people because of it, or that Cassie sometimes she buys the rounds of drinks so she must have a bit of a giving soul. If you don't know Cassie very well you can make up a positive back story about her and in this way enjoy the evening with the whole group. There is always a positive way.

One thing that ties all of these things together, is an attitude of gratitude. BE THANKFUL for all of the amazing and great things in your life...for a healthy body, for the money that comes into your life, for the people you love and those who love you. Things won't manifest well for you if you are not grateful first for who you are and what you have. Break out of prison...live your life...your way.

(c)Kimberly Kreations 2017 - My trip to the beach this morning

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and please, if you like what you've read, leave a comment by clicking on the word "comments" below. If you have a blog or website of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by and leave a comment as well. Please respect the copyright/trademark rights of the artist's work. Copying and using any work posted here is forbidden without express permission. Happy blogging.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

HAUNTED SOUL...

(This is the first acrylic painting I have ever done...I love old and dilapidated buildings, especially barns, so I had to make one the subject of my first painting)

HAUNTED SOUL...

I am a firm believer that within every dwelling people have ever lived or worked or inhabited in any manner whatsoever, they leave behind a little bit of their energy and ultimately a piece of their soul, just by having been inside for whatever reason and for however long.

I have always been intrigued by buildings, the older the better...dilapidated, falling apart and ultimately...haunted, which fascinates the photographer in me...at least one third of all of my work is of dilapidated buildings of one kind or another. I almost feel that I can uncover some of the stories of the things that happened inside. If I have the chance to go inside of one of these places, I will spend hours combing over the marks on the walls, sensing the energies and creating vivid images of who had been there and what had transpired over the years...some of it amazing and some of it...not so amazing.

I love the term haunted. Typically people use it to describe a “ghost” or aparition(s) having been left behind when they died to forever dwell and taunt those who enter. I believe that part of that is true, but moreso I believe that whatever we do, whoever we interact with and wherever we are, we leave a small part of our souls and energy, whether positive or negative at that particular time, in that spot, with that person and in that moment in time. This energy that is left behind in time is what I feel gives a dwelling a soul or an energy of its own...one that you can feel when you enter through it's doors. Whatever happened there through its years, all the positive and negative combined, will reveal its soul to you.

One of my favorite things to research are old and abandoned mental hospitals, and not because I think they were places that many, if any positive things were achieved, but because of how society used to allow (maybe they still do) sadistic assholes to run places like this and torture human beings. I think it's my morbid curiosity. It's as though these places emerged up through the ground straight from hell and masqueraded as legitimate “rest homes” and “mental hospitals”. Most people typically use the term hospital to define a place to acquire help from caring individuals who take care of you and heal you during your time of need. Now I'm sure there are those mental institutions who did/do just that, but let's face it, most of them, especially long ago, were institutions to be feared.

Entering buildings with haunted souls will instantly send a chill up your spine. Everyone who enters can sense the energies that were left inside. For example, when you are looking for a place to live you have to “try on” several abodes before choosing the one that is right for you, but part of that decision-making process is what you feel when you enter, hence the phrase, “This place has good energy.” That doesn't necessarily mean that that will be the case for all who enter...it means that it has an energy that is conducive to resonating on a level that pleases your particular soul.

I think life is like this. As people we absorb energies from the people in our lives and the places we go...those energies then become a part of us in some way and help to shape and mold us into who we are. Sometimes you meet people who seem distant and guarded...as though they have a huge secret to protect. I feel that these are the people who possess haunted souls...as though there is a part of them that will never be revealed, even to themselves. Letting go of the past, letting it remain back there where it belongs, forgiving yourself and those involved, is the only way to ever find peace...yet for some, a very difficult process. People often think that forgiving someone means their actions were okay, but that is far from the truth...foregiveness means just that...you understand that this person is human, that they made a mistake, that they are sorry and have learned from it as have you, but most importantly...it means freedom for you...for you to let go of all ties to past hurts and release your haunted soul. It can be a difficult thing to learn (it has been and still is for me at times), but so liberating and healthy. When I began to teach myself how to forgive, I sat down and made a list of all the people I felt I needed my forgiveness, and why. Thank God it was a small list, but I was astonished by how many of them were from such a long time ago in my life. I then, using a form of quiet meditation, consciously forgave them and let it be okay...telling myself that whatever hurt I felt in the situation was because of my own choices and the fact that I allowed myself to feel hurt in the first place. This has helped me immensely. Again, you don't have to forget as that has nothing to do with forgiveness.

If you feel a part of your soul is haunted, why not take that first step and learn how to forgive...you don't have to forget, but for your sake, try to forgive and let go of all energies that are anything less than 100% positive, loving and liberating. You will be amazed at how wonderfully happy your life will become.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and please, if you like what you've read, leave a comment by clicking on the word "comments" below. If you have a blog or website of your own I would love to visit it. After your comment, make sure to post your link and I will stop by and leave a comment as well. Please respect the copyright/trademark rights of the artist's work. Copying and using any work posted here is forbidden without express permission. Happy blogging.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE ME WITHOUT YOUR CROWN...

PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE ME WITHOUT YOUR CROWN...

Sometimes I think the toughest part of life for some of us, is that of being judged by other people and caring what they think. Am I saying it isn't good to care? Absolutely not for it is an amazing quality to care about others, but I am saying that it isn't good to care more about what other people think of you and your life than you do. Your opinion of everything about you should be the deciding factor in all of your decisions where you are concerned.

I wonder at times, why people, even those who don't really care that much about me, want or need to chime in on my decision-making process without my solicitation of their advice. My answer to this wonderment would be...control. They want or need to feel they are controlling you. Many people have this preconceived notion of who and what you should be and how you should behave and if you deign to go it your own way, doing your own thing, you will be judged harshly, if not completely shunned. To these people I say, please do not judge me without your crown. If you must shun me for who I am, then you are not someone I would care to have in my life anyway. I figure that if I can see their crown, I will know they are the ruler of the country in which I live and that I had better do things their way or risk being beheaded in front of the entire kingdom, including the court jester. This would not be good...(insert laughter here to complete sarcasm).

I recently happened upon this quote by Richelle E. Goodman... “Perhaps, if you weren't so busy regarding my shortcomings, you'd find that I do possess redeeming qualities, discreet as they may be. I notice when the sky is blue. I smile down at children. I laugh at any innocent attempt at humor. I quietly carry the burdens of others as though they were my own. And I say 'I'm sorry' when you don't. I am not without fault, but I am not without goodness either.” I love how she phrased this. It's as though she donned the ready position in a fencing match and drew her epee, yet in a classy and non-confrontational way. Just enough sass to say, I am the whole me and if you are busy judging the outside me then you don't see the whole me.

We are all guilty of judging people just by appearances and possible, quirky behaviors, and most times before we ever get to know them, so, therefore, are we judged by others. Karma and/or the universe states that, “What you put out there is going to come back to you tenfold.” This being the case, the person who has mastered the art of letting others be who they are (without hurting anyone including themselves (my favorite part of Wiccanism)), is someone who is rarely judged harshly by others and who doesn't care about other peoples' opinions of them anyway. This is the person I am diligently working to become.
Steve Maraboli said, “How would your life be different if…You stopped making negative, judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day…You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.” Truer words have never been spoken in my opinon. We generally find what we look for so it makes perfect sense that if you seek the good in others, you will find it. Treat people with a sense of decency and kindness and that is what they will return to you....as above, so below and what you put in is what you get out.

People are basically good and I believe that...I think when you present even the most harsh-minded person with reason, they will choose the good over the bad, or the good over the evil (if that terms applies). Many of us don't realize that our harsh judgments hurt us just as much, if not more, than they do the person to whom they are directed. Point a finger at someone and three point back at you...that is the visualization technique I use whenever a judgment flies out of my mouth these days and it has really helped me to see that I have no right to say these things because I don't really know this person and I have flaws like everyone else...we all do, and it's okay. It's okay to be who you are, love who you are, change the parts of you you want to better, eliminate the parts that do not serve you well, and treat everyone with kindness, including yourself.

Going forward, when someone judges you, and they will, ask them to please not judge you without wearing their crown...and please show others the same courtesy in reverse for if you must behave as royalty it is common courteousy to be properly attired.