Your Story and LIAV and Andrea Schroeder! YAY!

I'm happy to offer you a preview of what we usually do in BOD on a weekly basis. This is a sampling of one of the three emails that will go out to our members this week. xo Hello lovely. :)  It's Monday! And yes, I'm late, but it's still Monday, and I have a video as well as a guest post and some musings for you.  ***  In our last dispatch, I offered up a few questions to consider as you went about your life. Some of you have already sent me some gorgeous, deep, authentic answers.   I'm going to be honest with you. These questions were pretty triggering for me. I have a hard time (have always had a hard time) dealing with the 'They' and 'their story' about me. It is one of the most painful and difficult challenges I face, and I have put myself in a particularly vulnerable position by being 'out there' in the way BOD puts me 'out there'.     But triggered or not, I mused and I jotted and I wrote and I arted. And here is some of what I know for sure:    I do not inhabit my story. My story inhabits *me*. I find this distinction important for me because though I believe my story informs me and shapes who I am, I don't believe that I *am* my story.    Good thing, because sometimes the story I tell myself about myself isn't a very nice story. Better thing because sometimes the story other people tell about me isn't very nice, either.     But it's just a story.     *It's Just A Story*    It may somehow reflect where I am in my journey today. Or it might reflect where I was in my journey last week. It may or may not even be true.       But it's just a story, and I'm bigger than my story. I can change my  story. I can reframe it. I can choose a different ending.   So can you.     For more on this, I invite you to take a look at The Work of Byron Katie. My other answers took me down some long and windy paths.   I wanted to share them here, but I realized that they were ridiculously personal, and most of you just want the art. But I want you to know: If I had 37 days left to live, I'd eat a lot of brie. I'd dye my hair pink. I'd do a lot of snuggling! I'd excise anyone from my life that felt toxic. I'd embrace those who felt like healing salve. I'd art. I'd write letters to my loved ones. In other words, I'd live with my whole heart.   And can I share something with you that's really sweet to know? I already live this way.          Here's The Video      Just click to access. No password is required for this one. xo And now a word from the delectable Andrea Schroeder! Your Art Practice can Supercharge your Intentions Let's start with three basic truths: No person is more or less worthy than any other person. No dream is more or less worthy than any other dream. Life itself wants all dreams to grow and is always actively engaged in supporting their growth. So why do only some dreams make it? The easy answer is that most dreams don't grow because most people don't understand how to grow them.  It's not taught in elementary school like it should be.  Personally, I had to spend a lot of time, money and energy in order to learn.  It doesn't occur to most people to do this. But that's not the whole story.   In my training to become a teacher in The Art and Science of Bringing Dreams to Life, I saw lots of people learn all about how it works and still fail to bring their big dreams to life.   And I always wondered - why was I different?  As soon as I started taking classes things became really easy for me and by the time I'd finished my training and become accredited as a teacher - there wasn't a dream that I was not able to bring to life. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why this stuff worked so well for me because I wanted to help my students get the same results. And I found the answer in what I thought was the most unlikely place:  ART. I am an artist.  For me, creativity and spirituality are 2 different ways to describe the same thing. By the time I was in the advanced classes studying The Art and Science of Bringing Dreams to Life (in my third year of classes) - my essays had turned artworks.   I remember bringing the first one to my teacher and saying "This is just how it came out.  There is too much to express here, to use words alone." and he said as long as I had the required number of words there were no stipulations about the words being printed on plain paper so I continued to created artworkessays. Because creativity is one of my core Superpowers. And if you're an Art Journaler than I suspect that Creativity is one of your Core Superpowers, too. Which means - when you combine intention setting with your art practice - magic will happen. You know how amazing art journaling feels. You know how it's super amazingly good for you. It's because arting puts you in your creative flow. It ignites your Creative Magic. (And with Creative Magic ignited there is nothing you cannot do.) The next step is to direct that magic towards what you want to create in your life. Because creating dreams come true in your life is not really all that different from creating art journal pages.  It uses the same creative building blocks: taking risks, listening to your heart, trusting your intuition, being brave, putting it out there, expressing your truth. You already know how to do all of this stuff.  All you have to do next is direct it towards setting intentions and bringing your dreams to life. Create a page that shows you living your dream, right now.  Make the page feel the way living your dream will feel.  Don't try to plan it out too much, just get into your creative flow and let your intuition tell you how to create this page. The magic part is that this page will be filled with clues and information about your dream and how to bring it to life. It can tell you where your intention is solid and clear and where there is something blocking it. It can show you what supports you, and what blocks you.  It can tell you what your next steps are to bring this dream to life. It can show you clues that lead to secret shortcuts. And if you're ready for more, I've created a whole kit full of lessons and magic that will lead you through every step of turning your Art Journal into a Magic Wand and using it to bring all of your dreams to life.     A Note From Effy:  I love everything Andrea and here's why: She is a creative Bad Ass. She kicks fear and doubt to the curb. She knows how to engage the inner critic in super efficient and helpful ways. She is one of my most powerful influences when it comes to art as spiritual practice. This kit will rock your poptarts. (It totally rocked mine!) This, and anything else Andrea produces (even her blog posts!) will get your inner muse dancing within you and set your heart alight with creativity. {The above are affiliate links. I do not promote things I do not believe in. If I talk about it, I love it.} A final word:  And That's All She Wrote!   I'll see you Wednesday with more Life Is A Verb. If you miss me in the meantime, you can always read my blog! Effy  P.S. If this programme is a blessing to you, please consider tipping me? Your support makes this project happen! xo