Welcome to Our Blog – Voca Blogita!

Welcome to Voca Blogita – our “little voice blog.” At Voca Femina we’re passionate about women, about creativity, and about self-expression. The feminine voice is powerful, creative, life-giving, and beautiful, and we’re here to celebrate it.

It takes courage to speak up. To write. To sing, dance, paint, sculpt, or shoot pictures. This little blog is just another way to infuse you – and us – with  enough courage to keep the spark of creative expression alive, to fan it into flame – heck, to burn the house down if we can!

Every week we’ll offer a little something to help you believe in the spark that’s already inside you, waiting to be expressed.

So tune in, jump in, and join the conversation.

 

things that hinder, things that help by kathy escobar

“inside you is an artist you don’t know about” – rumi

as we wrap up the end of this year, one of the things i hope for all of us is that in 2010 some of the obstacles to creativity are removed.  everyone’s an artist.  sure, there are those that might take it more seriously than others, have more training, more experience, more of all kinds of things. but everyone–and i do mean everyone–is an artist.

some of you already know this and are letting your creativity emerge.  others of you aren’t quite sure yet.  what does it mean to be an artist? to create?  to express yourself creatively? to let what is inside out?  i think the answer is different for everyone, but the thing that seems most important to me is that we each try to find it.  to tap into what’s buried in there, to be willing to try to let some of it out, to revive some of the dreams you might have once had but you life took over and you forgot about them, to actively move our hands, our feet, our hearts toward creating–whatever that looks like for each of us.

in order to do this, sometimes we need to become more honest about the things that hinder creativity and the things that help it. in 2010, my hope is that more and more of us fan into flame the things that help & dismantle the things that hinder.

• take a few minutes this week and think about the upcoming year and some of your dreams for creating.  write them down.  be clear.  in 2010, i really want to ___________.

• now make a list of the things that hinder your ability to do this freely.  maybe it’s time, the negative voices in your head, money, support from important people in your life, etc., etc.  yes, these things are real and i don’t want to dismiss that they are true obstacles to doing some of what you love to do.  at the same time, if we lean into this list, we will stay stuck.

• next make a list of the things that help you creatively.  who inspires you?  is setting aside a certain time once a week, once a day, once a month, once a ? helpful.  does making deadlines motivate you?  does saying out loud to a close friend “you need to make sure i don’t give up on this” keep you in the game?  what else helps, fans your creative juices into flame?   this list is the one we need to lean into, give our attention to.

yes, i know that so many of us have done our share of lists and just the mere thought of it is annoying.  but the idea of voca blogita is to offer some practical tools to help fan our creative juices into flame.  to do this, i can help to acknowledge the the things that hinder and focus on doing the things that help.  i believe the scales will always tip toward the hindering side if we are not careful.  creativity often feels like a luxury.  it shouldn’t, but it does.

to live some of this out, we must fan into flame the things that help.  i am working on my lists right now & am noticing how easy to look at the things that hinder and throw in the towel on some of my creative ideas.  my hope for all of us in 2010 is that we fight against the resistance so that the beauty & wisdom & creativity that is inside every one of us comes out–some way, some how.

here’s to things that help.

 

Leave it to Beauty, by Phyllis Mathis

a baby’s laugh

a grandmother’s smile

the kindness of strangers

twinkling lights

lilting melody

crackling fire

cinnamon sweets

nutmeg and clove

sparkling snow

deep winter night

glowing hearts

hopeful faces

stillness

silence

laughter

tears

beauty heals

(art by melody epperson, “dance with me”)

 

Counter With Kindness, by Phyllis Mathis

Ok, so we haven’t been very consistent here at Voca Blogita. Our goal of providing weekly inspiration has been a bit sporadic. It happens. Life interferes with our best intentions. That seems especially true when it comes to art. Creating seems like a luxury, and when the urgent presses in, art fades into the background.

If you’re like me, the first voice I hear as the latest whirlwind settles, is the voice of my inner critic, wielding the mighty should – You should be more consistent. You should get more done. You should be better at this. You should never miss a deadline. If I give this critic the microphone in my head, in no time, my creative self will hang its head in shame.

What’s to be done?

Only one thing – counter with kindness. The creative impulse thrives in an atmosphere of self-love.

Instead of the mighty should, try these verbal countermeasures:

Welcome back to the work. Start where you are. Every effort counts. Breathe. Look around. The world is teeming with life. Jump in anywhere. Nothing is lost. You can do this. You’re worth it.

Remember, a little kindness goes a long way.

 

what have you got to lose?

i seem to write about a lot of the same themes when it comes to courage in creativity.  i quite possibly say the same thing over and over again, and maybe that’s because i strongly believe that the voices in our head are probably our biggest obstacle to diving in to our places of passion.  we can always think of all of the reasons that we can’t, shouldn’t, or won’t step into our creativity.

one way that i think is helpful to push through those nagging, irritating voices is to live in a little bit more reality & quit making the mountain seem bigger than it really is.

let’s say we have a passion for writing and we want to create a blog and start putting some of those thoughts on “paper” (ha! it’s funny  how paper is becoming obsolete in writing these days!).  sometimes it’s worth walking through all of the downsides of trying:   1) no one might read; 2) you might feel really vulnerable that some of the things you shared are so exposed to others; 3) you might not get the feedback or response that you were hoping for.  i sort of think those are the main ones, although i am sure that you could probably add some of your own crazy obstacles to it and the list might grow. i am guessing, though, that anything else you add has the same basic theme:  yes, it might not turn out the way you want.  yes, you might not get the feedback  you are hoping for.  yes, you might feel vulnerable.

but none of those things are worth NOT doing it for.

creativity requires risk.  we will have to put ourselves out there and try.  we will have to push through our fears of being rejected or misunderstood.  we will have to “do it anyway” even when you have voice in your head telling you all the reasons you shouldn’t.  we will have to have the courage to go for it and know that the only thing we probably have to lose is pride & ego.  i am not saying those don’t feel like very important things, but i also believe that creativity can’t burst forth without letting some of it go.

here are the things i have lost since i started writing in a very intentional way (that is one of my creative passions):  1) a few friends,ha!  some don’t really like the things that i talk about; 2) sleep when i have had anxiety that some of the pieces i have written would be misinterpreted; 3) time because it is a bit more of a time-sucker than i originally anticipated.

but here’s some what i have gained:  1) courage that i didn’t know i had to say the things i needed to say and really not edit; 2) confidence that even though i will be misunderstood i am still fine.  i don’t need everyone to agree to be “okay”; 3) freedom to be a boat-rocker instead of a people-pleaser.   it’s been very free-ing.

i know each of you reading has a different passion.  it may be photography, art, design, poetry, music, video, and all kinds of things in between.  here’s my hope for you, for me.  that we’d lean into living a little more in the reality that the obstacles that keep us from moving forward in our passion are often in our head.  i am not saying real ones don’t exist, but i truly believe we have less to lose than we think.

go for it.  take the next step toward making your passion more of a priority.  risk trying.

 

Keeping it Juicy, by Vicki Kinney Petersen

Keeping it Juicy

I’ve been aware recently of feeling somewhat distant from my creative edge, so am curious to know how you keep yours alive and juicy?

After reflecting on when and where my energy has been the highest during this past month, I realized some of the most magical moments are playing with my two-year-old, granddaughter, Aja Gray.

Yesterday morning, she was sliding around smoothly on her belly on our dirty wooden kitchen floor. She pushed herself forward by pushing off of the front edge of her round rubber soles on her brown leather snow boots.  “Come on Miggies, do this with me.”

As I laid on the floor in prone position near her, I asked her if we were swimming. “No” she said, “We’re caterpillars getting something to eat!”

I burst out laughing. At the same time I secretly wondered how I would lead the way if I was a caterpillar looking for food… We didn’t actually eat any crumbs down there, but sure had lots of fun!

In the afternoon, Aja Gray and I walked down the corridor of a public building and she began to hop with loud shouts of joy…”Come on, Miggies, do this with me.”

She was acting like a baby kangaroo with palms held bent in front of her chest, wrinkling her nose and gleefully hopping down the quiet marble corridor.   I hopped along with delight as the mama kangaroo more enlivened with every jump! People were walking by and when I caught their eye, they seemed especially taken by Aja Gray’s merriment and spontaneity. She was enthralled with her own creative abandonment, hardly noticing anyone else.

Whacky and wonderful ideas often unfold during and after my times spent with her.  It all happens from letting her be my teacher. With very little structure and almost no planning we have a blast… I leave her feeling more alive, creative and free. My gift to her is that I offer spaces and places to explore and wonder.  I let her lead the way, being her magical self. Her gift to me is the invitation to participate in and respond to her curiosity and playfulness.

What or who invites you to play with abandon? How about trying a bit of flexibility. Where can you lighten up, let go and get a little (or a lot) crazy? What magical ideas might spill out if you do?

I have a hunch, there’s a close relationship between the “aha’”of discovery and the ‘ha-ha” of lightness and spontaneity, and being whacky stimulates your creative juices.

back to voca femina home

 

Try something new! by Jennifer Herrick

What in your life is calling you?
When all the noise is silenced,
the meetings adjourned,
the lists laid aside,
and the wild iris blooms by itself
in the dark forest,
what still pulls on your soul?

In the silence between your heartbeats
hides a summons.
Do you hear it?
Name it, if you must,
or leave it forever nameless,
but why pretend it is not there?

-The Terma Collective, “The box: Remembering the Gift”

I’ve noticed that when friends get together conversation eventually turns to things close to our hearts. I am not too surprised to hear from so many people that there is a longing for some creative outlet or the feeling that something is missing. Though competent in their fields of science, business, law, medicine or mommying, these women want a new place to get in touch with their innermost self and a means to somehow express it. There is a stirring to explore who we are beyond our normal daily responsibilities. But some of us just don’t seem to know how to get to it or where to start. We may even feel like it is way too late to uncork those desires and get some oxygen to that creative wine held inside. We may not have much confidence in our creative abilities, yet, something is calling to come out and play…and dream…and imagine.

Where to start? Here are a few things I thought of:

Say “yes” to new things. You can start simple. Take a few moments to dream. Write down what you’d like to do. Is there one thing you’ve been wanting to try? Talk about your ideas with your friend. For me it has been helpful to find a walking partner and get outside away from the computer or the house twice a week. It gives me a chance to be refreshed in nature and let my right brain play while I listen to my friend’s struggles and hopes for her writing and she listens to me share my latest plans and efforts toward visual projects. We are cheering each other on to say, “yes.”

Get inspired. Visit the arts/crafts section of a bookstore. Browse a stack of books. Note what appeals to you. Imagery, style, color, technique, message? Search inside of books at amazon.com. New titles show up all the time. Other people are hungry for the same things and you will likely find something specifically targeted for your area of interest. Read about the journeys and successes of the artists.

Search for online tutorials for what piques your interest (photography, collage, mosaic, beading, knitting) and watch them to gain confidence and see that the process isn’t too difficult for you. If they can do it. You can do it.

Read some instructional manuals and books on writing. Follow some prompts to exercise your memory and get the words flowing. That poem or story is waiting to come out.

Be generous with yourself. It helps to give yourself permission to block out a time each week for your new thing. You can look forward to this as your time to dabble and play in your new medium. Look at class offerings in your local area. Being with other learners can offer extra encouragement, too. Eventually you may want to find or start a group for knitters, writers, photographers for ongoing encouragement.

If you already have papers, glue, paint, photos, or beads, you may have what you need to get started. Collage or mixed media uses materials in a variety of new ways. But sometimes investing in new materials and books helps to stake your claim for creativity and stay committed to your new plan. You really will want to use that nice new journal and pastels.

Get started. What you produce won’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be done! Call it “practice” or “an experiment” rather than a finished piece of art. For me there is freedom in experimentation and I like some of the results that never would have happened otherwise. Remember the creative process itself may be the important thing to open the window and get some air in.

Creative work unlocks things that we push aside and ignore in our busy, busy lives. As soon as you try something new, expect some joy to spring forth, some hope to show up and possibly some healing whispers to touch your heart.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. – Dr. Howard Thurman

We can’t wait to hear about your new creative adventure. What did you do and how did it go? What was helpful? Come back and share your responses here.

 

It’s What We Live For, by Phyllis Mathis

photo by shelby mcquilkin

Way back in Issue 2 we published this poem by Judi Jaworowski:

Unshackled

Dream Free
Shame Free
Unshackled

Dream Free
Chain Free
Released

Shame’s chains dangle noisy, loud, dripping from my limbs.
Sometimes alerting others; warning of my approach
Often keeping me deaf to life’s music; holding me in a silent world.
Silent…Yet,
Always murmuring,
echoing,
incessant,
slowing, building
violent reprise
of their maddening,
accusing song.

Shame’s chain has held me captive
wrapped tightly ‘round my heart.
Shame’s chain has kept me prisoner –
alone,                            separate,                             apart.
And though I claw and pry to loosen links,
Still…
Shame’s chain, restrains, paralyzes me.
Twists to strangle breath from me.
Rapes me with its weight and power.

Shame has become my familiar.
Comforting me,
Protecting me from harm,
Deceiving me with fatal safety,
Lulling me comatose until in sweetest mystery
I am roused.
The voice is stilled.
The beast relaxes its fettering grip, resigning…

It slips silent from face,
off shoulders,
over breasts,
down belly past hips
toward thighs, beyond calf, leaving me;
leaving me to step,
naked,
towards love.

Amazing, right?

That’s what I thought 20 years ago when I first heard it. It’s haunting beauty stayed with me, it’s truth schooled me. As soon as we started publishing Voca Femina I remembered that poem, and wondered if Judi still had it.

So I asked her for it. Then I reminded her to send it. Then I nagged her.

I think I even threatened her.

And then she sent it.

Immediately the comments started rolling in:

“This was completely riveting. It rocked my soul. I’ll be looking for more of your work!!! Thank you for this piece.”

Judi replied:

“thanks for the word “riveting”. I think your comment might have finally broken through the “i’m not really a writer” voice.
i got chills and started crying…thanks again”

At Voca Femina, this is what we live for. We know the doubts and fears; we know the voices. We know how easy it is to decide not to risk exposure. But we also know the power of seeing our work “out there somewhere” and getting an encouraging response.

This is why we’re here. We need you. We need your work – your precious hidden treasures – and we need your encouraging responses to the works of others.

Maybe you’re an artist, a singer, a poet, a photographer, a writer, a potter, a story teller – and you don’t know it yet, deep down in your soul.

Dare to send something in. It might be just the boost you need to believe in yourself.

Voca Femina News

Excitement is building for our third Voca Femina Live sharing event on October 23rd. We’re thrilled to be gathering at a brand new community center for women, Pomegranate Place at 750 Clarkson, in Denver. Invitations will be landing in your email boxes soon. You don’t want to miss this!

 

Whatever Works, by Phyllis Mathis

Some days I’m in the mood to write. I have an idea for a scene, or I have something to say. Those days writing is happy, fun, and free.

Some days, though, I stay away. I avoid writing. I show up at my computer and stare at the screen – two, four, five minutes – and then  I get on Facebook, surf the net, or find some other useless thing to do. Lately that’s been happening a lot.

I know I’m avoiding my story, and I’m pretty sure I know all the reasons why. Some reasons are about the story. I’m just not sure what should happen, or how to write it. Sometimes it’s because my life is a little out of sorts. I haven’t left myself enough margin, or nurtured myself enough to feel I can spare the emotional energy it takes to enter the story and move it along.

At times like this I must come up with a strategy that gets me back to the page. For this I use one of two sources – Julia Cameron, or Steven Pressfield.

Julia Cameron, I think,  must be an angel sent from heaven. Her work, beginning with The Artists’ Way, has been a godsend. She whispers encouragement and joy from the pages of her books, letting me know that my inner artist is a tender child, and must be loved and nourished and allowed to play. She tells me it’s OK to write badly, to use my own voice, and to put the stress and drama of my life onto the page. She is a faithful muse.

Sometimes, however, what I need is a swift kick in the pants. For that, I turn to Steven Pressfield.  From his book, The War of Art, I learned that most of the time my avoidance is about fear.  He says that art is a war for the soul,  that our enemy is resistance, and that resistance is insidious.

So just in case you need a swift kick to get you back in the war, here’s one from Steven Pressfield:

Resistance is Insidious

Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce, bully, cajole. Resistance is protean. It will assume any form, if that’s what it takes to deceive you. It will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stickup man. Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.

How’s that for a kick in the pants? Whatever works, I guess.

 

new voices by kathy escobar

i don’t know about you, but for me, one of the things that prevents me from moving forward on a lot of creative projects is that ugly little voice in my head, the one that says:

“you don’t really know what you’re doing anyway”

“you’re not good enough.”

“you don’t have the skill or the talent or the creativity that they do”

“this is a frivilous, self-centered waste of time.”

“why bother? you know you’ll never do anything with it anyway?”

it’s so mean!  it’s so unkind!  and it’s so effective at keeping us from pursuing some of what we are made to do.  it keeps all our passion stuck.  it robs of us of joy & freedom.  and it is quite happy when we listen to it.

in the past few years, more than ever, i have tried to stop listening to it.  oh sometimes i let it take its course.  “go right ahead,” i say, “just let it rip and get it over with because when you’re done i’m going to do what i love to do anyway.”

yeah, i’m trying to listen to a new voice. it’s wise.  and kind.  and encouraging.  it says things like:

“it’s okay to do it for you”

“what’s in there needs to come out.”

“this will make you feel more alive, more free.”

“you have something to say.”

“this is you, keep walking toward it.”

“just take one step today and don’t worry about the rest.”

“ah, kathy, just let it rip. you’ll feel better afterward.”

i don’t know what voice you’re listening to these days, but i do know this.   that evil, unkind voice does not want us to creative.  does not want that passion unleashed.  does not want freedom for our hearts & our souls.    it will rob us and keep us stuck.

so sure, we can let it have its few minutes of our head space, but that’s about it.  then tell it to go away and strain to hear the other one.  to listen to its call.  to respond to the gentle but beckoning to let what’s in us out.

• what’s a new voice you’re trying to listen to?

 

Trip Tips for Summer, by Vicki Kinney Petersen

Unexpected and continued days of rain along with one major hail storm that flattened our vibrant and peaceful garden set motion to a series of other costly events this summer.

At our home, on Garland Way, visitors are welcomed with open arms. Friends often say from our time together, they feel well fed ⎯physically, emotionally and spiritually. Sometimes one or two dear ones will call back to let us know they feel as if they have been given wings! Hearing this brings joy and gratitude. But this news for the most part is not surprising… as when I consistently keep boundaries that provide space to cultivate self-nurturing practices, I am aware that I too have wings.  Which makes it fun; almost effortless to help others fly.

This summer has been different though. I loosened the boundaries ⎯and gave myself to more people.  Big chunks of the sacred time often spent on creative refueling (through silence, meditative walks, yoga, gratitude and writing) had instead become focused on companioning people. Within a month I began feeling withered, diminished and depleted, probably much like my garden after the storm blasted through.
When I finally took time to slow down, notice my shallow breathing and truly listened to my heart and body, I became acutely aware that I’d allowed ‘many other things’ to suck the marrow out of my bones. Uninspiring projects and people required more time, attention and energy than I ever intended to give. Huh…have you ever had that happen? If so, what are your tell tale signs?
On account of not paying attention and staying true to vital practices, which keep me grounded and fuel my creativity, I subtlety throttled some of life’s vivid aspirations. Off and on this summer I’ve blindly made a coffin of my creative heart.

This may sound or feel calamitous, but like it or not, it’s part of the ebb and flow of a cultural creative! What we do have control over is how long it takes us to become truly mindful of our choices and how we choose to live out our days.

If any of this resonates with you, let me offer some trip tips on your artist’s journey:
•    Take the nails out of your coffin and WAKE UP before it’s too late!
•    Be proactive to outline clear intentions for yourself
•    Choose to say “YES” to daily practices that keep your creativity alive.
•    Say “no” to the many ‘good things’ to create time for what stirs your soul.
•    Be alert to your imagination and give it space for a wild road trip.
•    Take courage to create – there’s healing power for you and others.
•    Walk in nature and notice beauty.
•    Consider the wisdom from Thomas Moore, “What food is to the body, arresting, complex and pleasing images are to the soul.”

Everyday is a miracle we may not even recognize: crisp white clouds, rich blue sky, the bright face of a pansy, curious eyes of a child⎯our own two eyes. All are beautiful and each is a miracle.