As Above so Below, and Vice Versa 23x30 Ink, oil pastel, gouache, beeswax, acrylic on watercolor paper.
And On and On through space and time, we go and we grow.
I have several new paintings in the studio this week, everything is a little messy with color on my hands over here. It feels like evidence of living.
If you’ve been watching my work for a while, you might notice more freedom in my paintings lately. That’s because I’m carving out real permission to play. The spirit of play and connection feels wildly important right now, something to grab, nurture, and grow with all your might.
It feels important like an act of revolution or evolution, a way to stay human.
Play. And radical commitment.
I’m just going to say it: contrary to popular belief, stress, anxiety, anger, overwhelm, complaining and disconnection will not help the state of the world. (Can I get an amen?)
And as always, what we see on the surface is often very different than what lies underneath. So I’ve been asking myself a few questions for a while now. They are helping me change some habits that were ready to go. Maybe they’re for you too:
How are your roots?
Are you endlessly facing outward?
Outraged by all the noise? (It’s almost impossible not to be.)
Turns out doom-scrolling is not a spiritual practice. Ha!
So how do you pull your focus back? How do you care for yourself and the creativity that makes you human? What are you actually in control of? How do you tend and respond to the unique creative energy that wants to move through you?
A few weeks ago, after a breathwork session, I was lying on the living room floor laughing and crying at the same time. If you practice breathwork, you know, it happens! But what came through was crystal clear:
I don’t control what happens.
I only control how I respond.
Where I place my attention.
How I meet what’s inside me.
I felt that truth all the way to my core.
I’ve lived with lifelong waves of anxiety and depression. My younger years held a lot of suffering. Even though I’ve been a practitioner and a teacher for years, the tools I built weren’t optional, they were necessary. Without them, I honestly don’t know if I’d still be here. I know for sure I would not be thriving.
The work that changes my life on the daily has been profound: energy work and meditation have given me the space I needed to gain permission to be the artist I am.
For me, being an artist is the next step in my spiritual evolution, but your freedom does not need to look like mine to have benefit from this work. It may be a different creative expression that is being masked by anxious thoughts, depression, overwhelm, grief, constant fixing, relentless analyzing or addiction. (Just to name a few energies that can keep us stuck.) All things that lock us out of love.
I’m sharing this because I know the struggle is real, and the path can be winding. Wherever you are, hurting or having a good day, keep going. Keep growing. Keep making the space you need to go inside and bring your magic out. It's never too late.
If you feel called, take a moment with those questions above.
Write your answers down. Sit with them.
And if any of this feels impossible… you’re still in the right place.
With love,
Jade
Take what you like, compost the rest.
New in the studio this week: "Grow Baby Grow" 14x12 Ink, oil, beeswax, gouache, acrylic on canvas.
New Guided meditations are going to be flowing your way shortly, in the mean time, I have a few babies on Insight Timer! Free for all, always growing and learning!
Get the support you need weather it's me or someone else you love as a teacher and guide.
ps, Still going strong on the scroll free living! Rooting for us! Get it? Rooting for us ...wink wink
This space is now a Newsletter space called This is a Seed for Everything! Here I will share art, meditations, energy tools, psychic stuff, and ideas for growth and peace.
It is written by my hands and brain, so forgive me, sometimes it will be filled with human mistakes. The only AI I use is to help with spelling and format, because I am not so good at the spelling and I am pretty dang dyslexic but I'm here writing my heart anyway :)
I plan to send this to you twice a month depending on the weather. This week the weather was just right to keep writing!
Love to see you stay but feel free to go!
