Your life as it appears today is a direct reflection of the beliefs that have been marching around your brain. Many of these most powerful beliefs march around invisibly yet firmly ingrained in your thinking, your words, your actions or lack of actions.
Those beliefs which don't serve you may sound like one of these:
"I don't know why I bother, things never work out for me."
"No one is interested in what I have to say so why do I continue with this blog?"
"I'm a fool to think I can change anyone's life, I can't even change my own... I am such a fraud." I will raise my hand and say yes, I have bought into these exact limiting beliefs at one time or another.
The good news is, your subconscious brain is at your service. Sure, those invisible powers march around wrecking things in your life AND they are there because you created them - probably accidentally.
Now instead of those limiting beliefs keep control of your life let's start using positive phrases to replace those negatives.
Here are some simple suggestions you may try as well.
For statement number one: "While some other things may not have worked out in the past, my life now is filled with successes - just like other hugely successful people, I continue with determination and passion."
You can shorten it to, "I continue now with determination and passion."
For statement number two: "No one is interested...." to "There are people waiting to read and hear my words. Without me writing and speaking, those people will not be served. My gift to the world is through my words."
You may shorten it to, "My gift to the world is through my words."
For statement number three: "I'm a fool to think I can change...." becomes "Gandhi reminds me to 'be the change I wish to see in the world' and that's where I live, breathe, create and work."
Turn up your awareness to truly shift out of what has limited you in the past.
This is your new year. Step into it with purpose and passion.
Love this moment, your moment, right now.
=====
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Welcome to Let Your Words Flow: a Daily Quote, Prompt and Image for your Creative Inspiration.
If this is your first visit, you will want to visit our Let Your Words Flow Guide so that you will receive the most value from the life changing content you find here.
Now - on with today's inspiration
Quote:
"Freedom lies in being bold." Robert Frost
Questions: What does "freedom" mean to you personally?
Where and when has your freedom been taken from you?
What are you willing to do to increase your boldness so that you may live a life of increased freedom?
Bonus: Write for at least ten minutes on each of these questions for three days in a row. Why three days? With each day the questions and your deeper ideas will come forward to assist you in getting where you most need to go and who you most need to be now. You may want to continue writing on these themes for even longer. Celebrate your successes.
Lists:
Make a list of 5 to 10 beliefs that aren'tworking for you.
Make a list of 5 to 10 coinciding personal declarations of freedom from those 5 to 10 beliefs.
Choose one of your declarations to focus upon as a daily practice. Move through the list and continue daily for this month. If you have a writing practice, include writing your declaration repeatedly as a part of this practice.
Writing Prompts:
Freedom looks like....
Boldness looks like...
Freedom sounds like....
Boldness sounds like....
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
I heard the sound of breaking glass and then I saw two boys running away as if their lives were at risk. I noted it and when I came back to my car, I decided to investigate.
I pulled into the driveway of the house where I saw the two boys run. My headlights showed their outlines. "Excuse me..." I called out.
The smaller boy came forward.
"Oh, hi," I said, "I just heard something glass break on the corner and then I saw two boys run away to this house. Did you just break something down there?"
The wide eyed boy said, "No...."
"Are you lying?" I asked him.
"No....." he said.
"Well, if you see two boys who are running around out here, you might want to ask them to clean up whatever it was that broke. Don't want any cars to get flat tires..."
"Uh huh...." he said, still watching me as if I was nuts.
"Well, you have a happy New Year!" I said, backing out of the driveway.
The smaller boy went back to the bigger boy and they headed toward the inside of the house. I have no idea if they went to clean up the mess. I do know that that sweet little boy who I am pretty sure was lying will remember this occasion.
Earlier today I bumped into two brothers who live not far from me. Their home, for now, is an abandoned school. They used to live in a shanty town of sorts behind a local big box hardware store most people drive by without noticing. They are homeless, one is twenty-years-old and the other is twenty-four-years-old. The elder brother has schizophrenia. I am working to build a stronger relationship with him. The younger brother and I have been dear friends for a while now. I have brought them socks, sweatshirts and food countless times.
Judgement never crosses my face when I speak with them. I just show compassion and care, not a moment of patronizing. I thought after I left them this morning how the younger brother greets me with a wide smile, as if a favored auntie is paying a visit. I have stuck up for them to restaurant workers and called them my friends.
These are two very different and very similar episodes.
You know that saying, "I am not my brother's keeper"?
Well, I am both the keeper of my brothers and my sisters.
If this world is going to change for the better, we need to love one another first.
Homeless mentally ill people need friends more than anything else. Many of them are petrified of social workers and health care people, but they are happy to see friends who feed them, who talk to them, who actually care not because we are paid to care, but because we are a fellow member of the human community.
Those little boys, I didn't want them to get in trouble for what was probably an accident, I wanted them to think and to know not all adults will turn them over to other adults, but will instead call them to personal accountability and call them to consider what is right or wrong rather than smash their face in it. After all, I don't know for certain they were the ones who broke whatever broke.
Maybe brother's keeper is the wrong term for what I do. I prefer to think of myself as a brother and sister lover.
The more of us who are out there, loving our community and the people in it, the better our world will be. Especially if we do so not because we are professional social workers or therapists or missionaries, we are doing so because we love the world and one another.
You never know whose life you may be changing.
Samuel will get over his embarrassment AND he will remember chatting with homeless young men and calling some other boys to accountability.
Loving the world through loving others: this is exactly who and what I want to be doing. I know many people aren't as comfortable as I am in helping others at this level. That's fine, too.
You can be your brothers and sisters lovers in ways that you are comfortable and simultaneously challenging for you. When I befriended Garrett, the homeless younger brother, I was mumbling and complaining about people begging.
When I looked up and saw this child's face, my life changed forever. Now I can't turn away.
What about you? Whose life will you change?
=====
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Use these prompts to stretch your mind and increase your success in blogging, writing and creative thinking so that every aspect of your life will flow even better.
We offer a practical and proven method way to stay unstuck with your blogging, writing and creativity as well as increase your "out of the box" thinking.
Before you get started with your flowing words, here are some tips for getting the most out of these quotes, questions and prompts created especially for you to create compelling content of your own as well as exercise your brain to think more creatively and effectively.
Read through the quote and all of the different prompts you find in Let Your Words Flow before diving in with any particular part of the prompt itself. Some days a list might be the best place to start. On another day, a traditional prompt might work best for you. You won’t know until you read it all what resonates the most with you.
Come to Let Your Words Flow from a space of beginner’s mind. In other words, don’t read with judgment or an “I know this stuff!” filter to get in the way of your growth. If this is something you know, perhaps there is something about it you have not grown to your potential or you are not integrating fully. There are no accidents, there is only synchronicity.
There will be days when the time isn’t right for you to begin writing or creating from the prompt when you read it. This is actually an excellent space to experiment and play. Read through the prompt and then let it go and live your day as you normally would. Before you go to sleep, give yourself five to ten minutes to consider Let Your Words Flowagain and write from the words as if they are brand new to you. You will have the benefit of your subconscious mind creating throughout the day in the background. You may want to playfully experiment with this concept even on days when you DO write or create immediately fromLet Your Words Flow.
Occasionally one quote, prompt or image will stay with you. Revisit as often as you feel called. Sometimes you may want to randomly go back, even though you don't know exactly why. There are treasures for you waiting.
Remember, There are no rights and wrongs in following the prompts here. There is only you, showing up for your life and your creativity and using what inspires you to fulfill your dreams, passion and purpose. Celebrate this reality and watch yourself grow as you Let Your Words Flow.
You may also join the Facebook Group PeriWriters - we were created for the LiveStreaming Community AND as Facebook Live grows, you may find yourself streaming so.... join us whether or not you think you'll ever be a "streamer" - Prompts, Videos, Community and more....
Click the graphic to join our facebook group now -
Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: and on Periscope for writing prompt, tips and inspiration daily created to ignite your artistic rebirth.
Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in early Summer and beyond.
To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735
Check out the links above to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Are you on SnapChat?
I am to provide value for folks there mostly about writing, art and life coaching. I do my best to NEVER be boring because we know that's the worst thing for an artist to do.
To follow me -hhere is my..... SnapCode? Is that what it is called?
Today I watched the sunrise through the lace curtains covering my window.
I watched the sky turn from dark blue to a blushing pink to a torrid crimson to a fresh tangerine, then more like an orange color. I turned away for a moment to do a visual greeting of my plants and my books and my pets, all three who were gathered near by me. When I looked back, the sky had turned to an early morning blue.
No more show, no more colors – still lovely but not a multi-hued dance costume floating along the horizon.
I felt Walt, my dog, warming my feet and thought, “This is what I want. I window facing East covered with lace curtains so that I can watch the sunrise while still under the warm covers. This is what I have, this is what I want.”
I sit here writing on the last day of an old year.
I made my own yummy coffee – better than any I buy anywhere. My family wakes up around me. My pets follow me around as I take care of my morning chores.
There are no high fives of huge accomplishments or lusty standing ovations.
There are the two phoebes which have been keeping me company since it has gotten cold and the finches moved off, I’m thinking, to a more consistently warm climate.
These little miracles fill me with contentment and these little miracles are what I must sit and sip in the morning so that I remain filled with their magic throughout the day.
My coffee couldn’t be more perfect today. I hold the warm mug to my lips and drink. There is nothing I would rather be drinking. I wouldn’t rather be doing anything else besides writing these words for you.
I would call this a just right end to the year.
=====
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
It is interesting: the further away I get from taking this selfie, the more clearly I see myself on a soul level.
We had a rolicking time at Disneyland for Christmas (and Katherine's birthday) and then I decided I needed to center myself, to settle back into the creative process I love so much. I have realized playing with mixed media, books, words and images together allow me to use art as a spiritual process, even if it doesn't look like it to others observing me.
Right now I have started work on a couple projects, rather simple ones, but am just beginning.
The first image (to the right) was originally a self portrait I took back in 2008 or maybe even 2007. It was during the winter, so it could have been nearly any time in that stretch perhaps December or January.
I worked on some edits on the image and this is where I stand now.
I also played with some images - one is a photo by turn of the twentieth century photographer Gertrude Kasebier of Evelyn Nesbit, who was the original model for the Gibson Girl. The second image is of two girls from Kentucky in
Photo overlays: Gibson Girl Model, Evelyn Nesbit and two little girls from Kentucky in the 1950's
the 1950's. I love both the contrast and the connection and am now working on layering the image into a complete mixed media piece.
My theme for this year was Growth. As far as visual arts go, I have grown a lot. I have challenged myself and have also been fully committed to experimenting playfully.
I have paired down my performance schedule - which I plan to revise in 2014 - and I would like to continue my growth as I step into being bold in every aspect of my life.
So - I am curious and would love to know - -
What have you been up to creatively?
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
There are many “things” I am considering to “work on” in 2014.
I have been taking more care of my skin – finally paying attention to it, two skin cancers later.
Intellectually I know I can’t repair the damage from decades of abuse and sun-love, but at least it makes me and the skin I am in now feel more comfortable together.
This goes along with my sudden desire to focus on my physical form overall. Sorely neglected for far too long, I am feeling strong all of a sudden, as if I am remembering my ridiculous ability to lift and carry and breathe babies from my body.
Four days strutting around Disneyland and one day of recuperation and my joints feel better than they have felt in years. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to keep strutting and keep feeling better? I stretched myself out fully this morning after massaging my face and it just felt heavenly.
My spine applauded.
It is exactly a month until my birthday.
I want to celebrate with friends this year.
I need to ask a friend to plan it because if I set out to plan it myself it won’t happen (again.)
= = = = =
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
My daughters and Godson, renewing an old tradition of making refrigerator cookies
I wanted to write especially to those of you who are in your early holiday seasons following your initiation into the Griever’s Club.
It was twenty-three years ago for me.
There are those of us who have the one holiday season where it wasn’t the same anymore. We all have different circumstances, but many of our feelings are the same.
Instead of excitement, we feel a sense of dread which we attempt to hide from our loved ones which just makes the anxiety even bigger.
I remember the first Christmas after my daughter, Marlena, died.
I pretended it wasn’t Christmas.
I worked one of my three jobs. I ignored tradition. I got on with my day as a week from hell proceeded to do whatever it wanted to do.
This year we plan a family trip to Disneyland. It will be the least Christmas-y Christmas to me since that one back in 1990.
I was angry when I heard the plan which was made without consulting me.
I’ve slowly warmed up to it and have even talked about how to modify our normal rituals: we can still look at Christmas lights on Christmas eve, it will simply be in Anaheim rather than Bakersfield. We will have a tree in our hotel room, but it will be artificial and much smaller than usual. There are fewer gifts – the expensive trip is a gift itself – but there will be incredible memories for my children as one I am sure they will all remember.
It is actually a great model for dealing with an important holiday celebration after a significant loss.
Creating new traditions while remembering what was in the past is one of the best ways to get through it all. I wish I hadn’t ignored my first Christmas. I wish I hadn’t stayed away from my extended family celebration. I wish I had faced it with even the tiniest sliver of joy and simply modified some of the traditions.
This is what hindsight and a lot more experience with grief teaches you.
One tradition I have annually is to read this poem aloud, even if I am the only one listening.
We Remember Them
by Sylvan Kamens & Rabbi Jack Riemer
At the rising of the sun and at its going down We remember them. At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter We remember them. At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring We remember them. At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer We remember them. At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn We remember them. At the beginning of the year and when it ends We remember them. When we are weary and in need of strength We remember them. When we are lost and sick at heart We remember them. When we have joy we crave to share We remember them. When we have decisions that are difficult to make We remember them. When we have achievements that are based on theirs We remember them. As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now a part of us as we remember them.
= -= - =
May you feel as many blessings as possible this holiday season.
=====
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
What uphill battle did you keep fighting and fighting in 2013? Are you going to keep fighting or let it go? Why?
My biggest continuing battle is for the appropriate education for my children.
This is a battle I will never give up. I might change my strategies, but I will never stop.
That’s right, even after my children are out of the public school system, I’ve pledged to keep my finger on the pulse of whatever local educational system I am in.
It started back when my children were middle school and elementary ages. We were watching a football game of our local high school and were sitting on a hillside to watch. I loved it there: we could spread out a blanket and enjoy the game and my toddler could move around without being on bleachers which always frightened me.
In a matter of moments, a physical altercation broke out between three young women close to me. Not being one to be passive, I stepped in and broke up the fight as security plunged into the situation as well. There was one little girl whose shirt I had in my hand. She turned as if to try to get away and I said to her, “You must face this.”
Her sweet face, which hardly looked like a fighter’s face, turned to me and said, “I need to get my shoe.” I kept my hand on her shirt and the security guard said to her, “Hey, get over here!” and I responded, firmly, “She needs to get her shoe.”
When the girl turned I looked into her brown eyes and said, “Everything will turn out fine. Just face what happened and do what needs to be done. You will turn out ok.”
She nodded back at me, eyes down, and the next exchange of words changed my life forever.
The security officer asked me, “Are you her mother?”
I looked into his face and said, “No, I am not her mother.” And as soon as the words spilled from my mouth I regretted it. I was her mother. Not her biological mother, but I have a unique connection with all children whose “real” mother isn’t present. As a part of the human community, I believe we are all mothers, sisters, brothers, cousins to one another.
I remember watching the girl walk away with the security guards and the other girls and I prayed she remembered my calm, encouraging words.
I never saw her again, but that brief interaction changed my life.
When my daughter experienced some serious educational barriers at the same school some ten or so years later, for the first time ever I electively chose to move my child from one high school to another. This was not an easy decision.
This morning, before I read today’s prompt, I gazed out the window at the barren trees, leafless and waiting for winter to do her thing so that eventually Spring would appear. The children from that high school drifted into my mind. I miss those kids. They are each and all great kids. I feel sadness knowing what many of them face, including lack of compassion in some circumstances like we faced.
Most of the times these problems are not due to the teachers who are doing the absolute best they can.
This is why it is important to stay connected with the school boards and the administration so that your children’s best interests may be served, whether they are a five-minute-child-of-yours or the ones you actually bore.
“Are you her/his mother?”
Yes. I will never stop battling for the best education for all children.
= = = = =
Check the ProjectReverb folks out on Twitter @Project_reverb and with the hashtag #reverb13
=====
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
From Project Reverb: Encounters: What thing did you keep encountering this year over and over again? Was it something you learned from, or was it just a strange coincidence?
Lesson: Beauty is Everywhere
Just today I said to Emma, "I can't help it if other people can't see the lovely aesthetic inherent in shopping carts, abandoned in unique places." I paused, looking out my windshield to survey my newest shopping cart find.
I started photographing shopping carts last Spring and I have been in love ever since.
You know how it is, once you notice something in particular - like a specific sort of car - suddenly, there it is in front of you all the time!
Synchronicity -
when people show up (again and again) in your daily life
I also have a new friend who has unexpectedly popped up in different places when I had no expectation of the meeting. Synchronicity is at work all the time, whether you plan it or not. Stay aware and connect the dots and you will find glorious treats everywhere whether it be in art or in relationships or in suddenly finding tons of women's studies books at library sales.
These things are always there.
This year I have been remembering more and more.
I've been out driving today and saw some great abandoned shopping carts to photograph. I'm waiting for when the light is better.
My new friend is out of town until Sunday.
I'm sorting out and cataloguing my library during the next few week.
Weaving together the moments of synchronicity in the past year reminds me of a dance around a Maypole. In 2014, I am committed to keeping my eyes open and step into the space of synchronicity with an open heart and lots of joy.
Check the ProjectReverb folks out on Twitter @Project_reverb and with the hashtag #reverb13
=====
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
Recent Comments