Finding A Mentor That Empowers You

©Bonnie Kelso & Creating Your Experience

This sounds like the perfect solution, doesn’t it? Just connect with the right person and all your problems will disappear. I mean look at all the people who have won the jackpot by getting the ear of Oprah for a moment or two. There is a catch, though, there always is. Do not be misled into believing that someone else can ever truly empower you.

The kind of empowerment that we are all really seeking, that which has the fortitude to change the world for the better, can only come from within.

Yes, there are people in the world who are incredibly influential. A person like Oprah has the power to make you suddenly be seen by a large number of people. Think of that for a moment. What would it be like to be seen this publicly? Is there anything you are not prepared to share? What is the value you place on your own privacy? What about the privacy of your loved ones? Continue reading

Is Your Creative Life Worth Fighting For?

Two Brains

How much time do you spend watching TV? This image appears on page 27 of my book Vitalize Your Creative Life. I stand by this graphic and the message it conveys. I also freely admit that I am a TV binger and lifelong TV addict. By the word “TV” I mean the effortless preoccupation of my brain by programmed sounds and videos on a screen (of any size) while the remainder of my body remains relatively inactive. In part I had no choice. I grew up with TV. I am the product of an early generation exposed to a now common type of addiction. Continue reading

3 Good Reasons For Selling Your Creations

Some people have been asking me why I have been purging my original artwork on eBay for ridiculously low starting bids. Well, I thought I would write about three good reasons why, just as I list another lovely piece of original art from my collection. World, meet “Bean.”

bean by Bonnie Kelso

Reason #1: Letting Go

I created this painting in 2008, so it’s been in my possession for nine years now. A lot has happened in nine years, and frankly, I’m ready to move forward. So, part of my purging has to do with Continue reading

Creating Desert Marigolds

desert marigoldYou can’t walk a few feet without seeing one around my neighborhood right now. Their cheerful little heads atop long thin stems bobbing joyfully like little yellow flags in the breeze. They seem to shout out to everyone who passes by, “Hey! Look at me! Wheee!” They are wild and their lives may be short, but together they have the capacity to brighten this dry desert landscape. Their very existence proves that even under the harshest of environments, there is beautiful bubbling life, just waiting for the perfect conditions in which to burst forth. Continue reading

Detachment & Your Creativity

Detachment

I taught a creativity class last week about “Detachment.” As creative beings, detachment can be difficult. We become very attached to things, possessions, people, memories from our past, our creations themselves…

What does it mean to detach? I used to feel that if I detached from something it meant that I didn’t care about it. Now I realize that when I detach, I allow the object of my attachment the freedom of independence.

Continue reading

Patiently Receiving Possibility

patiently-receiving-possibility-smThis morning I am allowing myself to sit still quietly… observing. Watchful like the owl in the night, patiently awaiting an impulse to act. Open to all possibilities, half in dream and half awake, silently shifting between the inner and outer worlds. Surrounded by an abundance of inspiration, I delight in the stillness of my own carefully cultivated patience. Continue reading

3 Creative Ways to Bring Yourself Back To Gratitude Now

Gratitude is where the heart isGratitude is not just for the month of November anymore. Gratitude is a way of living life. If I choose to embrace gratitude every day and every moment, it will transform my experience of life. Gratitude is my number one focus for this next nine-year cycle. That’s right! I’m committing to feeling gratitude for whatever may come my way through 2025. Whew! I said it out loud. I wrote it down. I shared it on my blog! It has already begun to take effect.

If you choose to embrace gratitude every day and every moment, it will transform your experience of life.

When it comes to gratitude, there is no better time than the present to start implementing its power. Here are three quick and easy ways to get started. Continue reading

Creating Tradition: Preserving Your Favorite Holiday Image

Christmas Tree Tradition

Last Christmas I was so happy to be able to leave my white Christmas tree up for the entire season! You see, last year I had a little, umm, disagreement with my new cat, Freeda. She decided that the tree was put up for her pleasure and she took great pleasure indeed from climbing it, clawing at the ornaments, chewing on the string of lights, and eventually toppling the entire thing over more than once. This all happened with in the first 24 hours of its emergence from the box. Sadly, for the safety of all concerned, I had to put the tree back in its box and enjoy Christmas without a Christmas tree. But, this year, the tree remained up. Freeda did crawl into it several times, but with more self-control and grace than before, so I considered this a healthy compromise. Continue reading

Mapping Your Next Nine-Year Cycle

Mapping The Nines

Happy New Moon! This is a special New Moon, because it is the last one in 2016, ever! This means we are given an opportunity to set a powerful new intention for not only the next lunar cycle, but also the next year and the next nine-year cycle. No pressure, right?

Recently, I’ve been exploring my past nine-year cycles. I put it in writing, too. There is an undeniable spiritual shift that occurs when you write stuff down. Suddenly thoughts will begin to creep their way into the real world. I started this exercise by writing each year 2008 – 2016. Then I wrote as much as I could remember of what happened in each year—places I went, adventures I had, people who I relied on for support, and feelings I felt. After I wrote a few sentences for each entry, I chose a theme that summed up the feeling of the year for me. For example, in 2009 I struggled with infertility issues. I themed that year Continue reading