A Blessing for Letting Go of Something You Love

After letting go of a project I adored, I wrote this blessing seeking my own comfort and I offer it here that it might be a comfort to anyone in a similar space.

May the choices we leave behind be compost for new growth.

May our doubts be held tenderly.

May the intuition and leading that encouraged us to leave carry us forward.

May we be gentle with the mourning and all that aches.

May we trust that just because we grieve doesn't mean it is the wrong decision.

May we remember with humility that we are people navigating the human experience who don't know everything.

May we release control of any plan.

May we trust that our life is being led and that the purpose of our design will be revealed.

May we continue to show up wholeheartedly to life unafraid to put ourselves out there.

May we be willing to stretch and grow in uncomfortable and unfamiliar spaces.

May we be kind with how letting go hurts.

May we be understanding when letting go awakens fear.

May we trust in the generations of spiritual teaching and wisdom that encourage us to let go anyway.

May we trust that love and wisdom will lead us forward.

May our lives become more fully integrated and authentic expressions.

May we keep going, opening to new paths unimagined.

********

(c) Bronwen Mayer Henry

First Mural

Over the years I've had many inquiries about mural work. Since I'm so passionate about working big--people often asked me, “Would you want to work really big?” With small children at home and working in the cracks of motherhood and other employment it never felt quite right. Until this year! My kids are getting older and I felt ready.

I'm thrilled with the experience and product of this creation for Fettersmill Bed and Breakfast in the breakfast nook. "Follow the Sun" a burst of sunflowers and zinnias. [New largest piece ever, 9' x 7']

If you are looking for lodging in the area (Huntingdon Valley, PA) please check out this bed and breakfast—I’m so honored to have my art featured throughout the suites as well. https://www.fettersmillbedandbreakfast.com/

Before, During and After!

It was so great to bounce between kneeling to get downlow and up on a stool to reach higher.

The finished project! Complete with tiny birds for the bird-lovers.

Introducing the Shores of Renewal Maine Collection

After an incredible trip to Maine in June 2021, I found myself captivated with this part of the country. I came home and poured myself into creations inspired by our hikes. My heart was in the spaciousness of these vistas as my brush worked away at home. I’m thrilled to share with you this new collection that speaks of hope, stillness and renewal. When we take time away from the hustle of our daily lives and settle into our breathe and body we are changed. Being with each of these paintings I find a calm comes over me. I hope you enjoy this new collection.

Creating My Largest Painting Ever "Shores of Renewal"

Friends,

I had an incredible opportunity to create a large scale painting for a non-profit in Portland, Maine. To inspire this piece I travelled with my little family north to Maine. We spent a few days North of Portland in a tiny cottage on the water (that inspired this large piece) and a few days in Acadia National Park hiking and falling in love with Maine.

While staying at a  little cottage on Harpswell peninsula, I took a paddle board out when the tide transitioned and paddled around a tiny island. I was captivated. The delight I felt with the trees and rocks, the water and sky. I couldn’t hold my smile in while snapping photos at intervals (with earnest care taken to not drop my phone in the water). This island was one of many, each one an invitation to explore and rest. When I returned to our little cottage I wrote myself the following notes:

Rest. Movement. Healing.
Every day, we are on the shores of renewal.
We are invited to live at this edge. 
Where heaven meets earth.
Where life is filled with movement, possibility, loss and beginnings.
On these shores we remember what is true about us and others, 
We remember the sacred human experience,
What we remember is beyond words.
This remembering is a deep truth that renews us.
The truth aligns and reverberates, crashing on the shore of our essence.
And we feel peace.
Not because everything is okay.
Not because we are certain how things will go.
But rather, because 
We know this moment.
Where there is movement, possibility, loss and beginnings. 
We know this moment
Where we find renewal. 

It was delightful to spend time in the studio working on this large piece. I first did many smaller explorations, that now make up the Maine Collection (launching August 25th). There was something exhilarating with this large piece. A special energy in my chest. A sense of newness and vulnerability met with groundedness and familiarity. Though the size was intimidating from afar, I found comfort and ease as I stepped into the process. (This is so often the case for me that I fear something from a distance and than find less strain when I’m in process.) 

This piece captures a sense of peace and possibility. The rocks, how old? The trees returning over generations. The water crashing on the shore--new each moment. Never the same. I find painting moving water to be a particular delight because it reminds me of the movement in my own life. So often I think my life is ‘same ol’, same ol’ and yet that is far from the truth and the ocean reminds me of this. I hope this painting will be a reminder of the energy of the coast, new beginnings, strong roots, being created anew each day. 

Introducing New Butterfly Collection

16 Original Acrylic Paintings

Playful, Colorful, Calming

"The two parts of genuine acceptance —seeing clearly and holding our experience with compassion—are interdependent.
Together, they enable us to fly and be free. " Tara Brach“

These wings are a reminder and teacher about life, presence, heartache and learning to be present in it all.

Butterflies are sacred symbols of transformation. These pieces are reminders to always pair awareness with compassion. If you pair these two, you will have more freedom. For me, there is nothing as transformative as bringing compassion to a situation.

“It is wise now and then to tune into your heart and listen for what it carries. Sometimes the simplest things effect unexpected transformation. ”

— John Donahue

.So often we respond to increased awareness in life by numbing to try to decrease awareness. We may become aware of someone else’s struggle or it can be a personal realization, "I'm in a dead end job." "I'm not going to live forever." "This relationship isn't going to make it."

Whatever it is, as you increase awareness, you have two choices. 1) Numb and attempt to decrease awareness or 2) Increase LOVE.❤️

When we come into more awareness our compulsions will alert us. They will say, "Oh my! Quick! Do something. This is uncomfortable." If we are having a compulsion (to drink/drugs/sex/overwork/social media/food/exercise etc.) that may be a sign our awareness has increased in some way.
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If in this moment of compulsion we pause, we may notice a new awareness. Then we can go back to the two choices. 1) We can numb. Sometimes it is a life-saving option, but it isn't a sustainable option. or 2) We can ramp up the LOVE. With this new awareness how can we turn up the love?
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These are the two wings of freedom, awareness AND lovingkindness. To take flight and find freedom you need both.
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This collection is a reminder to see clearly and hold with compassion all that unfolds in our lives. 🙏

"[Our Compulsions] are calls to awaken and will, if we learn how to listen, guide us into our true selves, and they will keep calling, sometimes in varied guises, until we wake up." Mary O'Malley

With Gratitue to my friend Anita Halterman for sharing many photographs of Southeaster PA butterflies that inspired these pieces.

Election Day Prayer

Turn to the Light (An Election Prayer)

May we be gracious in accepting results.
May we be kind to our neighbor who longed for a different outcome.
May we be gentle with ourselves if an outcome we dread arrives.
No matter the outcome, may we be humble in acknowledging the work still needed.

May we be slow to anger, violence, resentment.
May we nurture a sense of hope and possibility.
May we find ways to connect with our neighbors who voted differently.
No matter the outcome, may we discover ways to come together.

May we not see this moment as a time to give up on hope or love.
May we not become apathetic thinking others will do the work for us.
May we become students to new ways of being, led by lovingkindness.
No matter the outcome, may we continue to stand up against injustice.

May we drop the narrative of our separateness.
May we see no strangers, but only neighbors.
May we embrace how our humanity is bound up in one another.
No matter the outcome, may we offer loving kindness to all people.

Whatever happens.
Whatever our story.

May we not be seduced into hating our neighbor.
May we not rise into arrogance nor fall into despair.
Despite a cacophony of fear, may we hear the light calling.
No matter the outcome, may we turn towards thoughts and actions that expand that light.

May we put down any weapons aimed to harm body or spirit
May we lift up acts of humility, kindness and understanding.
May we be armed with compassion
No matter the outcome, may we be brave and bold in building bridges of connection.

May we be willing to understand ourselves and others more deeply.
May we be advocates for connection and care.
May we find ways to join together as we move forward.
No matter the outcome, may we turn to the light.

Amen.

*****

"My humanity is bound up in yours for we can only be human together. " Desmond Tutu

"You are a part of me I do not yet know." Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger

Let the Flowers Choose

I've felt an emptiness lately. Maybe you have too. I get lost in chores, go days without leaving my house, get overwhelmed by the injustices in the world, and feel empty.

It was with this feeling that I recently started this painting, and a story came to me, "The Empty Pot" by Demi, from a Chinese folktale. In this story the emperor is looking for an heir. He devises a way to find one. Amongst all the children, he says, I will "let the flowers choose" who the next leader will be. He hands out seeds and asks the children to bring back their flowers they grow the next Spring. "Whoever can show me their best in a year's time," he proclaimed, "shall succeed me to the throne!".

All the children return to their homes eager to do their best work and prove their worth. One boy, Ping, is an excellent gardener and sure he can do a wonderful job. However, his seed never grows. Though he cares for it, waters it, tends it lovingly it never bursts forth from the soil.

In the end, dejectedly he brings his empty pot back to the emperor. Meanwhile all the other children return with amazing flowers they have “grown”. The emperor looks out at all the children and calls forward the boy with the empty pot. The emperor reveals that he has cooked the seeds, none of them could grow. Ping because of his honesty will inherit the throne.

As I worked on this dahlia painting I kept this story and the phrase, "let the flowers choose" in my mind. Maybe it isn't our achievements or accomplishments that define us. Maybe showing up, empty handed, without much to say or offer is enough. Maybe we should let our lives be led by this part of us willing to say, "I am trying. I am doing my best. I don't see any results. And I'm here anyway."

May we find comfort in the sacred beauty of our empty pot moments. This canvas is far from empty, and yet the flowers speak of hidden possibility and carry a reminder to let our lives be led with vulnerability and authenticity.

"Let the Flowers Choose" (SOLD)

10.27.20

40" x 40"

(c) Bronwen Mayer Henry

See other original FLOWER paintings available.

Introducing the Awaken Peace Collection

15 Original Acrylic Paintings

BOLD, VIBRANT, UPLIFTING, PLAYFUL, COLORFUL

“Only spread a fern front over a person’s head and worldy cares are cast out
and freedom and beauty and peace come in.” John Muir

Canvases joyfully and thoughtfully created with infusions of hope, prayer and possibility.

“This collection is inspired by the woods. The gentle ferns that emerge amongst the shadows touched by fragments of light. A variety of styles and textures emerged as I worked amongst the gaps of motherhood. Each brush stroke invokes peace, hope, and possibility. ”

— Bronwen Mayer Henry

A Prayer for Chaotic Times (or the Spin with Me Prayer)

A Prayer for Chaotic Days

My time is chopped into pieces. I’m needed here and then there. My roles and responsibilities are woven together, back and forth between personal joys and demands and professional opportunities and obligations. I am weary, disoriented and struggling to juggle it all.

I’m not sure how to simplify my life. The only thing that seems to help is when I breathe and put my focus on the Divine. When I do this I am like a dancer with an eye on one focal point, I spin and yet do not become dizzy. Like the moon that travels with the earth we are both racing through the universe with speed and yet there is a feeling of stillness and connection because we spin together.

For the moment, I have given up hope to stop the spinning, and so I offer this prayer.

Loving God,

Who made the universe and all its movement. You guide the path of celestial bodies, planets moving through space thousands of miles an hour, surely you guide my singular little life hurling through responsibilities. Hear my prayer, be here with me, spin with me.

May I look to you to find a way through.
May my efforts be centered in love.

May I pause before showing up for my calls to motherhood and employment, and give myself one, two, even six generous breaths to transition.
May I remember the blessing of being alive.

May I soak in the tender beauty of children gaining independence.
May I feel present to the deep honor to be a guide, chauffeur, companion along the way.

May my mind be agile, flexible, graceful as I step from one role to the next.
May I arrive at each moment with a sense of being carried and led. 

May I bring attention and care to whatever/whoever is immediately before me.
May I trust that what does not have my attention is okay without me, that you are working intimately in the lives of others just as you work in my own.

May I be kind to myself about it all, do my best and then not belabor myself with self-doubt, self-criticism, self-loathing.
May I stop resisting and embrace this life before me.

May I release harsh questioning that attempts to investigate my worth on a datasheet of productivity unrelated to the true goals of my life. 
May I stop striving to prove my worth through external achievement.

May I be brave to navigate the disappointment of others and not count that as a personal failure of mine, but rather the simple limits of a body moving through time and space.
May I hold on to you as I spin Lord. Spin with me.

If it is your will that I slow down and change my path, hold my hand and show me how that is done.

I am open to changing this way of being and yet feeling like a failure for not knowing how to change does not seem to be the way.

Spin with me, Lord. Reveal to me the place that is still while spinning. Hold my hand. Put your other hand on the small of my back as we move through it all together. 

Amen.

Why is This So Hard?

"Why is this so hard?"
I ask myself regularly.
I have shelter, food, employment, my family is healthy this moment.
People are suffering more right now and have suffered more through time.
.
And still it feels like I'm moving through mud.
Nagging thoughts buzz around me as I squelch through my morning routine, "Do more." "Chin up." "Get going." "It's not that bad.' "Pull it together."
I swat at them, just wishing I could lie down.
But also afraid I might not get back up.

It seems quarantine and general angst of global suffering is enough to get this empath down. And then there is all the non-COVID related suffering.

There isn't enough time in the day to wail for all that is broken and aching. Is routine sacrilege?

I put my apron on this morning not out of motivation or inspiration. I put it on lost in the mystery of the movement of life. A new day. A new week. Some moments so familiar. Some moments new in beauty. Some moments exquisitely painful. I hope that showing up will help me find my way.

#quarantinelife #quarantinestories #keepgoing #showup #doitfortheprocess

Include Everyone (a prayer)

Many are struggling in this time. I have found myself with my thoughts and compassion for people on the front lines. This includes the healthcare workers and grocery workers we often here about and there are so many who are vulnerable on different kinds of front lines. My prayer today is to stretch and include the many varied experiences and struggles.

A Prayer for Those on the Front Lines 🙏

For the healthcare workers,
The front lines of exposure and stress

For grocery workers and delivery persons,
The front lines of risk and demand.

For those who care for others,
The front lines of compassion (and physical) fatigue

For those who are jobless,
The front lines of loss of identity and financial distress.

For those who are in prison,
The front lines of neglect and isolation.

For those with small children,
The front lines of overwhelm.

For those living alone,
The front lines of loneliness.

For those who are do not have homes,
The front lines of vulnerability.

For those who are teachers,
The front lines of innovation and exhaustion.

For those unsafe in their homes,
The front lines of fear and violence.

For those facing depression,
The front lines of inner darkness.

For those who are sick,
The front lines of pain, discomfort, and facing mortality.

For those newly in recovery,
The front lines of perseverance and staying clean.

For those newly grieving,
The front lines of navigating loss without community.

There are many front lines. More than named here.

May we extend kindness to all.

For anyone on the front lines,of fear, despair, overwhelm, fatigue

May you know that you matter, you are seen, you are brave, you are appreciated.
May you find inner peace amongst the chaos (or solitude)
May you be protected from suffering.
May you be courageous in reaching for and accepting help in new forms.
May you know you are connected to all near and far, seen and unseen, known and unknown.

Amen.

Loneliness & Belonging (a prayer)

I'm sending out some love and a prayer (below) for anyone feeling lonely.

Last night a loved one shared with me her loneliness.
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Thinking of this loneliness woke me before the sun, before the birds. 🐦
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It is Monday morning.
Another week to
face uncertainty
release fears
navigate zoom meetings
attempt remote learning
feel overwhelmed
feel underwhelmed
clean as an anti-anxiety med
compel myself to exercise alone
make (sometimes unfulfilling) efforts at connection
check in from a social distance on loved ones
and deal with this ache in my belly that might be loneliness, might be fear, or might just be heightened awareness of our shared vulnerability.
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I keep painting.
And a quiet prayer tumbles around in my heart.

A Prayer for Each of Us Experiencing Loneliness 🙏

May we breathe
May we be courageous to feel the breadth and depth of our loneliness
May we be gentle with the ache
May we be curious with the origins of this discomfort

May we trace the root of this feeling back
to our connection with all humanity
May we remember those known and unknown
who share this ache

May we stretch into the ways this ache is born of something beautiful
our true belonging.
May we feel that belonging
beyond appearance of separation.

May we feel that true belonging ready to
catch us
wrap us
swaddle us
rock us
back to a place of rest and ease.

May we fall into a love that holds us
without our needing to see or know or believe it at all.
May we rest in a spacious belonging
like earth held in rotation of the sun

No visible attachment
Appearing separate
And yet in constant relationship and bond.
Amen.
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Daffodil painting pictured, "Belonging" (c) Bronwen Mayer Henry 30" x 40" AVAILABLE

#meditation #quarantine #lonely #loneliness #meditation #bronwenmayerhenry #prayer #hope #findinghope #shadows #artistherapy #creativityheals #mondaymotivation #resilience

Love Anyway (a poem)

Here is a reading of the poem Love Anyway, in the final pages of my book, Radioactive Painting.

Love Anyway
(Written in isolation, June 15th, 2013)

You are afraid.
Love anyway.
You are alone.
Love anyway.
You don’t know how things will turn out.
Love anyway.
There is no burden:--financial, health, future or past--so great that you can’t
Love anyway.
No burden is lightened by your fear or worry.
Love anyway.
No relationship is healed by anger, resentment, withdrawal.
Love anyway.
You are not sure what to do or say.
Love anyway.
Even here—in this place of distress.
Even now—in this time of uncertainty.
You, my friend, you are being called to
Love anyway.

Painting a Stream

I am painting a stream.
It is calming.
Lots of big marks.
Connecting threads of color.
The layers.

Then the little pops.
I move through the piece, looking where there is too much order.
Then try to bring in more asymmetry.

Isn't that amazing?
There is no tidiness in nature.
Unspeakable beauty and calm, yes.
Evenness and precise symmetry. No.
That is only in my imagination.

I resist the phrase,"God has a plan.
"Does nature have a plan?

Or is it more that whatever happens,
Nature will keep flowing, moving, growing, beginning again.
That feels more like the Divine love I know.

Not that it is all figured out.
But that we are all being carried.
By love.

Whenever fear clenches,loneliness, job loss, identity loss, overwhelm, fear, financial strain, illness, death.
Any of these fear-clenching experiences
Can be bathed in love
Brought to the stream.

What is required to get there?
Breath.
It might take longer than it used to.

That is okay.
We seem to have a lot of time on our hands.
Wait for it.
It will come.

Softening at the edge.
Keep breathing.
Into the shadows.
Into the clench.
Into the fear.
Wait for the softening.

Creativity a Peptalk

Friends, many of us are struggling to step into creative practices that have helped us in the past. I get it. I'm there with you. Here is a creative pep-talk I wrote for each of us.

Creativity Reclaimed: a pep talk for anyone struggling to (re)turn to creativity.

Creativity does not bring me a sense of purpose.
Creativity does not bring me meaning.
It does not fill the emptiness.
It does not tidy it all up and make it better.

Creativity helps me to be present with the emptiness.
Creativity helps me to feel the pain
It helps me to acknowledge the discomfort.
It helps me to stay.

Creativity is the opposite of numbing
Creativity is the opposite of running away
Creativity is the opposite of making myself busy.

Creativity is a radical act of kindness,
Creativity invites me to breathe more deeply.

Creativity does not wisk away my fears and worries.
It helps me to see that what I am feeling is fear.

Creativity helps me to remember the pain and suffering of others
It helps me to get lost in a sea of compassion
Rather than drown in a swamp of fear escalating news updates and what ifs.

It is my oxygen mask
A tool to restore well being so I can move in the world.

If it also has an outcome of some beauty others can enjoy.
That is an unexpected bonus.
But not the goal.

So let go of that bonus
and open to the true gift of creativity.
Open to creativity as a zen master.

Teaching you to breathe
Teaching you to go places that scare you
teaching you to let your increased awareness be held with love.

It doesn't matter if it is a brush, a guitar, a meditation cushion, gardening, dance or writing.
Maybe this list has just brought on anxiety.

Let yourself be still. Step outside. Look out the window. Examine one bug, one flower, one cloud. Immerse yourself in the creative movement of the universe.

(Virtual) Book Launch Parting | A Reading & A Practice for Challenging Times

Friends, today is book launch party day! Of course that isn't happening...but I wanted to share with you a reading from my new book, Radioactive Painting. I hope you enjoy. Please watch to the end where I share an offering for this very time. We are all connected. May you feel that deeply.

Thank you for ordering my book, I'd love to hear from you about your experience reading it. Available at amazon.com and Shanti Arts (and other places books are sold).

Hello, it's Book Release Day (!!!)

(plus how you can help support the launch of Radioactive Painting.)

My heart is officially on my sleeve with this new offering, Radioactive Painting has been released into the big wide world. (Cue confetti and knees shaking).

My new book is available to order on Amazon and through Shanti Arts. (Please keep scrolling and you'll see some ways you can help celebrate.)

I didn’t realize how tricky this last phase of creating a book would be. Writing this book was such a heart offering, editing phase took all the focus and persistence I could muster, the querying phase took the meaning of resilience to a new level, and then the delight of finding a publisher and now here it is and I'm filled with gratitude, awe, and if I’m being honest substantial dose of nervous energy.

I'm proud of Radioactive Painting. It is part memoir, but it is also an exploration of hope, possibility and joy. As some of you may know, I had Thyroid Cancer and the treatment was part of my wake up call to more love, joy and creativity in my life. To my amazement, this book is arriving exactly seven years from the time that I was diagnosed. How can that be? It is a full circle moment (stay tuned because I have a new collection coming out that will celebrate this full circle-ness-wink wink).

I am so grateful to so many people witnessing, encouraging, and helping me to make this offering. I was beyond ecstatic when Dan Gottlieb offered a foreword for the book. Here is an excerpt,

"This book is about Bronwen Mayer Henry, a deeply spiritual woman who opens her heart to her readers as an act of love and as prayer. Bronwen’s prayers are of selfless gratitude and a fervent wish for the welfare of her readers and beyond. As a matter fact, this whole book is a prayer as is her poetry and her soulful art. This is a love story. Bronwen’s love for life, her love for God, her love for art and poetry, and her love and compassion for herself. And by the way, this book is an act of love for you, the reader."
—Dr. Dan Gottlieb, psychologist, author, and former long-time host of Voices in the Family, a radio show on Philadelphia’s NPR affiliate WHYY

Now available at:

• Shanti Arts

• Amazon.com

• Barnes and Noble 

• Independent Bookstores 

How to Help Me Celebrate Today

I would LOVE your support and help for this book's release.

If you’d like to help promote or spread the word about Radioactive Painting here’s how:

Buy the book!  (Ha! Bold and direct Request!) (scroll up for links).

Review it: After you read the book, please post a review. (The Amazon reviews are a big deal in particular.)

Spread the word on social media! Post about the book release party or share quotes from the book on Facebook or Instagram.  Tag it with #radioactivepainting or #bronwenmayerhenry so that I can see it too.

Gather a few friends for a book club or discussion group.

Follow me on Facebook, or Instagram and keep an eye out for the news about the book.  If you comment or like those statuses, then more people will see them. Please share/comment/like!

Buy a copy or two for your family and friends as gifts.

Ask your local bookstore to stock it. 

Ask your local library to stock it. I adore the library and regularly make requests of books I hope they’ll add to inventory and to my surprise and delight—they do!

Thank you for your support and help and for believing in this book. And in me.

Okay, I will go lie down now.

Book Launch Party!

Come and celebrate with local artist and new author Bronwen Mayer Henry for the release of her debut book, "Radioactive Painting.” Bronwen will talk about her path stepping into creativity and share new work and inspiration.

This will be a special time including a talk, book signing, a brand new collection displayed, a raffle, and cake! Books, paintings, and stationary cards will be available for sale.

Buy a book at the launch party--and your name will be entered into a drawing to win a painting! 

Bring a friend! All welcome.

Details: Friday March 20th, 7-9pm at BeWell Huntingdon Valley Event Space (2651 Huntingdon Pike, Huntingdon Valley 19006)

Radioactive Painting Arriving February 25th!

What if the very thing you are stressing over this very minute was part of a path to profound freedom and joy?

Friends, I'm profoundly humbled and bubbling with excitement to share my story of discovering more joy and freedom in my forthcoming book, Radioactive Painting, which will be available to order on February 25th.
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To my complete awe, this is precisely seven years from my diagnosis with Thyroid Cancer. How does such a full circle moment happen? 
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Mark Nepo says, "Whatever opens us is never as important as what it opens."

For me my wake up call to more love, compassion, freedom and joy was heard with Thyroid Cancer. For you it might be a lost job, a lost relationship, losing a loved one, or something else. The truth is every moment of every moment there is a force calling us to awaken to love. And whatever the reason, big or small, that we finally do wake up--is beautiful and to be celebrated.
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I have poured my heart into this story. I have attempted to convey the beautiful messages that arrived as I faced my fears with a brush in hand. I'm grateful to Shanti Arts publishing this work, believing in my story, and putting together a beautiful book (It's in full color people!). Radioactive Painting includes my story, my prayers, my paintings, and ultimately it is written as a prayer for each of us.
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In an interview with an author, Oprah Winfrey remarked, "writers write the books they need to read." This is 100% true for me. I have not mastered all the lessons of this book. I'm living into them. I wrote this book for myself as much as I wrote it for you. I wanted to remember the lessons. Life is lived in a spiral. We revisit the same themes again and again. Sometimes from a higher place, and if we are real, sometimes from a lower place. I get that. And I offer this story anyway, my imperfect, vulnerable aspirational offering to you.
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It is my fervent hope and prayer that it brings a spark of hope, joy and possibility to anyone who reads it. 
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#radioactivepainting #bookrelease #shantiarts #transformation #inspiration #artistswhowrite #writerswhopaint #marknepo #oprah #vulnerability