Last night a friend text me to tell me that someone she knows whom I don’t, in a city in another province, has one of my paintings on her FB wall. it was shared with her by someone else I do not know.

“What a small world,” she wrote. “Your reach is wide, my friend. You inspire and influence people you have never met.”

I was grateful my friend took the time to share her thoughts with me. Her words made my heart feel light and airy.

That’s the thing about creating — I don’t create with the thought, “how will this impact others?”. I create because I must. It is a desire that rises up from the depths of my being, calling out to be expressed through art and words, (and for those who know me well), dance.

As in all things, there are gifts. The gift of knowing something I created resonates with another always fills my heart with joy. And I love a joy-filled heart!

As I contemplate the vast vistas of the road before me, I carry with me all the wonderful notes and messages people have shared with me about how my words/art have resonated with them, given them peace, a new way of seeing something, or allowed them to move through some dark moment into the light.

It is this work, this essence of being an inspiraton for others to rise up and shine, I want to carry with me as I leave where I’m at to step across the threshold into an unscripted future. A future where I am creating a life that continues to ripple out to touch peoples’ hearts, open minds and set them free to laugh and dance and spin about in a world of love, joy and harmony.

In April 2006 when I first went through the Choices  Seminars program, I remember getting to the end of the five day seminar and realizing that for much of my life I had wanted to inspire people to be their best, to let go of all the illusion they are nothing or unworthy, and to claim their magnificence.

And then, during a process at Choices, I heard people tell me how much I inspired them. How brightly I shone and how, through my sharing my light, they wanted to shine too.

Wow, I thought. People are telling me I’m doing what I’ve said I’ve always wanted to do, but I’m still lamenting not doing what I want to do in my life.

See, I had a plan.

As a little girl my plan was to be an award winning actress or a noble prize winning psychologist.

That plan didn’t turn out so well as I froze when on stage and I never did get a degree in psychology.

Because I viewed my plan as ‘failed’, I saw myself as a failure. I wasn’t doing what I set out to do in the world.

And then I discovered I was, just in a different way. Mostly by simply being me through expressing myself artfully.

What an incredible gift and awakening.

We all have plans. We all have ideas of what we think our life should be, and then, it’s something else. Something that is equally as beautiful and grand, just shimmering in a different light of possibility that we keep missing because we’re focused on the old plan we think didn’t work out.

What if this life you are living now is the plan? What if you are on your path of magnificence, it’s just you haven’t awoken to its possibilities yet?

What if, this truly is your one and only life and you are living it under the darkness of believing you are not enough?

When we look at our lives and find ourselves lacking, we risk missing the incredible gifts we bring to the world. We don’t see the impact we’ve created and the difference we make. In our belief we are not enough, we dim our light, shutter our dreams and carry on, hoping one day to get back on the path of our dreams unfolding.

We are each the star player in this journey of our lifetimes. Let’s each live it up, shine bright and illuminate the path for others to see the darkness is just an illusion created by the belief, we are not good enough.

Namaste.

And PS.  Thank you to those who comment, write on my FB wall, send me personal messages and texts about how my words and art impact you. I am deeply grateful. Thank you ASL for your loving text.