Athena Dreams Design: Breath .:. Walk .:. Listen

You know, those moments in time when you can see the positive, the inspiration, the light, but you just can't find you're way there. It's kind of gloomy and ho-hum feeling, even when standing out in the full sun.

So I go out in search of sunny spots, inviting the muse, seeking the spark, thinking my thoughts, and keep my feet moving. I have found that one of the surest ways to rise out of a funk, to beat back the blues, to pull myself out a creative rut, is put the boots on and walk. No matter the weather. No matter the mood. Just walk.

Put the one foot down, and then the other, and keep the rhythm going, keep repeating the pattern, the mantra, the chant. Fill up the lungs, clear the head, move the body, out in the open air.

I begin to hear the wind, the breeze, the birds, the sway of the trees, a rustle in the grass, the swoop of wind on sand, and the words in my head begin to quiet. Those words .:. That voice [that says I am wrong, I am silly and un-talented, a dilettante, that I am somehow, not smart enough, not loveable enough, and seriously, laughably unprepared for just about anything good that might come along]

Those words that are not about inspiration, not about forward movement, not about the light moving across the land; or the wind sweeping clean the branches; or the birds singing our own songs back to us. Those words that we create in the uncomfortable darkness and then hold onto, and at times, trust those raw un-pretty words more than our own bright spirits, our own inner knowing, our own sure footed-ness.

Breathe and walk. Breathe and walk. And listen . . . And always remember that like a cloudy day, these moments will pass, they will move on, and perhaps next time, I will get my boots on earlier, and be quicker to banish the Voice; and raise the volume on the wind, the song of the grass, the sweep and ruffle of a bird's wing against the sky, all those voices that say Yes, and Yes again.