Transformation and transmutation

I've been journaling about letting go. Again. All this year it seems, I've been letting go of fear; letting go of old, deep seated anxieties of not being good enough; letting go of the fear of being my true self.

But in the letting go there is always something new ready to rush in. If we let go of something we create a vacuum and a vacuum cannot exist; nature abhors a vacuum - it needs to be filled. So, my journaling is not just about the letting go, it's about the new states of my being that are flowing in to replace the old skin I am shedding, the skin that no longer fits.

As I journal on my pages, the positive energy comes in on a gentle wave. The process is one of marvellous transformation. The writing transmutes the dark feelings as fear becomes excitement, the uncertainty a knowing and the hidden emerging into the light.

This is a process which works for me every time. Sure, I need to come back to it again and again. My patterns are old and I need time to change them (and the opportunity to work on them again and again) - there are layers and layers of change to sift through. But each time I sit with my paint and pens I find that joy, I find that light.

As I write my Glorious Goddess course for 21 Secrets 2014 I have to face my dread of seeing myself on video (eek!) and hearing my own voice (meh). Connie's invitation has forced me to confront these issues of self acceptance. It's big stuff...and requires lots of journaling...

Are you transmuting some dark matter as we move towards the winter months? How are you dealing with your own transformation? Perhaps the shifts are gentle, maybe they're pretty seismic like mine :-)

Whatever is in your alchemist's crucible, let it be there, let it transform, let yourself transform dear one...

From my heart to yours
Rachel xox

ps there are two more days of my Etsy birthday sale and you can sign up for 21 Secrets 2014 here

it's my birthday! celebrate with me...

It's my birthday today and I'd like you to celebrate with me, so I'm giving a super 33% discount on everything in my Etsy shop.

Just add the coupon code BIRTHDAY at the checkout.  It's for one week only, so the offer lasts until Wednesday 23rd October.

If you see an image or painting on the website that isn't featured in the shop, please let me know and I will do my best to make a print for you.  (Unfortunately there won't be a discount on requested images.)

My paintings are also for sale - you can see these in the gallery.  Just let me know if you are interested in buying...

And I am more than happy to discuss commissions...

I hope you'll treat yourself, or maybe buy a few early Christmas pressies! (It's only 2 months away!)

In case you missed it, 21 Secrets 2014 went on sale on Monday.  And I'm so proud to be a part of the soulful teaching team!!  You can read more about it here

What an exciting week I'm having! I'm off to eat (GF) cake and drink latte...

From my heart to yours

Rachel xox

proud to be teaching on 21 Secrets 2014

YAY! I am more than excited to tell you that I am going to be teaching on 21 Secrets 2014!!!!

This is the big news I have wanted to share with you the past few weeks but couldn't until the official launch date which is today!

21 SECRETS is an annual online art journaling workshop, facilitated by Connie Hozvicka over at Dirty Footprints Studio.  It features 21 talented, passionate artists that share a different technique, approach, or method of art journaling that is special to them.  

I took part in 21 Secrets as a student in 2011 and 2012.  It opened me up to so many different teachers and so many different styles of journalling - a delicious feast of journaling!! 

And next year, I will be one of those 21 artists waiting to work with you...

There I am in the middle on the bottom row!! (Can you tell how excited I am?!)

My workshop Glorious Goddess will be one of 21 gorgeous, soulful journaling workshops which you can sign up for here

My Glorious Goddess workshop will help you to reconnect, reclaim, and release your inner goddess. Through guided meditation and some of my favorite art journaling techniques, I will guide you into creating your own Goddess pages. I have worked spiritually and creatively with the Goddess energy for many years now and my art work is about the joy I experience when I make that connection. I’d love to work with you to help you make your own connection.  Absolutely no art experience is necessary.

The workshops are not live until 1st April 2014 but the sooner you enrol, the more money you save as there are lots of early bird savings to be grabbed. To sign up, just hop over here

So looking forward to seeing you next year in 21 Secrets 2014

From my heart to yours

Rachel xox

(ps you may have noticed all the links to 21 Secrets 2014.  These use an affiliate code meaning that each teacher has their own code and receives a small reward for each sale they refer through the link)

dancing with the gremlins

Oh dearest ones - I've got something big coming up, something huge (for me), something I can't share with you yet. But what I will share is my crisis of confidence. It's a while since this happened quite this badly, but apparently it seems the bigger the challenge, the bigger the crisis. Have you found this to be so?

The gremlins are HUGE, the critic's voice so LOUD...what to do in order to step out of the paralysing fear they induce?

My favoured method to deal with the gremlins (or critics or whatever you want to call them) is the good old art journal. How did I get through my life crises before I knew art journaling?!!

There are lots of ways to do this but I like to start with a coloured paint surface and then, using a nice glittery pen, write a letter to my gremlins telling them exactly what I think of them. How dare they treat me like this? Calling me small and telling me not to get too excited, not to mention questioning my very existence!

Once I've done journaling and my gremlins have left the building I invite my goddesses in and let the page become their own.

How do you deal with your gremlins? What do you do when your critic starts whispering in you ear?

I would love to know because I might use your method next time!  Please do leave me a message below.

From my (now) positive heart to yours

Rachel xox

ps If you liked this post, don't forget to share, just click on 'share this article' to find the usual icons...

A Flower Fairy, a transition and a letting go

Today is the autumnal equinox and in my corner of the world here it involves a Flower Fairy Commission, a transition and a letting go.

This little painting is a commission.

It has a unique story, as do all painting requests. It is for my youngest son's girlfriend. They're both off to Uni today and Hannah asked if I could paint her a picture to put in her room! This came as a total surprise to me - a very lovely surprise but a bit of a shock really. You see, I had no idea that she liked my paintings. Neither she nor my son, James, have mentioned them before now. What's even more surprising is that James likes them too!! I was under the impression he thought my painting was just something a bit quirky that his mum did, nothing you shared with your girlfriend or discussed. But apparently not!!

I'm so pleased and proud and feel quite emotional about it. I also feel very honoured that this lovely young woman wants one of my paintings to adorn her wall. (and more than a little excited that a bit of goddess energy is going with them - they are both going to the same Uni)

It's been a strange time the last month, knowing that James is leaving soon. And now it's upon us. As a mother, you spend your life letting go of them - first play group, first day at nursery, first day at primary school, first sleepover, first scout camp, first day at secondary school, and more recently - the first music festival and a lads' holiday abroad.

For him, stepping onto his adult path, there's some reluctance - I want him to be excited but it's not apparent at the moment. I'm excited for him!! There will be tears, undoubtedly, but I wish him all he wants for himself; I wish him joy and lots and lots of love. 

On this day of equinox, the point of balance, when day and night are of equal length, my son and I stand poised in transition. He from childhood into his adult life and me from my being a mother with children at home and moving into my next adventure (and there is one I can assure you - details coming very soon!).

I feel as if we are both like the Fool in the Tarot, poised with one foot in the air ready to take the next step off the edge of the cliff, stepping through the portal into tomorrow not knowing what lies ahead but perfect in the knowledge that the Universe will support us, ready for adventure, ready for this new life phase. As James and I make this step of transition, I trust implicitly that we are perfectly supported as we step through the portal, perfectly supported by the abundant flow of the Universe and that only good will come rushing up to meet us as we take this next step.

Where are you today on this point of balance? Are there areas of your life that need more balance? Are you also in transition from one phase to another? Please share, I love to hear from you...

From my trusting and transitioning heart to yours

Rachel xox