JoDee Luna's Blog, page 6

The Holy Calling to be a Writer

I open waymaker and caress the pages. 

I begin to read, and Ann’s words resonate through my soul:

“When everything stills, you can see your reflection, see into the depths of your soul, see the contours of things.”

Ann Voskamp

Her words still my angst, calm the turmoil of doubt. 

“This is why I want to publish more books,” I sigh. “So, others can hold hope in two hands.” 

Refrain from the Identical: Insights and Inspiration for Creative Eclectics

I continue to read: 

“The only way to know the way you’re about, is to so intimately know God that you see yourself as God sees you.”

Ann Voskamp

Ann’s insights cause me to question. 

Does God see me as a writer? I wonder for the thousandth time. 

If so, then I must first and foremost write for an audience of One, the Creator of all that is pure and lovely and hopeful.

If I don’t get this right, I muse, then why does all the writing for others matter?

“In stillness, there can be attentiveness beyond our own questioning of God, to the questions God is asking us.” 

Ann Voskamp

I stop reading and ask the Lord, “What questions are you asking me?”

“Why do you doubt me?” The question haunts.

“Why do you doubt this holy calling?” 

I linger in a state of suspended grace, grace that waits for my full participation to move forward.

Grace that promises inspiration

encouragement

hope. 

I must choose to embrace the reality that being a writer doesn’t promise being well known.

To be a writer only promises to be known by the most important Writer who crafted the creation with the Word:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:1-3

So, today I renew my promise to pen words onto journal pages. Words, perhaps, only my Creator will care to read. 

I watch the dancing candles on the coffee table in front of where I write and feel peace fill my soul. 

“Today, I am a writer,” The declaration calms my questions, doubts, deliberations.

Today, I purpose to craft encouragement that will, one day, find its way onto soft pages others can caress.  

Pages writers will draw strength from as they pursue this holy calling.

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Enjoy Life’s Simple Pleasures!

I opened the door to see this adorable, little pig-tailed girl smiling at me, backpack on her back and arms folded. 

We spent the day at Peltzer Winery’s Pumpkin Farm in Temecula.

No, I didn’t get any social media posts done.

No, I didn’t work on my painting.

No, I didn’t edit my manuscript or design that new web page or any number of tasks I’d set out to do. 

I enjoyed two people who are precious to me and was reminded of what’s most important in life:

Spending time with the ones you love.

Inspecting pumpkins to find just the right one.

Seeing life through the eyes of a child.

The longing to ride a pony.

Admiring sunflowers sparkling in the sun.

Tractors and pumpkins, cuddles and hugs.

I don’t ever want to forget this feeling…

slowing down and enjoying life’s little pleasures!

Cocoon yourself to Create

Sometimes life circumstances set us aside, and we find ourselves holed up at home:

Caring for the sickHelping familyBattling illnessManaging home-improvement projects________ (insert your reason here)

Our normal running around turns into staying put.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how what cocoons us also creates opportunities for art. 

“Chrysalis” by JoDee Luna

It’s human to struggle with the restraints; but if we lean into the obstacles, we can use the time to pursue making something new.

Right now, my husband is home recovering from surgery, so I’ve decided to prime my next canvas for a new painting. I’ve painted one eye of my mermaid I’ve titled, Release. She embodies my desire to push forward in the many creative ventures calling to me.

This time of cocooning is helping me to slow down and create. I’m writing, creating social media posts, and allowing my imagination to run wild.

As fall heads into winter, I want the leaves of my creative life to transform into brilliant colors. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lynnette (@lynnetteshomesweethome)

The artwork is from my friend, Lynnette, who’s pursuing her art while taking care of her aging aunt. The watercolors she’s painting delight. She’s making the most of a challenging season by becoming the artist that’s surprising even her. 

Here are a few of her treasures:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lynnette (@lynnetteshomesweethome)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lynnette (@lynnetteshomesweethome)

Self-Imposed Cocooning:

Sometimes we choose to take a break from our busy lives. My daughter, Elya, is cocooning herself:

She’s decided to take a sabbatical from her career to spend more time with her children, develop her writing, and pursue her art. She’s writing a new novel, creating artwork for a children’s book, and starting a new business selling her calligraphy: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elya Moline (@elya_moline_calligraphy)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elya Moline (@elya_moline_calligraphy)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elya Moline (@elya_moline_calligraphy)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elya Moline (@elya_moline_calligraphy)

Sea glass place holders created for a wedding.

Here’s some more posts about cocooning that might get you in the mood to embrace a season of settled:

Seasons of Silence

Full Wings for Full Flight

Enclosures

The Great Affair Mixed Media by JoDee Luna

The Great Affair is a mixed media portrait that encourages adventure and travel.

I created the feature video above and was moved by a comment left on my Instagram post:

So beautiful! It made me think about the way we, as artists, can travel far, all around the world even, through books and creating from the muse in our mind.

https://www.instagram.com/jenny_bilskie_smith/

Jenny made a connection between the painting and the role of us artists and writers. Her insights got me thinking about the way creativity expands our adventurous natures. How we can take others to places they may never get to visit in person through our creative works.

The background paper of The Great Affair is made from family travel photos from around the world.

Thanks Elya and Chad!

The quote by travel writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, imparts the essence of the piece:

“I travel not to go anywhere but to go. I travel for travel sake. The great affair is to move.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

Painting by Elya Moline

If you’re an adventure lover moved by this painting, reproductions of The Great Affair are available on my Fine Art America Shop.

Decluttering for New Beginnings

Often the compulsion to clean out precedes new beginnings. 

Do you find yourself annoyed with your clutter?

Disappointed with your decorations?

Bored with your art form?

The compulsion to clean out is a sign of personal growth to come.

We must make room for the new; whether in our homes, garages, creative spaces, minds, hearts, or souls.

We purge to purify.

Declutter to redesign.

Empty out to embrace.

My husband and I are on a cleaning out/redesigning bender. Clutter started to consume. Outdated home décor bored. We found ourselves longing for more space in closets, cupboards, and garage. We wanted a new look. 

My art room needed a thorough purging as well. Supplies from creative days gone by no longer called to me. They’d been stored for years and still unused. 

The hours, days, and weeks of cleaning out have been grueling. The mess spread out across tables and floors overwhelms. The sorting seems endless and even sorrowful because our minds attach memories to objects. 

My sister describes this process of getting rid of things as a “walk down memory lane. You reminisce the memories attached to the object. You ask yourself, ‘Do I want to move in a different direction?’ If the answer is yes, you put the item in the give-away box.”

Gina’s helping me to process letting go of my possessions. I moaned, “It’s hard to get rid of my Schools Attuned materials from my teaching days because they offer such incredible resources for struggling students.” 

Her answer calmed my angst: “It’s ok to have a box of items you’re undecided about. Set it aside for now, but don’t let it derail your momentum.” 

As I purge my possessions, the thought occurs: What kind of creative do I want to be moving forward? 

I don’t know the answer to that yet, but I’m making room for when the answer comes.

Are you a crossover creative?

Are you passionate about your art form; and yet, have another one calling to you?

If so, you might be a crossover creative.

Crossover  A point or place of crossing from one side to the other.The process of achieving success in a different field or style.

Perhaps you’re a writer who longs to dabble in watercolors.

Maybe you’re a watercolor artist who longs to write.

Or you could be a musician who wants to dance.

I call us multiple-faceted types, crossover creatives. 

Just because you might not have mastered a second art form doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dabble just for the enjoyment! 

Here’s some hinderances and helps:

Perfectionism: The enemy of art. The push to be perfect paralyzes. Growth is the goal not perfection. Try a new art form even if the results end up disappointing.

Time: Your primary art form might feel all-consuming, so the idea of dabbling in another discourages exploration. You can devote more time to your mainline while trying something new a little at a time. 

Instruction: Learning can occur in bite-size chunks and not only in full-length courses. Start small with YouTube videos that demonstrate the process. This is how I learned to paint portraits. I focused on one aspect of the face at a time and watched YouTube instructional videos by other portrait artists. 

JoDee’s YouTube Channel

Return to a former art love: Did you paint in the past? Sculpt? Garden? Write? What artistic love did you leave behind that you feel tugging at you to try again?

I often hear creatives mention former artistic exploration with a sigh, “I used to paint as a child and loved it. I don’t know why I can’t seem to pursue it again.”

“I want to write again. Writing helped me to process my pain.”

My classical guitar haunts me from the corner of my art room. I took folk and classical lessons as a middle schooler, wrote songs, and played my songs as a young adult, and then let my guitar gather dust. Why? I’ve got a dozen different excuses, but if I’m honest, perfectionism is the culprit. I want to be better than I am with very little practice. 

My neglected guitar!

Lack of motivation: The tug is there but during the day-to-day, you feel unmotivated. Perhaps this new art form is not right for you right now. Set the desire aside and see whether it gains momentum in your soul. Not everything that appeals to our artistic interests is right during busy seasons of life. 

Seasons of the Soul available on my Fine Art America Store

If you find yourself pulled in multiple-artistic directions, you also might be a creative eclectic:

“We are artistic types who thrive on sampling many art forms not as a living but as a lifestyle… We dabble in multiple mediums, thriving on a little bit of this and that…”

“The creative eclectic must learn that flowing within the currents of creativity means moving with emerging desires.” 

If you’re interested in reading more about this tendency towards multiplicity, check out Refrain from the Identical: Insights and Inspiration for Creative Eclectics.

Confessions of an Aspiring Artistic Entrepreneur

What is the deeper need? The pull that pushes past being an artist or writer or content creator or business owner. The longing to build something of lasting value, human benefit, eternal significance. 

This desire to delve into developing never departs for the artistic entrepreneur. I don’t fully understand it. In fact, I’m far from figuring “it” out. All I know is “it” continues. 

I pass through project after project and platform after platform, creating, building, establishing, only to end up disappointed with the results in the end. I have a hard time hanging my hat on something I think is significant, even when I’m successful. The internal itch continues to agitate, propelling to pursue more and more possibilities. 

Sometimes I long to be like others that seem satisfied with just creating for the sheer pleasure of making something. I wonder, why do I have this unsatisfied drive inside to monetize what I make?

The urban dictionary defines entrepreneurism as “…someone who’s restless until his or her vision, plans, and ideas are monetized.”

Wow!

Is that really me? I wonder.

“Is it more about monetization than I’ve realized?” I ask myself.

But then again, I argue, it’s not as if I need the money, so it’s got to be something more, something deeper.

Perhaps I’ve believed the lie that monetization = success.

If you sell your art, you’re an artist.If you sell your writing, you’re an author.If you sell your digital designs, you’re a content creator.If you sell your goods and services, you’re a business owner.

I’m not saying making money from creativity is wrong. Far from it! But if we creatives set our sights on monetization as the end game, it robs us of the joy creating in the here and now brings. Sometimes we need to create just because it’s beautiful!

Recently, a former colleague left encouraging comments after a Facebook post that featured my book:

rAvailable on Amazon: Refrain from the Identical: Insights and Inspiration for Creative Elects

“So loved that REFRAIN from the IDENTICAL concept when I heard it from you y-e-a-r-s ago. Warms my heart to see you continue in an artful world. It is yours!

“You inspired a great many of us!”

Candy Rodio’s encouragement realigned my thinking: I’ve got to find a way to pursue my entrepreneurial bent without equating success with monetizing my creations.

I determined: when art or books or graphic designs or whiteboard animation videos sell well, I will celebrate.

But if they don’t, I will still create and encourage others to create. There’s definitely eternal value in that! 

So, if you’re a creative hung up on monetization = success, I encourage you to view your artistic ventures through a different lens. Look back through social media or email comments and find significance in the appreciation people expressed. I guarantee, there are many that are thankful you brought your creations into the world. 

It isn’t all about money. It’s about the desire to fuel the soul!

10 Best Practices for Balance

Are there any other creatives out there who struggle with balance? I sure do!

I imagine my efforts to hold onto all that I love as if they are balloons tied to strings that I’m grasping:

I found this reflection in my book, Refrain from the Identical: Insights and Inspiration for Creative Eclectics, and thought it was so applicable for this post about balance. I give 10 tips for finding balance in our artistic pursuits, but these best practices could apply to anything we are trying to add to our already full lives. (I added some photos for interest).

The Fine Art of Plate Twirling

            Have you ever felt like one of those plate twirlers at the circus? You know the trick: you get one plate spinning and then add another one until several are moving simultaneously. This is often the way us creative eclectics approach life. We cannot resist just one more interesting project, so we hoist it up in the air on top of another stick. Unfortunately, limited time and experience inevitably cause some of our ingenious creations to come crashing down. We lose perspective and have to pick up the pieces once again. 

            I have practiced the fine art of plate twirling over an entire lifetime. My brilliant teacher, Mom, twirled multiple interests and taught my sister and me to do the same. So in reminiscing the “how to’s” of this art form, I have come up with some helpful hints:

1. Accept mediocrity. Ouch! That will not go down well with those creative eclectic perfectionists out there but hear me out before you respond. The very nature of multiple twirling means you must be gentle with yourself when the product is substandard according to your critical assessment. Maintain a playful attitude—at least for some creative endeavors. Over time, it will become clearer which endeavors need your inner “grown up” to kick in with some discipline.

2. Know when to toss a dish (project) aside. Often what we start ends up not as we intended. For example, my daughter Andy and I recently decided to take a break from a five-year commitment of co-leading one of my school’s performing arts groups. A decline in commitment from the youth began to wear us down and we started dreading the practices. One day I heard one excuse too many and said, “That’s enough!” Remember the importance of play.  See Hint #10.

3. Although it’s ok to be a creative coach potato occasionally, try to get up and pursue something you think you might enjoy. Every time I watch “Dancing with the Stars” or “So you Think you Can Dance?” I get starry-eyed and want to dance again. Recently, Andy recruited me for a jazz/swing dance, and we have been rehearsing. Yikes! I get winded easily, teeter due to my equilibrium being off, and cannot get past looking at my fat thighs in the dance studio mirror. This experience is helping me to have more realistic dance expectations. Yet even though the rehearsals prove challenging, I’m proud of myself for having at least tried.

I can’t believe I thought I had fat thighs back then.

4. Only twirl what you cannot imagine living without. Although I pine over dozens of artistic delights, I cannot live without writing, blogging, photography, photo editing, and sketching. These are the main plates I will always keep spinning. 

5. Just because a plate falls and breaks into pieces doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t gather those pieces and glue them together. My first book about creativity meets this criterion. My sister, Gina, and I are in the process of a major overhaul edit, slash, and reorganize. I doubt the finished product will look anything like the original. 

6. Create a lifestyle model of plate twirling that works for you. Each of us has unique life demands that necessitate being flexible. I try to figure out how to fit all of my loves into a twenty-four-hour period (and still sleep) through a process of trial and error. A lifestyle model slowly formed that works for me. For example, I can write in the morning when refreshed. Editing happens during uninterrupted Saturdays. Evenings are great for photo editing and blogging while enjoying my creative coach potato prerogative. Vacations and long summer breaks lend to art exploration. 

7. Accept and defend your tendency to push multiple projects forward. My husband and I go round and round about this. He is convinced I’m not focusing on getting my first book finished with all the blogging. I see how they fit together and can envision the entire process. He cringes when I talk about starting one more manuscript. I give myself the leeway to have many open-ended projects. Yet even though my inner artist child enjoys some “free play” time, eventually the grown-up needs to tell that kid to come inside and finish the manuscript!

8. Be selective in sharing your plate twirling. Left-brained, sequential people will think you’ve lost your mind. In contrast, other right-brained, scattered creative eclectics will encourage you. And balance resides somewhere in the middle of both perspectives.

9. Resist the cultural pulls towards fame and fortune. We live in a worldview dominated by these prerequisites for stamping something worthy. 

10. Resist the pressure to perform. As soon as I feel like a project must be perfect, my interest wanes. I notice that children create for the very enjoyment of the experience. They do not think, “This has got to be perfect!”

Exercise: Take some time to sort through your creative plates. Mentally place them in different categories: those to keep, those to develop, and those to toss. If a plate provokes feelings of dread, it may just be the right time to stop twirling that particular artistic pursuit. You can always pick it up again at a later time. 

The Feral Cat of Inspiration

Inspiration is like a feral cat.
It stalks around in the shadows.
You never know when it will grace you with its presence.

When you’re trying to catch it,
inspiration slithers away.
But when you give up the chase,
inspiration comes and finds you
when you least expect it to.

It’s a waiting game.
An idea starts to form in the mind,
often faint and undefined,
but then grows in clarity.

What serves as the muse remains a mystery.

Tiny paws land lightly on the mind’s fence.

There is a tabby cat that graces our garden. I know she’s a she because my granddaughter heard her kittens and rushed into the house shouting, “Grandma, there’s kittens in your garden!”

“What?” I answered back quite perplexed.

“Come and see,” she coaxed.

We went outside and she pointed to something moving behind the roses. Yep, there were three kittens trotting along playfully without a care in the world.

The tabby cat had only annoyed me until the kitten discovery. She’d repeatedly triggered our ring camera at around 2:00 am every morning while walking across the patio. I saw little purpose for her unexplained visits except, perhaps, to ward off unwanted rodents.

But three little kittens that delighted my granddaughter…well, she’d just earned her right to be there, in my mind.

Inspiration is like this tabby cat. It doesn’t live in our homes or gardens. We have no rights to its unexplained visits. It is a gift from our Creator, plainly and simply.

If we chase inspiration to market her wares, we’d might as well chase tabby cats in the night. Both are illusive: too fast, too fleeting, too unpredictable.

It’s a waiting game. You pray for ideas to grace, those unexpected night visits or sleuth garden stalkings during the day, but then you wait.

I’m trying to get this right; to live for the Creator instead of chasing the illusive, feral cat of inspiration. And just when I think the mental fences will drive me to madness, inspiration parades across the top, and I feel creative once again.

The Blessing

I carry the blessing in my writing journal, tucked inside the front cover like a hidden treasure map. 

My father penned the blessing and gave it to me at a time, unbeknownst to him, when I really needed encouragement. I was struggling with what my life’s purpose was all about when his blessing came:

“Hi JoDee,

Thanks for thanking me for my text to you today.

I then had my little quiet time and read the encouragement of the day, and I thought that it really describes you (a true Barnabas). 

EncouragerGuideCoachHealer

That’s where your heart is.

Love Dad.”

*Barnabas means son of encouragement

When I turned over the paper he’d written the blessing on, I discovered words he’d highlighted written by Kristen Holmberg:

“We may not yet fully understand why or even how much wisdom and encouragement bring strength and healing to our daily lives. Yet the cheers and guidance of our parents, coaches, and colleagues seem to help us endure difficulty and steer us toward success.”

The featured scripture was Proverbs 16:24

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Dad was proud of me, saw the work God had done in my life, and watched how I’d tried to encourage others. More than that, he noted the attributes I’d tried so hard to emulate, the kind of person I wanted to become, and he wanted me to know that it hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Recently, I couldn’t find the blessing.

Panic set in. 

What on earth could I have done with it? My mind raced. 

I always keep it in the front of my journal, I argued with myself.

Where could it have gone?

I felt like a part of me was missing, never to return unless I could find the blessing. 

The person my father saw through his eyes meant the world to me. 

She was the person I’d hope to become!

I searched high and low, in every nook and cranny. I’d gone through a particularly difficult time, having lost my youngest grandson, then two weeks of illness and isolation from Covid, followed by another two weeks of isolation from another illness. 

I’d suffered from depression like I’d never experienced before. My soul was as sick as my body. 

My mind tormented.

My faith tested.

My creativity cowered in the corner.

Inspiration seemed like a distant friend, and I wondered what it would feel like if it ever returned. My husband was away caring for his aging father, so the isolation was intense.

During these dark days, I was sustained by the blessing freely given from my husband, parents, children, family, and friends. Comforting words, encouraging texts, Facetime interactions, meals delivered from my children and their spouses, and even flowers delivered from my daughter-in-law while I was on the phone talking to her. 

They encouraged me.

Guided me.

Coached me.

Slowly, the blessing found its way into my soul and healed my bones. 

In the Old Testament, a father’s blessing meant everything to his child. The blessing affirmed character traits God had built into the person’s life, which the father acknowledged. The blessing prophesied of future events and sealed the child’s inheritance. 

Brothers battled over the blessing, like in the story of Jacob and Esau where Jacob stole his brother’s blessing (Genesis 27-29).

In the book of Genesis, one of my favorite biblical characters receives an amazing blessing from his father: 

““Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine near a spring,
    whose branches climb over a wall.
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;
    they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady,
    his strong arms stayed limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of your father’s God, who helps you,
    because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
    blessings of the deep springs below,
    blessings of the breast and womb.
26 Your father’s blessings are greater
    than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
    than the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among his brothers.” Genesis 49:22-26

We all need our father’s blessing; his affirmation, his assurance that we are becoming the person God intended for us to be. 

If we don’t have an earthly father to give us the blessing, we have a Heavenly Father who longs to bestow the blessing on us:

   “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6: 24-26

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of the Father’s blessing:

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7: 9-11 

My brother, Frank, and Dad

So, as we celebrate Father’s Day, let’s remember how desperately we need the blessing from our earthly fathers and from our Heavenly Father. 

And if you are a father, pull your children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren close and give them the blessing! 

My sister, Gina, Dad, and her granddaughter

Thanks, Dad, for giving me the blessing! My life will forever be changed because you took the time to pen my purpose! Happy Father’s Day!

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