it just occurred to me that i write a lot about believing in ourselves and our dreams, but i have never explained where i am coming from on that.
i am an accredited new thought practitioner. new thought could be described as the science of belief. being an accredited practitioner means that means i spent 3 years in classes and 1 year interning. i have really immersed myself in studying the science of belief. of course there is much more to it than that. the wikipedia for new thought opens with:
The New Thought Movement or New Thought is a spiritual movement which developed in the United States during the late 19th century and emphasizes metaphysical beliefs. It consists of a loosely allied group of religious denominations, secular membership organizations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of metaphysical beliefs concerning the effects of positive thinking, the law of attraction, healing, life force, creative visualization and personal power.[1] It promotes the ideas that God is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, all sickness originates in the mind, and ‘right thinking’ has a healing effect.
so when i say “believe in your dreams” that is coming from a deep and well thought out place. it’s not a meaningless platitude or a genuine hope that your dreams might someday come true. it’s an absolute knowing that each one of us can create anything we can imagine. whether or not your dreams come true is entirely up to you and no one or nothing else can get in the way. that does not mean that when our dreams don’t come true we are failures, it simply means we are still, somehow, somewhere, getting in our own way.
what i do as a new thought practitioner is, with love and kindness, help people get out of their way and give their dreams the space to come true in their lives. this does require honest exploration (this is what we will be doing in my shine a light workshop next month) and a real willingness to open up to our dreams. there is a big difference between saying “oh i’d like to ______ (get a new job, make more money, have more friends, etc)” and making a genuine commitment to creating it for yourself.
when we really see ourselves as powerful creators in our lives, we stop making excuses and start making things happen. so my focus as a new thought practitioner and in my art and my workshops is to help show people what powerful creators they are. once you really know that, and can embody it in your daily life, you don’t need anything else. you are off and running making every dream come true.
and i see a world where everyone knows themselves as a powerful creator. in this world, no one wastes any time trying to take anything from anyone else and so acts of injustice of any kind no longer make sense. in this world, we are all too busy having a good time and loving and supporting each other in our dreams. dreams come true inspire and delight others. we can fill this world with inspiration and delight. it happens one dream come true at a time.
this is also why i write so honestly about my fears and uncertainties. denying or hiding them stuffs them inside me where they create obstacles to success. being honest about them and working with them to move through them opens up new opportunities for success. using creativity to work through uncomfortable feelings in this way is what i covered in my creativity for healing series of workshops. i am currently turning those workshops into a creativity kit called i move bravely forward. (i love that name!) the kit will be available this fall and it will be fantastic.
so i would like to know. what is your dream(s) and what are you doing today to make it happen?
![](”http://www.abccreativity.com/images/creativedreamer.jpg")
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you! I may print this post out and read it every morning. I need to be reminded that I can move forward and make things happen in my life.
My short term “dream” right now is to finish my e-book on hand-coloring and put it out there. Today, I cleared out a few things on my desk to make room to do some more work on the book this week.
So happy I found your blog!
good for you dianne! i see you completing your e-book soon.
you can also check out my guided meditations page for little doses of positivity and encouragement.
Wow – that is an inspiring Mondaay morning read. I am going to sketch out my dreams today, put the picture in my head and make steps to bring them into reality !!
Thank you Andrea – looking forward to seeing you for that workshop!
my dream is to be a person who feels complete, who is in integrity and has a rich and enriching creative and spiritual life…
not a tall order at all!!!
thank you reta. i am looking forward to seeing your new dreams, and to seeing you at the workshop!
faerian i already see that coming true
i do wish Canada was closer! (and it’s not only coz i want to see your gold eyeshadow)!
Thank you for that, Andrea – so inspiring to read! And fits right in with where I am right now with my goals. I’ll definitely come back!
Janice.
Let me first say that i love your site…i am an artist who loves folk art and bold colors and creativity and inspiration. Now let me say that I am a Christ-follower. You can call it Christianity if you want to but Jesus was not a religion….he was real and still is because I serve a risen Savior. Whether you know this or not; all this New Age thinking (law of attraction..the Secret..the positive thinker…all that stuff) comes from an old belief..founded in the scriptures of the Bible! Sure…i have dreams…i have problems…i have tragedies…losses…bad times…depression..MENOPAUSE..you know…regular life. But the difference is I go to God with my problems and let HIM take care of them (which He always does)…I pray to Him for guidance…I pray to him for peace and well-being…I pray to him when things go really bad and every single time He as been there. He doesn’t answer my prayers on my time…He answers my prayers on HIS time. I have a T-Shirt that reads “When we plan…God laughs!” That pretty much is the truth. The thing about is I know that God created me for a purpose…there is a reason I’m here. So I pray for that purpose…I pray to do HIS will…not my own or anybody else…HIS. I have been a Christ- follower almost 50 years now….and i have fallen off the wagon ALOT of times…drifted away from him…started to my own thing…living my life the way I wanted to…putting God aside….experimenting with “stuff” that I knew was not pleasing God. And during that time my life was a mess! One day i looked around and i started praying until sweat covered my body and I realized that while I was away from God…He never went away…He was waiting for me with his arms open wide. You see instead of buying all the self-help books…or statues..or idols..or potions that should make you feel better..all i had to do is look to my Savior who did indeed shed his blood on a cross for me. I can’t think of any other religion(i hate that word) that has done that for little ole’ me. You see..God gave me the gift to draw and paint and be creative. He gives me the inspiration and thoughts to do HIS will. When i paint…it is for HIS glory..not my own. It took a book (The Secret-the law of attraction) to make you believe in yourself and think positive feelings. How much money do people spend on this everyday????? My salvation was FREE! John 3:16(we call it the “Gospel in a nutshell”) that all it takes to have a great…joyful…positive..loving..happiness..fulfilled life is this: For God so loved the World that he sent his only son Jesus to die upon a cross for our wrongdoings so that whoever believes in this shall not die but have everlasting life…and peace..and joy..and happiness…and light…and love. But God does give us “free will” to make our choices in this one life….and I truly respect what others believe in. But the difference in what you believe(and the authors of these books) and in what I believe is Faith. You have to have Faith to believe in Christ. No Doubt. I don’t want to go through life without any pain…or disappointments..or failures..or tragedies..even doubting..because it is through our trails and tribulations that make us stronger in our Faith. And it is through Faith that we find the fruits of HIS spirit…love.joy.peace.patience.kindness.goodness.faithfulness.gentleness.and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23) and it’s FREE! You know something…when i go to Target or SuperWalMart…a lot of times i get a parking space nearby and i thank God He made it available to me. Other times i have to get a parking space way out in the desert and i thank Him for that because He knows i need to walk the extra mileage (laugh). I would say that i find a nearby parking space close to the store almost 65% of the time….the other time i will just have to get out and walk…which is not going to kill me. I think that people who are driving around in their cars hitting their heads going “i can get a parking spot close by…i can get a parking spot close by…needs to reevaluate their lives. I don’t care about a parking spot…if that is all i would have to worry about in this life…then i would be in heaven!!! And just because there is no parking spot available close to the store…doesn’t indicate that you have negative vibes…it’s because of the timing. Please forgive me for rambling so much but i just had the to tell you my inspiration…..Jesus. I think it is great what you do. We should have positive thoughts (the Bible gives me the ability to think in a positive way)..we should have joy…and peace…and love….and be spiritual…and so forth. I meditate…everyday…through scripture and prayer. I sometimes relax in a bath of lavender and sage that i grew in my garden….i make wonderful aromatic candles that i give to my friends for their birthday and Christmas time. But the greatest thing i can do for my friends is to pray for them and that in time they will find the Lord Jesus. Not preaching to ya…just voicing my inspirations.
thank YOU janice. so lovely to meet you and happy you will be back!
hello there. thanks for taking the time to share. i actually have not read the book “the secret” (i thought the movie was so shallow that i didn’t bother to read the book) and you are making some other incorrect assumptions about me here. if you read the links i posted to learn about new thought, you will see it does say that it draws from jesus’ teachings, but is not necessarily religious.
I agree!!!! but that’s it…some people draw from Jesus’ teachings and other teachings from other religions to create their on way of thinking. It’s almost like a blender…like OK i’m going to take a little of this…and a little of that…and oh! i want me some of that!….and place it in a blender and push the button “mix well” to only include those ideas or teachings to suit them. It’s like the angels…angels are God’s creations alone and their purpose is to deliver a message (or messages) to people for God…we like to call angels “God’s post-office.” They are not a separate spiritual entity. Their spirit is inter-linked with God. In other words…it would seem impossible to believe in “angels” and not God. And I believe in angels..no doubt. And please don’t think this is pointed toward you…it is not….i love this site and the art and inspiration is beautiful and wonderful….but most of what I posted was for “food” for thought. I wrote that post way tooooo long..please forgive me. I was just trying to add some other “insights” to bring about peace and joy to all!!!!!
art and inspiration, peace and joy – that’s where it’s at