We Are NOT Our Thoughts

I am taking a much needed bloggy break and thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane. This post was originally published on August 21, 2008. Enjoy!
(Another beautiful photo from the awesome blog: Cleveland Daily Photo)

“By being clear about what you want and no longer contradicting it with opposing thoughts, you will enable the Laws of the Universe to do their work, and you will not feel a need to offer so much action to compensate for inappropriate thought. By offering deliberate thought, you will harness the power of the Universe, and it will require far less time for you to accomplish much, much more.” -from The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks

The above photo has found a way to tie itself around my heart and sing its essence to me all day long. You see that little speck of white that we can assume is a person? That at one time, was me. I know exactly where this photo was taken because I walked that trail almost daily with my beloved dog Nyla. Sometimes completely alone. But rarely with somebody else. What you don’t see in this photograph, that is deeply carved into my heart, is that this landscape rests on the shore of Lake Erie. All the textured earth in the foreground is actually white sand. Looking at this photo I can hear the evening tide, I can feel the crisp breeze, I can smell the fishy scent of the Lake.

I miss her dearly, my beautiful friend Lake Erie.

As much as this photo provokes my senses linked to nostalgia, its the image of the lone person walking that draws me into this subtle composition. I can remember the way sand always found its way into my shoes and little spurs would gather in Nyla’s paws. I can remember how water would accumulate on the trail just after rain. But most especially, I can remember my thoughts during those walks near the Lake.

I spent a lot of time imagining a life much different then the one I possessed at the time. I saw myself as a full time Art teacher, Artist, and writer, but more than that, in a life dedicated to service. I would walk and imagine my feet were touching a different soil, that somehow this new landscape would hold golden keys to the hidden doorways in my soul. I imagined many home cooked meals with Hansel, sunshine, a studio full of natural light, red rocks, and Yoga. I imagined a sense of wholeness that would move through me with the same power that generated the breathing of the Lake.

As I sit staring at the lone person in this photograph it only confirms for me that we are NOT our thoughts. No. No-no-no! We are so much more than that. So much more. Our thoughts are merely tools we were granted in this existence on Earth. We come from the same material as the sand and the sea. If you listen closely our breath matches the tide, our moods are always trying to impress the moon, our blood rushes like a river, our anger is as turbulent as a hurricane, our bones–so similar to branches on a tree. How can we ever think we are simply the thoughts we have sparking through our brain? Why don’t we believe ourselves to be so much bigger?

I had no idea at the time, when I was the lone walker, that I was using my thoughts for the purpose they were intended for: as tools to create our desired reality. All I knew then was if I kept imagining the life I wanted, sooner or later I would believe it, or get bored of this story and create another one. I have moved onto another story in my mind, because I simply live the one I imagined years ago at the Lake.

From the moment we are born so much stress is put on our minds. Our parents want us to learn the words for their names, then they want us to get good grades, then society tells us to exceed in college and academics beyond. Our mind is told to stretch-expand-and cram! But I see so many young children at school already weighted down with worry from the inability to use their minds in the way the universe intended. It seems foolish to many to imagine a dream life and then to actually believe your thoughts can manifest this into reality. We are always skeptical of magic—told its all smoke and mirrors. But I’m here to tell you that its true and magical. And if you don’t believe me, what hurt is there in trying it? Instead of repeating over and over why you can’t live the life you really want–why not switch those thoughts into ones that explore what your dream life would look like? What do you look like in your dream life? What does your heart feel like? Is there worry when you wake? Are your days lighter? What occupies your new reality?

Our minds are like our feet and hands—here to help us travel and create our next reality. My life that I live now did not happen overnight. It started years ago, with the aid of my imagination and thoughts during my long walks near my muse- my sage–my lover the Lake.

Peace & Love.
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