When We Leap

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Every Wednesday throughout 2016 one of my beloved IGNITE Peer Mentors is sharing their creative wisdom and insight in a brand new blog series.

IGNITE Peer Mentors are women who successfully completed my IGNITE Online Intensive and are eager to deepen their own skills and intentions as heart guided artists by mentoring a new circle of women in IGNITE.  This is the first year that I am incorporating Peer Mentors into my program and I am absolutely thrilled to work side-by-side with such an inspiring bunch!  

You can check out past Peer Mentor posts by CLICKING HERE.

Today’s IGNITE Peer Mentor Nicole Edgecombe reminds us how important it is to reflect upon the many shades of courage we have expressed through our lives each time we find ourselves standing in a great void.  Powerful stuff! 

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Every time I stand at the edge of the abyss I feel the old familiar emotions of fear, worry, hell sometimes sheer panic!

The chasm looms large and dark and intimidating.

It communicates danger at best and certain demise at worst. And yet, on the other side, luring, tantalizing, beckoning is the thing I need or want. It is almost within reach I can almost feel it in my grasp, I can almost taste it!

But first I must confront the void.

What awaits me in there? I can’t see much beyond the edge. But I can hear the voices in my head that scream to “Don’t do it Nic” , “This is too much!” “You’ll regret it”, “Danger, danger, DANGER!”

The voices are familiar. They have been with me forever.

They have kept me from trying really BIG things, traveling to those really EXCITING places, having those LIFE CHANGING ADVENTURES!

And I’m better for it, aren’t I?

Lately I’m not so sure…

Lately, there’s another voice. One that whispers, “What if?”

What if I said YES more often? What If I threw caution and responsibility, and reason to the wind? What if I did what felt right to me? What If…

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So today I played my favourite game, I looked back at my journey; had a look at how far I’ve come.

Were there times when I didn’t listen to the voices of caution? Were their exceptions to the ‘play it safe’ rule? YES!

Off in the distance I can see me deciding to be a psychologist rather than the pediatrician my parents wanted.

I can see me choosing happiness rather than a bad marriage; even though divorce paves a path to hell.

I can see me having my babies in my own time, in my own way (i.e. unmarried) in a family that just didn’t do that!

Oh my Gosh! Could It be? Have I ventured into the abyss before? And the outcome?

I’ve built a good life, a successful career and I’m raising fabulous children. AND no one died!

As I look back, I have a new question for the voices in my head, “What is there to be so scared about?”

With respect, and gentle compassion for the care they try to take of me I remind my voices that whenever I’ve taken the leap of faith somehow the ground has risen up to meet me! 

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Screen Shot 2015-12-02 at 2.20.17 PMToday’s Guest Post was written by Nicole Edgecombe, Peer Mentor for IGNITE 2016.  Here is a little about Nicole…

St. Lucian artist Nicole Edgecombe describes herself as an artist healer. This largely self- taught visual artist is also a clinical psychologist whose personal journey with art started during recovery from illness. She now explores the relationship between art and healing both in her clinical practice and through her paintings. As an intuitive painter, Nicole works primarily in acrylics with recent ventures into mixed media art. She believes that spirit communicates with us through art that we allow to emerge naturally from within; and that in these communications we learn critical information for our own physical and emotional healing. This belief fuels her desire to share intuitive painting with others through workshops and demonstrations.

Nicole resides in Castries, St.Lucia and can be found online HERE.

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