Logo Design: EL Block

A new logo!!

Erika of EL Block Creative Studios designed the lifeunity logo you see now at the top of the page...I am so happy to have it!

Erika was so flexible in working with me as I hemmed and hawed about different ideas.  I wanted this and that, a handprint, try different colors....if I was working with myself, I would have driven myself mad.  Through phone calls & web contact, she proposed & tediously designed various layouts, designs, colors, and images....and together we came up with the gorgeousness you see above!

You may notice this logo popping up other places as the construction continues around here.

Be sure to find Erika HERE (http://www.facebook.com/elblockcreativestudios) & let her know if you need something!

I feel like a little kid jumping up and down..."tell me, tell me, whaddya think?  whaddya think?"

One Word: Creative Energy

Today started brilliantly, then just turned into "one of those days".  No rhyme or reason...it is what it is.

I could feel the "funk" coming on.

Out of a newly developed instinct, I headed for my art supplies.

And I created this:

Without darkness, there is no light.  Without light, there is no life.

Simple effort, simple journal page, deep results.

I'm not saying I'm ready to start skipping around outside singing Disney songs, but I do have the energy to keep moving throughout my day - to accomplish the things I know I want to accomplish.

Creative energy is powerful.

Let me repeat.

Creative energy is powerful.

Broadening your perspective from art (to mind states or meals or a breathing pattern...), ONE WORD:

What will you create in the next 24 hours?

The Newsletter & a Give-away!!!

Finally!  The official newsletter sign-up has begun!

The Fine Print is the name, awareness is the game.

Right now I'm scheduling to send a newsletter every couple of weeks, but this may increase as we get into the swing of things.

Included in The Fine Print will be stories, valuable information, resources, downloads, guest segments, quotes, and even jokes!

From yoga to art, creative exploration to passionately pursuing a vocation, weaving mindfulness into the mundane, Buddhist & other religious perspectives, philosophical musings to rather humorous (and hopefully not too crass) one-liners, the newsletter is all about enhancing and deepening your awareness: of your vitality, of what life has to offer, of your creative responsibilities (yup - responsibilities).

The Fine Print is going to be my way of staying in touch with you as the construction continues around here.  Eventually, this blog will be moving to my new website.  Those on the newsletter will be able to follow the move and not get lost in the dust!

And as a thank you for tagging along and signing up early, 

I will be offering a signed copy of Chris Guillebeau's new book, 

The Art of Non-Conformity, to one of The Fine Print subscribers!

(If you haven't heard of him or this book, trust me...you'll want to read this.  If you have heard of him, you probably already have a copy...so feel free to keep this signed one and give yours away!)

Just sign up by Sunday, November 7th...that's all you have to do.  I'll be picking from the list of subscribers and announcing the winner in the newsletter on Monday, November 8th.

(*All "charter members" - i.e. those who signed up via the trial button - are already entered!)

Sign up HERE.

The new website is soon to follow, with more "About Me" stuff - including what you can expect from LifeUnity - a return to guest posts, and even a workshop or two!

I'm super excited about all of this and hope you are too...I look forward to seeing you on the subscriber list!

Experience Your Day

This morning, after dropping off our son at the bus stop, I laid down on the driveway and experienced in awe what was happening around me.

A storm rolling in.  Swirling masses of leaves finding their way back to earth.  Trees dancing to a hushed windsong.

And I?

I was here to experience it.

Yes there were things to be done.  The to-do's still waited.  This moment, however, would not.

I chose to allow myself to get drunk 

on the intoxicating fragrance of the impermanence.

It is how life is lived.

How a Smile Can Create World Peace

I alone may not be able to create world peace.

But I will not underestimate my role, my responsibility
 in making it happen.

Today.

I may go to the Starbucks and order from the barista who is having a rough day and who barely acknowledges me.

Perhaps I smile back and offer her a sincere thank you instead of being offended.

It releases her tension and improves her day.  She does not go home and complain to her boyfriend who was getting ready to leave her that evening because all she did was complain.  Instead, they have a healthy talk and renew their love.

A week from now they go out with friends, one of whom happens to work at the Peace Learning Center in Indianapolis.  They have a deep, hours-long conversation over dinner & wine which leads to a brilliant idea by the Center worker.

He returns to work the next Monday and pitches the idea to a committee which takes it to the state level.  A group is formed which adds collaborative input to the original ideas and implements them on a state-wide level.

Two years later, the crime rate in the state has dropped significantly and the White House takes notice.  After research & a few changes over the coming years, the practices are put into place at all state levels.  The US begins a trend that leads to worldwide talks and culturally-appropriate implementation of the practices across nations.

Within ten years, hatred & crime are considered as outdated an concept as slavery.  Peace is the norm instead of an some seemingly unattainable dream.

Which wouldn't have happened without the world-wide implementation

Which wouldn't have happened without the talks.

Which wouldn't have happened without the US government putting the ideas into practice after noticing them at the state level.

Which wouldn't have happened without the the committee collaborating and acting on the ideas presented to them.

Which wouldn't have happened without the original idea proposed by the Peace Learning Center employee.

Which wouldn't have happened without a spark of deep conversation in a safe environment with no fear of conflict (or complaining) amidst good friends.

Which wouldn't have happened had the friends not gone out.

Which wouldn't have happened had the barista and her boyfriend not stayed together.

Which wouldn't have happened had the barista come home and complained once again to her boyfriend after a long day of work.

Which didn't happen because I smiled.

Today, try a smile.

Who knows?  You may have just created world peace.

Art on Love

Have you ever had a memory arise that just takes your breath away?  It is a personal memory, yet it seems like you are watching the drama from the outside - as if you are such a different person now that you can't imagine ever having been there.  Yeah, I've got those.  Many of them.

I chose to sit with my fires of emotion & memory the other day.  It brought up many stories that I'd stopped re-telling years ago.

Instead of clinging to the drama, I let it just flow right on through me into a play of art.

I created an painting in the middle of all of this and am most happy with the feeling it evokes in me.  The process was intense.  The final piece gives an option of a resting place for the ashes of what has burned.  There are so many stories I no longer need to analyze, to sit with and let burn....which is not overwhelming.

It is simply an opportunity for more art.

(You will notice in the following video some places where there is just video, no music and other places where there is just music, no video.  This is intentional.)

A warning: some might find the lyrics of the music I used offensive.  It is the music I listened to while creating the piece (literally: I had it on repeat).  It gives an important backdrop to the art and is an honest look into my creation process.  I find passion in everything from songs like this (Eminem/Rihanna: Love the Way You Lie) to rich symphony music.


Love from Lisa Wilson on Vimeo.

I'm truly fascinated by the way experiences get put into art and then how the art gets experienced by the viewer.

If you are game to play along, I'd love to know 3 words that this piece evokes for you.  No right or wrong...I'm just really curious!