April and May these 6 floating painting were hanging in an unoccupied retail space next to Coyote Bar and Grill.   On the last day the work was hanging, I received a phone call from a cool Polynesian gentleman who had fallen in love with the goddess paintings and wanted one.  He looked over my website gallery and ended up purchasing one goddess painting for his collection in his downtown condo.  Then he decided to also purchase a wild energy painting from the “Bliss” series that I originally created for a conference in India back in 2008.

Over 50 pieces of my art work was shown here in Encinitas, California for the month of March.  My career intentions to connect, inspire and transform in this case space (in my counseling practice it is people) was I believe accomplished.  I felt great about the art show.  I sold paintings and made new friends.  Inspiring me to keep creating and sharing my work.

“Essential Life Art” by Lisa Longworth, 18″ x 24″, mixed media assemblage, background Floating Painting (from Lisa’s larger collection), wood artist pallet (foundation for creative power), seed pods (new beginings), iron key (holding power to enter new domains), paint brush with antique Egyptian scarab beetle (renewal of creative life). -Photograph by Helen Redman

Lighten Up & Simplify
Venturing deep into the rainforest on a trip to the Amazon in 1999, a local Ecuadorian shaman traveled with our American group for one week. Don Alberto carried only a tiny backpack with a single change of clothes, while our group shuffled with our stuffed Samsonite rolling suitcases. I’ll never forget the image of his wet single shirt worn the day before, hanging out to dry at dawn. His simple way of living deeply inspired me.

I have always loved clothing and dressing up. Since that experience in the Amazon, I have longed to downsize my huge closet to an essential wardrobe. Almost everyday this spring and summer, I found personal things to get rid of. Over the past months, I have pared down to an essential wardrobe. Giving away over 25 shopping bags of beautiful clothing. Now I have 6 pairs of shoes, rather than 30!

My calling is to essentialize my life. I am discovering new levels of freedom possible by simply letting go of non-essentials. Personal, social and professional. Living in the moment with the truth of what is here now.

How about you? How could you essentialize your life? What is one small “baby step” you could make today?

Our Essential Transformation
This process of lightening up is mirrored in my counseling practice. When clients come in for an initial Cocoon to Butterfly-Creative Midlife Change session often their mind is clouded with 1000 things, they feel heavy and it’s difficult for them to clearly see their own life. Yet the essential self is right there, ready to be revealed. A Cocoon to Butterfly map of our own becoming is inside of us, I have discovered again and again, over decades of my work.

The Cocoon side of the map reveals what is ready to be released, the Butterfly part shows us our own becoming. In this unique process, an essential image and word appear on paper, a fingerprint of the soul. It is simple and powerful. To directly see what needs to be shed in our midlife journey as well as an authentic image of the Butterfly of our own becoming.

Are you living your genuine, essential life right now?

Above are 8 of my paintings behind the podium at this exciting event.  In my speech I shared about my near death experience, the inspiration behind my art and my Cocoon to Butterfly-creative midlife change work. Three essential key points:

1. Beauty stops the mind and opens the heart.

2. What is essential is invisible to the eye.

3. Let intuition be your guide with reason its side.

Photos by Lisa

Training for a triathlon May 18th inspires me to begin my daily run at dawn. While running now, I carry in my right hand my new Canon digital camera.

Beauty stops the mind, so my attention while running, besides being aware of my body is keeping my mind alert-looking for beautiful things to quickly photograph.

Running on a dirt nature trail a few blocks from my home, this new friend, a wild bunny crossed my path and quickly I was able to capture his beauty in this picture. The other two photograph are from runs in the last week.

Photo by Lisa

Usually when I meditate, the silence is like a bath.  I feel clean and fresh when finished . Other times, a very quiet and slow inner voice speaks poetry.  Today I felt inspired and awed in what I heard. Below is what was said:

Heart’s gate open, allowing wind to blow through, awaiting any movement.

Stillness speaks. There is only Love, this is your own face. All else is illusion and the gift of human incarnation into space and time.

The “I” a lie, this “I” of the mind chatter. “I” that speaks story-The Talker.

The Listener within is the “I” that speaks without word. Known only through presence-feeling of being-without naming. Wind blowing through the open gate.

Singing softly is Rumi’s “Beyond right and wrong is a field, I’ll meet you there.” Yes, The Listener is the field. That essential invisible Life Force.

Love’s Force streaming, the living electricity of all form-powering birth, growth, death and rebirth…

And you little one, a lover, a facet on the diamond, resplendently reflecting Love’s glorious shine.

“Seeing Beauty”, 24″by 36″ Floating Painting by Lisa Longworth

Once in the mid ’80’s I took a life purpose seminar with Fern Gorin, MFT (www.lifepurposeinstitute.com). On that day, I discovered 5 qualities that were central to my values and gifts. They were (and still very much are!): 1. Beauty 2. Love 3. Creativity 4. Connection 5. Truth.

On Friday I will give a short talk about my art to over 200 attendees at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Peace and Justice Center. Seven of my 6′foot Floating Paintings will be behind the speakers podium at a two hour breakfast celebrating International Women’s Day.

So I have been musing in the last days on what the heck I’ll talk about in my whole three minutes…

When I walk in nature, often my writer’s voice whispers phrases inspiring my writing. This is what I heard a couple days ago:

Beauty stops the mind and opens the heart. Reminding me of my favorite quote from a childhood book, The Little Prince: “It’s only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Inspired from these whispered words, when I came home writing poured effortlessly through the keyboard of my iMac. In my creative process of both deeply listening in my special place and doing my spiritual process of creating (in this case-writing)-a beautiful expression of my creativity, connection, love and truth shone through.

May you live in beauty and deeply see what is essential for you.

Joy,

Lisa

Inspired Action:

1. Pull out your calendar right now. Find a small chunk of time, 20 to 30 minutes. Make a “date” with yourself and write it in your calendar. Then close your eyes and imagine one of your favorite place that feels like home to you. Write that down on your calendar as well.

2. At that specific time go to your place. Breath, walk, sit-do whatever feels comfortable for you. Keep clearing your mind of automatic thinking about yourself or things in your life. Allow empty space for a “still, small voice” to be heard. Words or images may come though.

3. Later, either write what what you heard internally or draw a simple scribble or symbol that captures the essence of what you experienced. (If nothing comes through that’s just fine. Do this follow up exercise anyway. Let yourself be open to expressing something. The content doesn’t matter, the process does.)

Floating Painting “Kiss Bliss” (2′ x 6′) by Lisa Longworth

“Kiss Bliss” is a favorite painting of mine. Hanging above my altar in my bedroom, it nourishing me on a daily basis.

Winter Solstice, a “cocooning” season. Rest, renew. Allow yourself slow gestation of the “butterfly” of your own becoming.

“Release” 12″ by 12″ canvas by Lisa Longworth

I woke up at 4:30 am this morning with my typical urge to write. This painting, still a work in progress, spoke to me of the process of letting go into the present moment. An essential part of my Cocoon to Butterfly process.

How do we release of the seductive attachments of our mind, (positions, concepts, moods), that can feel so real at times? How do we return to the natural state of our essential self which is always free, like the butterfly?

For me, especially when I am in those moments, trapped in the prison of my mind, that release becomes difficult. Seduced by my mind, I cannot feel my butterfly self. I am preoccupy with my past and future, losing my joy and peace as I try and figure things out. Often I will reach out to my closest friends for perspective.

So the other night, I called one of my spiritual sisters who lives in Oklahoma City. I talked with her on the phone for some time. An advanced student of A Course in Miracles, Karen wrote me an email after our call with this beautiful line of wisdom:

“Let’s continue to live in the moment fully aware of the peace that is ours in EVERY moment when we choose to not preoccupy ourselves with the dead past or the imagined future.”

Great advice. Release and fly, Butterfly!

“Shed” Original Floating Painting, by Lisa Longworth, Photo Credit: Timothy Burns

My vibrant frame-less Floating Paintings are mixed media (acrylic, dye and paint on silk fabric). When I started the series in 2001, my vision was to travel the world in conjunction with other transformational speakers, groups or events. The vision was to shift the community space from traditional convention, sanctuary or seminar rooms, to celebratory places of transformation. The art creating doorways of beauty. Portals that stop the mind and open the heart to abide in peace and love-the true self.

This painting “Shed”, honors the process of change. It maps the subtle process of letting go of the past. To emerge and shed our old cocoon skins of conditioning-these “womb-like” containers once necessary for our survival, now “prisons” for our freedom.

The brown on the bottom of the paintings represents the power of the earth. Green-the organic living world. Red-human feelings that arise in the process of letting go of our attachments. Blue-the sky of all possibilities. Finally at top is the golden light of higher consciousness. In the whole journey of the shedding process the figure is connected to love, the golden paint within their center. Love always empowers the journey of release.

At the top of the figure is a bird-like image that represents the transcendent force of the unseen, which is often called spirit.

The “love that lives all things”.