Endings, stops, and pauses come for many reasons; some we choose consciously, some we just seem to slip into unaware, and some are chosen for us. They are varied in length, texture and form and can be followed by swirly twists and turns, roundabouts, and detours. Joy, hope, sadness, fear, frustration, apathy and maybe even some self-loathing sprinkled in for good measure live along this path from ending to new beginning or beginning again.
An ending is prime time for saboteurs, those mischievous critics, to weave their tales and create inertia by convincing you that you messed up, aren’t good at it, that you can’t, you don’t have time, that you no longer like it or want it, or the worst - you aren’t good enough, period. And the shoulds and the should nots jump in to keep you in line with their directives of the practical, good, right or wise next choice. And the have to’s they are hovering around always ready to get in the way.
Instead of letting all these challenging characters in when there is an ending, try on the perspective of ending as positively charged space. A clear space for you to invite in appreciation, reaffirmation, reconnection, recalibration, and rejuvenation. In this perspective the end becomes the beginning of something, actually anything you might imagine.
It may seem that I ended my blog since my last post was almost a year ago! But it was actually just space, full of new things, some beginnings, and truth be told, some detours, twists, turns and roundabouts. I’ve spent many minutes and miles traveling on the blogpost "ending” road through the thick dark forest of caretaking, the never-ending path of house projects, the muddy road through I’m too tired or sick land, the dirt road to the I have no good ideas cesspool, the slippery slope to I don’t want to write about THAT city, the yellow brick road to self-care island and the book reading borough. And of course, let’s not forget about the oft beaten pathway to Netflix binge land and the all work all the time wonderland.
This end/pause and the diversions along the way, ultimately led to beginnings. New experiences, new ideas, new friends, travels to faraway places I’ve never been, new art creations and taking my work to artazan shows, thinking about business development and engaging in personal development activities, all of which led me right back here. Beginning again to offer the view from my lens, my words and hopefully some wisdom.
I’ve arrived to begin again, to knock at the door of your dormant artist with the hope of inspiring you to use the space of your endings to begin anew or begin again on your path to a consciously created life.
Look at one of the endings in your life, take a deep breath, imagine the positively charged space. What wants to begin again or for the first time?
Go for it!
photo by Lynne Harris Bernstein
©2023