The inner artist

566-2The time of spring and Easter, for those who celebrate it, is often considered a time of renewal and growth. Unless you live in a tropical climate that hardly changes, you will most likely experience this progression in the seasonal change from the cold, dark winter to the lighter, warmer days of spring. As the days are filled with more natural sunlight, birds sing their hearts out of newfound happiness, trees blossom and the grass is green again, I also become alive. It is not a coincidence that spring is my favorite season. While the results of growth are easier to notice when taking a walk through nature in the spring, human beings also benefit from the personal growth and renewal this season brings.

When I look back at many spring times of my life, I realize that I too have gone through many changes that taught me a lesson and allowed my soul to grow. This year, I have decided to let my inner artist emerge. When we think of art, paintings, music, sculptures or novels often come to mind. However, I believe that art can take many different forms. I also believe that art is the language the universe speaks to us. It is no coincidence that many people call talents God given gifts. I also believe that those gifts are individually wrapped and placed in our hearts and souls the moment we are created and come to this earth to express them.

Everyone has a reason to be here. Many people wonder what it is. I believe that one of the reasons we come here is to share our gifts. Doing so allows our souls to shine and seek fulfillment while on earth. How do you know what your gift is? I think that our passions are our key emotions to answer this question. Our souls long for growth and expression. We can do so by sharing our talents with the world. I have longed to be an artist as long as I can remember. I also know that I was an artist in at least one or more past lives. This year, it is time to let my inner artist emerge and come to the surface. I know that I have been hiding for too long. My soul longs to be expressed and shared with the world. Encouraged and empowered I look into the warm spring sun and feel reassured that, after the cold, long winter, I am ready to emerge from my shell. I wish you all the same growth and newfound happiness that you will find when you start following your passions and express your soul’s wishes for fulfillment whatever form it takes.

The question is, what can you do when fears and doubts appear along the way? On your path, people will criticize you, push you down and tell you that you are never going to make it. Don’t let their egos keep you from growing. Don’t accept their negativity as a sign that you are not going to succeed. It’s like telling an egg in a bird’s nest that no singing bird will ever come out of its shell, a cocoon that it will never change into a beautiful butterfly or a seed in the ground that it will never ever grow into a gorgeous flower. No negativity can stop growth and the expression of the gifts of the universe through art and beauty just as a late winter storm cannot stop spring from coming. So, this spring and beyond, let your inner artist emerge, share your passions, and help make our world a more beautiful and artistic one just as God has intended it to be when it was created.

Love, Barbara

 

Copyright © 2016 by Barbara Bullock, Photo taken at Hotel Dolder Grand Zurich in 2011 by Barbara Bullock

#Love # Soul #March #Easter #Spring #Growth #Artist #Art #Writer #Writing #Butterfly #Flower #Seed #Emerging #Inner #Inside #Mission #Passion #Light #Bird #Sing #Painting #Music #Expression #Seed #Egg #Winter #Storm #Positivity #Negativity #Cocoon #Talent

This year, let your soul dance!

Happy New Year 2016
Happy New Year 2016

I have been waiting for it. Happy New Year! I am so thrilled that 2016 is finally here. This year, I let my soul dance. Let me explain.

When I was a little girl I loved singing and dancing. Starting when I was a few years old, I would ask my grandparents to turn off the radio. This was my time to sing a song. I would sing and dance my heart out and entertain everyone in the car or living room. Then my voice became silent and my body still. Growing up I learned that the society we live in is not necessarily very compassionate nor tolerant. On the contrary, we are often judged and criticized by other people. Therefore, over the years, I have become more self-aware and ceased doing many things because of the fear and thought “what will the people think of me”. As human beings we tend to live in groups and conform to others. We often give up passions, wishes, goals, even entire dreams for others. Many of us are taught not to stand out and not to dare to be different. Let me tell you that I was born different. I used to think of it as a weakness because I was shown by my peers and adults who raised and taught me that I ought not to be that way. Until now I conformed. However, this year, I let my soul dance.

I have been looking forward to this New Year for a while. I can feel that it is different from previous years. There is so much positive energy around me. Many people come to me and tell me the same. Perhaps it has to do with the number 16. The number 16 is significant for me. I have had jobs, relationships and new phases of my life start on a 16th of the month. I can see the synchronicity. This year, 2016, a new phase of my life begins. I can feel it. I am currently completing my thesis for my MFA in Creative Writing in order to take my professional life to the next level. I have started a weight loss program that will hopefully and finally help me change my eating habits into healthy and sustainable ones for good. Until now, I have often given in to eating as others do because I conformed. This year, I take care of me and my body. Last but not least, I have started to sing and dance again – literally. A few weeks ago I was looking for a way to incorporate more physical exercise into my life. I thought about what I would enjoy the most. Then I remembered dancing from my childhood.

I found all kinds of excuses. One of them was: “What will the neighbors say when they see me through the windows dancing around the house?” My first thought was: “I can’t do that”. Then I listened to my heart. My soul loves music and dancing. So this year, being the beginning of a new phase of my life, I won’t care anymore what the neighbors might think. This year, I will dance, write and do what my heart desires. I might be judged. That’s OK. I was born different.

So this year, let your soul dance. Do what feels right to you. Do what makes you happy. Do whatever makes your soul dance. I wish you that.

Happy New Year.

Love, Barbara

 

Copyright © 2016 by Barbara Bullock, Photo taken in Erlenbach, Zurich, 2015 by Barbara Bullock

#Erlenbach #Switzerland #Zurich #Love #Soul #Dance #Singing #Happiness #Writing #Thesis #NewYear #Weightloss #2016 #Synchronicity #16 #Numerology

Christmas is where love is

 

Gingerbread house at Baur au Lac, Zurich
Gingerbread house at Baur au Lac, Zurich

Merry Christmas from my place of love and light. This Christmas is really special. I feel so grateful to be celebrating Christmas here. I was not sure whether I could come here this year. I feel very blessed that it worked out. As the holidays approached, many people asked me where I spend Christmas.

Naturally, it is assumed that I spend the holidays with my family. When I think of family, two very different emotions start to emerge within me – pain and unconditional love. I hope that when you think of family all you think of is love and that your family means the world to you. To tell you the truth, when I think of my biological family, or let’s say certain members, I feel sadness and pain, feel neglected and hurt. A visit there is a struggle and means stress and judgment; the house feels cold and empty emotionally. No, I do not wish to spend my holidays there. I will tell you more about them when I feel ready. For now, let us focus on the positive, after all, it is Christmas – a time of light and love!

There are places and people in the world who make me feel loved, welcome and cared for. These are places that resonate with my soul in every sense. From the architecture to the culture, from simple kindness to unconditional love that seems to go around. Love is in the air there. I feel home. When I go there I feel like I am coming home. More familiar than with my birthplace, I know my way around and feel as if I belong there. People feel like old friends. People here feel like family even if they are not. When this happens, souls recognize each other as familiars from other lifetimes. Someone not related to you can feel more like family than the family you were born into. A place can feel more home than the place of residence. All happens on the soul level; all happens where unconditional love comes from. Visiting here for Christmas feels like coming home for the holidays and enlightens my soul.

Houses here are filled with love and light. Here I feel home. Strolling down Bahnhofstrasse, hiking up the hills in Adliswil, being inspired in Felsenegg, praying for peace and tolerance in the world in Erlenbach, and finally, sitting by the lake in Kuesnacht being in complete admiration of the never-ending twinkling lights along the shore and the stars above on a clear Christmas night, deeply touches my heart. This is a very special place on our beautiful planet Earth. This is a place where I call the people here part of my soul family. This is a very spiritual place. I always feel so good to be here. I feel home.

As I thank the Lord for allowing me to celebrate Christmas here, I send up prayers to the heavens to my soul family, the special people in my life near and far. You are my family. We might not be related or even know each other. All I know is that I love you from the bottom of my heart – unconditionally – and that I am grateful that you exist.

I hope that wherever you are spending your holidays, may they be with loving people surrounding you in a place that enchants your heart.

Happy Holidays from a place of light and love,

Barbara

Copyright © 2015 by Barbara Bullock, Photo credit Ginger bread house at Baur au Lac, Zurich. Photo taken 2015 by Barbara Bullock

#Kuesnacht #Switzerland #Zurich #Adliswil #Felsenegg #Erlenbach #Holiday #Holidays #Christmas #Family #Love #Soulfamily #Soul #UnconditionalLove #Love #Light #Home #Spirituality #Unconditional #Lake #Zurisee #Zurichsee