SPRING FEVER

I can't sleep anymore. It's not that I can't get to sleep...it's that I can't seem to sleep past 6 AM anymore. If you know me well, you know that I am a night owl.  I go to bed around midnight or 1 AM and my usually sleep cycle takes me to 8 AM. However, recently I've been waking up as early as 4 AM to clean house, decorate, paint, write, peruse the internet...anything to take up the time that I would normally be slumbering away in la la land.

It's Spring Fever I tell you. 

The days are getting longer and temperatures are climbing and I'm getting restless. As winter turns to spring, my body is naturally producing less melatonin (a hormone that governs sleep/wake cycles) and more seratonin (a mood-boosting neurotransmitter).  I feel at its mercy.

In the past week I've redecorated my entire livingroom/diningroom area, I have reworked all of the SEO on each of my websites, I have written and journaled and caught up on paperwork. I feel like a mad woman...flitting here and there completing things and starting things and imagining all kinds of things that I might start and finish in the next 10 minutes because I know it will end.

I know the energy will turn to fatigue as soon as the pollen starts flying. My bright eyes will start itching and watering and, oh my gosh, I will be sneezing like a machine gun. I try to be positive about the sneezes and consider them a good ab workout.  Nevertheless...it's like maching guns, seriously.

But let's not focus on that! Let's get back to energy and growth and change and beauty...all the great things about Spring. I'm excited to watch as the ravens of winter, who gather out my office window as if conducting their own group therapy session) become robins and finches and hummingbirds. And, behind them, the trees along the Santa Fe trail will begin to bud and morph from drab white skeletons to bright green clouds of perpetual motion. And best of all, I get to continue to watch the people I care about, my friends and family and clients, as they go about their lives; growing and changing and becoming more beautiful every day.

Spring reminds me of the blessings of life...reminds me to notice them, to honor them and, most of all, to be thankful to the One who is the gifter of all good things.

Spring is coming. Amen.

NEW DINING TABLE

Therapeutic creativity doesn't need to happen only on paper or canvas. This past weekend, for me, it happened with a modest table and chairs that I bought for $45 from, quite possibly, the cleanest and most organized hoarding family I've ever met (but that's another story).

The table had been sitting in a carport for years and was covered with a stubborn layer of crud, but with some rags, TSP and elbow grease, it was ready to refinish.  Here it sits in its original, yet cleaned, condition.

The original seat coverings were dirty...even stiff...and crying out for transformation.

I found this amazing fabric at Joann's Fabrics and fell in love!

After four coats of on-coat-coverage white paint on the chairs, I slipped the cushions on and voila!

I also covered the cushion on this bench that my grandpa made back in the 70s.

Here it is with its new cover...so cute!

Another four coats of paint on the table itself and I was done.  What do you think?

I just love it.  My dining area has been transformed from a non-dining area to a beautiful, welcoming place for my family to come together and eat or play games...sounds pretty therapeutic to me...feels that way, too.

HELP! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE

I'm excited to announce that my e-book can be yours for FREE!

After gathering the most up to date information on stress and mitigating its impact on your mind, body and spirit, I compiled this helpful e-book just for my subscribers and clients. 

It's loaded with information on how to ease the stress in your life including tools for you to practice on your own!

Just fill out the form below and the book is yours...FREE!! 

Sign up now!

Be assured that I will never share your private information with anyone and you can unsubscribe at any time (but I hope you don't).

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

I'm a believer. There was a time, however, that I doubted the power of affirmation recitation to bring a lasting shift in perspective from negative and pessimistic to positive and realistically optimistic. It wasn't until I got to my whit's end with a client who was continutally, mentally berating herself day in and day out that I turned to affirmations.

We had tried several different means of tranforming her thought processes, but nothing was working for her.

So, with few tricks left in my toolkit, I suggested she write five sentences that contained thoughts that she would like to believe about herself but didn't, and I asked her to recite those sentences aloud twice and write them down ten times each morning and night for a week. When she returned the following week, the results were remarkable.  In fact, I saw her only six more session, after that.  The power of affirmations was the key to the transformation of her "stinking thinking." I was convinced.

It is said that the average person's thoughts are 80% negative. If you check in with yourself, do you find that you are the exception or the rule? If you struggle with negative self-talk, give this affirmation art project a shot and see if can be the impetus of change for you.

Paint Chip Affirmation Project

Supplies:
Notebook and pen
15 - 20 Paint chips in colors that you really like or that match your decor.


Fine tip Sharpie marker

tape

Process:

1. Take some quiet time to get centered.  Perhaps you can find a quiet place in your home or go for a walk.  Listen to some uplifting or worship music to get your mind in a good place...whatever works for you.

2. Then, sit quietly with your notebook to do some process journaling. Listen to your self-talk. What do you say to yourself? ("I'm not good enough." "I'm stupid." "I'm unloveable." Something else?) Write these messages in your notebook.

3. The next step is to identify the most negative and deeply held belief about yourself. Rank that number 1. Then, continue to rank the rest of the messages in order of negativity and impact on your life.
 
4. For each negative message that you've uncovered, write a balanced, positive response. We always seek balance instead of swinging to the polar opposite of the thought.  So, instead of "I am stupid," you might write, "I am smart. I graduated from college. I can hold down a job. I am successful at many things." Going from "I am stupid," to "I am the smartest person in the world," is unrealistic and could take your thoughts in an unhealthy direction. (see diagram) These sentences become your affirmations.

5. Now the fun begins! Tape the paint chips on an empty wall in a space in your home that you use a lot (your bedroom, bathroom mirror, or livingroom would work great!) There is no rule as to how the colors are arranged...it's up to you.

6. Write your the affirmative messages which correspond to your two most negative thoughts anywhere on the paint chips. You may change your handwriting or the color of marker you use for each as you please to make your composition more intersting.



In this example, I used colors that match my livingroom and added some of my favorite quotes, sayings and Bible verses.



7. Daily, speak your 2 affirmations aloud twice and rewrite the messages in your notebook ten time each - morning and night. Do this for one week.

8. After a week has passed, choose the next two affirmations on your list and add them to your paint chip board...repeating the process for speaking and writing them each day.  Continue this until your wall of affirmations is filled. 

Once you complete this project,  I hope you find that your thoughts have transformed and that you're beginning to see yourself in a new light, speaking to yourself more kindly and living life with a more positive attitude.

Let me know how it goes! I'd love it if you'd share your work with me. Send photos to pam@pammontgomery.com.

Create on! Pam

CREATIVE CONNECTIONS WITH GOD

Helping professionals, register today to secure your spot!!
Click on the "Workshops" tab to register

CREATIVE CONNECTIONS WITH GOD: spiritual formation through creative expression 
(for individuals who work in the helping professions)

April 28, 2012
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

As helping professionals, so often we give and give of ourselves, we hear and see darkness and difficulty day in and day out. This can leave us feeling a void or distance from the One who truly heals those we care for.

This 3-hour small-group workshop, specifically designed for individuals in the helping professions, is designed to engage up to twelve participants in a creative process that can bring insight and perspective to each individual's unique issues and struggles - whether related to your work or not.

Using a combination of artistic expression and journaling, the process seeks to increase the participant's inner awareness and spiritual discernment of God's presence in the midst of his/her life circumstances. This workshop provides an opportunity for reflection, worship, creative activity, and group process.

Healthy snacks, coffee and water will be provided.
If you're interested, click on the "Workshops" tab to register!!

Hope to see you there!

THE POWER OF SYMBOLS

The exploration and uncovering of your personal life symbols can be a powerful way to tell your story, connect with your purpose and gain insight into your responses to life.

When I first began painting, I discovered that there were specific symbols that showed up repeatedly in my drawings and paintings: trees, birds, water.  Over and over again, they would somehow make their way into the image I was creating.  After some time, I decided to explore the symbols and honor them by creating a painting that shared my life's journey in symbols. (below)



"Journey" is the name of this painting.  When I shared it with one of my dearest friend, telling her nothing of the title or the meaning, she looked at it and said, "Yes."  She went on to explain that in looking at the image she felt that she could see into my soul.  We sat and explored the symbols together...each one had a particular, powerful meaning in my life. I look at the colors and shapes and am brought back to a moment in time...or an encompassing theme.  Yes, it is my story.

If you don't know the deepest parts of my story, the symbols may not have meaning to you.  They are mine.

You have symbols, too.  Won't you take some time to explore the symbols in your life and celebrate them by creating an image?

What you'll need:

Canvas (stretched, unstretched or board)

Acrylic paints

One large brush and one pinpoint brush

Pencil

1. Cover the canvas with a background color

2. Pencil in your symbols.  You can create an all over, cohesive design; a manala of symbols; a smattering in interrelated images or whatever you'd like.

3. Choose a color and use tiny dots to fill in the shapes.

When you are finished, the image will tell your story.  Notice the shapes, the colors, the relation of one symbol to another. 

What is the story? Who will you share it with?

I hope you have fun with this activity! Above all, let go of perfectionism and just get to it and explore, play and create!

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE JOURNEY

"Never compare your beginning to someone else's middle." John Acuf

We are all on a journey...journeys of hope, of healing, of pursuing God, of discovering our own hearts, of becoming who we weren't meant to be all along.

Are you at the begining of your journey and feeling discouraged and hopeless...or hopeful?

Are you well-along and wondering, "when will I ever be done?"

Do you watch others and think that they're so much healthier, happier, holier than you?

I want to remind you, today, that no matter where you are in your particular journey (an no matter where your neighbor is in hers)...beginning, middle or starting over again, by honoring your process, you make a way to move foreward.

Honor the journey, honor your heart and take another step in the direction of who you are to become.