In my previous post, I talked about not being afraid of your darker sides. But sometimes our darkest side, can actually be our gifts and talents and uniqueness that we are afraid to show to the world. I have experienced that I often have to dim myself down a little bit, that I can be afraid to be too much, to be too shining. I’am actually trying to be more aware of that aspect. Maybe you can also connect to that feeling?, and the fact that it also complies to your art. Because your artistic creations are a mirror of yourself.

Lisen’t to this video, while following my process, or just read the blog post.

Why is it that it can be so provoking to let that light out?? I think many of us have learned to be humble, to not think so much of ourselves, not to brage about ourselves. Are we afraid that other people will get envious of us?? Or that if we shine too much that other people will actually see us, and then we will be a target of criticism. It’s more comfortable to hide in the shadows. The thing is, the more you allow yourself to be you, the more distinct you will be, the more unique. You will be more clear in your attitude. Of course some people will not like you, but thats okay. A lot of people will love you too. So to let that light out, you have to take the risk of other people not liking you.

You have to like yourself so much, to fill yourself up with love and acceptance so that you don’t need other peoples acceptance. Because you fully accept yourself, you don’t need outer validation.

Create self love. How to do that?? As I explained in my previous blog post you have to embrace all parts of yourself. Also the dark parts. Be kind to yourself. Be aware of all your feelings, dreams and fears. It’s very important, because how can you be bold and shinning if you don’t love yourself? If you don’t accept and honor your own self expression?

Step 1; Embracing

Embrace your shadow. Embrace all your faults. Embrace your feelings. Embrace every aspect of who you are. At the same time, embrace all your art work, also older work, also the work that failed. Appreciate it all as a kind of celebrating yourself in your progress. Celebrating yourself in every step of your journey to fully accepting and expressing yourself as you are. Every step is good enough. Where you are right now is good enough.

Step 2; Asking

What would you like to do, if you could do whatever you liked. What are your boldest dream. What would you create if you had the time and the money?? Think as bold as you can. What makes your heart sing?? Then just take one step in that direction. What can you do today?? What can you do right now.

Very often we say, yes I know what I want, but I just can’t do it now. I can do this when I get my part time job, or when my kids are moved from home. Or when I go on pension.

But in reality I think it’s because we don’t really dare to take the risk. It’s safer to do whats known, what you always did. When we create things it’s the precise same mechanism. If we don’t dare to take risks, and try new things, to get ourselves out there to show up with our works, we will stay limited. We will stay in fear

Your work might be nice, but it won’t stand out. It will not show the uniqueness, because you don’t dare to show who you are. So to express yourself in your full range of colors you must reach a point where you take that risk of stepping out of the shadows, but remember to take that shadow with you. That which you thought was your ugly side, that which you thought was too vulnable to be seen. That is what will create your full light. So turn up the light and let it shine in all the corners, and don’t be ashamed of who you are.

As I say all the time, the same goes with your artwork. Don’t be ashamed of showing your rawness, your mistakes, your not getting it togheter as you planned. No one is perfect, maybe a lot of people like to pretend that everything is always bright and positive in their life. But we are all humans, and we have all the duality of light and darkness inside of us.

So to be bold, is not the same as to be just bright and positive. It’s to have the honesty to also express and be aware of your shadow. To own yourself fully. To not hide parts of yourself. Then you can truly shine in your holeness and your unique beauty of who you are.

Here are some tips for you, to really step out of the shadow.

Ask yourself:

1) What are my boldest dream? Be aware of what you really want to do if their was no limits.

2) What can I do today to take one step in that direction.

3) How can i express more fully who I really are? In all area of my life?

4) How can I be more honest about how I feel?

Do this exercise:

1)Take a piece of normal seized paper, and just start. Start sitting at a desk.

2) After a while, when you feel their are not enough space on your paper, cut the main part of the drawing out, and place it on a bigger seize paper.

3) Hang it on the wall, and keep working while standing up.

4) Now cut this drawing/collage out once more, and put it on an ever bigger seize paper, and lay it on the floor.

5) Now you continue working while laying on the floor.

Now reflect on how it felt to work in the different positions, and the different seizes of paper. was it provoking for you to go up in seize. To express yourself in a bigger way. How about the different positions, what did it do to the way you felt?? How did it affect your art work?

To go up in seize, allow you to use and come into awareness of your whole body, and to express yourself more fully.

Hope this helped you. I wish you a very nice day, a day where you allow yourself to shine, letting your light out ther

I’am teaching in “how you can free yourself in the creative process”, go to workshops, to read about my courses and workshops. Next ones is in August 2019.

I’am sharing this information to you freely, from my own experiences. Hope you can use it in your own process. Any donation, is deeply appreciated. :-)