*** The Key To Expressing Full Creative Potential

“Love is a force that connects us to every strand of the universe, an unconditional state that characterizes human nature, a form of knowledge that is always there for us if only we can open ourselves to it” - Emily Hilburn Sell

You were born with a magnificent gift. You came into this ...“Love is a force that connects us to every strand of the universe, an unconditional state that characterizes human nature, a form of knowledge that is always there for us if only we can open ourselves to it” - Emily Hilburn Sell

You were born with a magnificent gift. You came into this physical world bundled with all the wisdom and tools to create; create your life, create your artistic expression. If you are having any difficulty in expressing your full potential in any area of your life you have said NO to this gift that is already within you while at the same time desperately and often painfully search to find it elsewhere.

The life affirming gift that I speak of is unconditional love. Where you struggle, where you hold back your ability to create is where you have let go of unconditional love; unconditional love of self.

Yes, you were born as pure unconditional loving consciousness. As a child you had not yet learned to judge. A child's love of self is simple and pure. A child feels worthy of what she wants and needs. A child is exuberant in expressing love for others. To a young child, the world is an open door to all that is possible. And as a loving consciousness, he seeks to create that which he loves.

As you grew you took on ideas and beliefs largely based on past experiences. You developed expectations and placed conditions on love in ways that a child would never conceive of doing. Conditional love may come and go. You may love a hot dog or a friend today, but not tomorrow. Unconditional love does not come and go. It just is.

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them." - Thomas Merton

The minute judgment in any form enters the experience of a child, conditions are placed upon love. Without realizing that your very existence has value and is a critical cog in the ecosphere of the Universe you sought to identify your worth, your place, in the physical world. You measured yourself and your contribution as 'more than' or 'less than' others. You misguidedly rated other people and other creations in the same way. And you struggle.

Sometimes you treat yourself like you are an unworthy person taking up space, here slogging your way through your days, your craft, your relationships, in order to prove some sort of worthiness to someone else. It is a futile way of life. You can never feel worthy, good, smart, talented, creative enough if you hold back unconditional love for yourself. Where you judge yourself, you hold back unconditional love.

Your purpose in life is to express your full artistic potential using the bundle of talents, wisdom and tools that are your birthright. You are here to create your contribution to the enrichment and quality of existence. This creative contribution does not depend upon the approval of others. No fully expressed artistic potential will ever be achieved by seeking the approval of others for they all desire different things of you. Your fulfillment and satisfaction as an artist will come from the unconditional love of self that gives birth to and guides the purest actualization of You.

Yes, mistakes will be made. Bad choices will be met with unpleasant experiences. "Should-a, would-a, could-as" will abound. Undesired situations come with great gifts in the valuable transformational lessons that can be learned from them. In all of your trials and tribulations, you are always doing the best you can with the light you have to see.

"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich." —Sarah Bernhardt

Unconditional love of self is the light source. Where there is darkness, unconditional love is withheld; judgment and admonishment has taken its place. Knowing and accepting, at your deepest core, that you are always at the perfect place even if you are experiencing any form of difficulty and anxiety powerfully shines light on any experience so that positive growth springs forth from that place. Shining light on yourself and your experience instead of beating yourself, and others, up in blame, shame and judgment is an act of unconditional love.

The way some people find fault, you'd think there was some kind of reward. There is no reward in judgment; only darkness. One cannot create where there is no light, no energy, no love.

The path to unconditional love of self is understanding that you are always doing the best you can. You do not get out of bed in the morning thinking about how you can screw up your, or other people's, lives that day. You do not deliberately create your bad experiences. You are doing the best you can based on how you view yourself and the world at the time. If you don't like the experiences you are having, if you don't like being stuck or struggling in any area of your life, examine your judgments and expectations of yourself and others. Where are you withholding love? Where are you cutting off authentic expression? Where are you holding back your full potential? Where are you denying, saying NO to you?

"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself." - Jean Anouilh