New Moon in Capricorn, or Inspiration is Everywhere

Tonight I watched Walk the Line…again. I own the DVD, and I love watching it. The more times I see it, the more details I catch. In this biopic about Johnny Cash, there are so many sounds and experiences that inspired his sound. From the rhythm of the shoeshine boy, to the Heavenly Highway Hymns that he grew up singing with his mother in the cotton fields, Johnny Cash was a musical sponge.

It’s funny in a way that I even watched this movie tonight, as I should have been sleeping anyway. Earlier this evening I attended a woman’s circle to celebrate the upcoming New Year, and felt grounded after setting my intentions in a public, yet sacred setting. As a Capricorn myself, I’m also looking forward to my birthday on January 10th, and I wanted to mark this particular New Moon as the occasion I’ve chosen to shift my life into the direction that I want it to go. Not the direction that others may have wished for me, but that is okay.

This has been a wonderful and powerful year, in which my greatest accomplishments took place on the Inside: I am conscious of my connection with The Creator, and I’ve watched this blog grow, and take on a life of its own. I’ve learned about internet marketing, social media networking, and search engine optimization. I’ve coached other musicians to help them find their direction, in turn, finding my own. For most of the year, I’ve been in hermit mode, totally focused on the inner world, and even missing days here and there (this has been a particular blessing!).

I’ve purposefully fallen off of people’s radars, and I’ve made peace with that. I’ve released major relationships this year, and become selfish for a change. It’s funny how the decision to be true to yourself can feel threatening to others. But this year has been incredibly amazing in its lessons, and I have a feeling that I won’t understand the consequences right away. I’ve planted many seeds, and taken the time to nurture myself. This was not easy, but needed. In the end, nurturing myself and my spirit has been highly satisfying.

This holiday season has been, at times, particularly snarky, uncomfortable, and confronting. Other times, it has been joyful, heartwarming, and uplifting. Even though I’m still “going through it”, I am going through it, and I can finally see the light in the distant future. That feels good. As my choir director likes to say, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will NOT build a condo there!” Similar to the recent Winter Solstice, I feel that my longest nights are getting shorter, and I understand that my Spring will eventually arrive. Not necessarily when the calendar says it’s Spring, but when my soul says that it’s Spring. And because I am an optimist through and through, I also acknowledge that that could happen as early as next month 😉

So now that I am in this current spiritual/emotional/mental state, I am ready to create again. I am ready to start over, even from scratch. I am ready to make music. While watching Johnny Cash tonight, I couldn’t help but think of something Artist’s House’s Andrew Goodrich wrote to me. When I was feeling ornery earlier this week, he sent me a Twitter message, something to the effect of: “Just remember that inspiration is everywhere. Inspiration is anywhere.” Wow. Who says that Twitter isn’t profound?

Even though I wasn’t ready for Andrew’s message at the time, I did spend the last few days reviewing Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, and taking myself on Artist’s Dates. Artist’s Dates are blocks of time in which you refill your creative well by going to movies, museums, etc alone, to prime the pump, so to speak. I reread my copies of The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, and Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo. I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Museum, and checked out their Gothic and Seduction exhibits, which wasn’t even my thing, but in retrospect I’m glad I went. I put on my coat, and got out of the house for a change. Left my home, and experienced something different – someone else’s creative ideas. Even if the exhibit’s creepy vampire style didn’t inspire a new song, the next morning, I woke at 6am and completed the writing for my new newsletter. What an awesome feeling that is! I was on a natural high for the rest of the day.

I haven’t had a decent wireless internet connection in the past few days, which also led to my unplugging for a few days – always a good thing. Robert Scoble just received a FriendFeed Intervention from TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington, and I’m conscious enough to see the parallels to my own life. Time to get back to the work. Now that I’ve had my own time away from the internet, I’m excited about refocusing on music. A single woman with a guitar and lots of time on her hands can do a lot of damage.

For me, to go back to my guitar, with total Beginner’s Mind, and just make music, is what 2009 is all about.

5 Responses to “New Moon in Capricorn, or Inspiration is Everywhere”

1. Luna Says:
   December 30th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

   Carla,
   I absolutely love this post!
   So many parallels…
   (to start… we just picked up Walk the Line from NetFlix!)

   you eloquently voiced many thoughts that I have rumbling around, but had trouble putting words to… thank you 🙂

   You’ve been through a journey this year that I am just embarking on…
   “It’s funny how the decision to be true to yourself can feel threatening to others.” Wow! This statement just resonated so clearly for me.

   Thanks for sharing your inspiration and creativity explorations… some great tips there! I think I’ll dust off my copy of “The Artist’s Way”.

   Wise words from a wise woman…
   May your birthday – and the New Year – bring you creativity and abundance beyond your expectations.

   Wishing you the happiest of New Years,
   Luna

2. Carla Says:
   December 30th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

   Thank you so much, Luna!

   One one hand, I’m not experiencing a Norman Rockwell Christmas this year. On the other hand, I feel as if I’m about to give birth to the next phase of my life – and I’m very excited about that!!! I had been feeling stuck for a while, and all I could do was keep moving, centimeter by centimeter. But that has appeared to have made all of the difference!

   You’re also moving into an unknown phase of your life, and all I could ever advise is that you remain true to yourself. This is the time to pay attention to, not avoid, the issues in our lives which take too much of our energy unnecessarily. I hadn’t started the year with this particular goal, but the result was that I got my personal house in order this year. And I’m happy about that.

   Life is good!

3. christopher lars carlson Says:
   December 30th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

   carla,

   i got the book, “getting things done” by david allen for xmas. only 10 pages in and i’m pretty sure this book is going to change my life in. the cover says, “the art of stress-free productivity”.

   thank you for sharing yourself so freely.

   see you in 2009.

4. Carla Says:
   December 30th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

   Christopher – that’s another great book that I have on my shelves, but haven’t visited in at least a year. I’ll refreshen myself with that book as well! Excellent suggestion.

   I love how you’re already feeling a shift in yourself. Time may be a man-made construct, but we humans can understand that we have the power to make a conscious mental change in our life.

   We are not simply stimulus-response machines. We have the power to own our choices, and create new results. Knock ’em dead in 2009!

5. Andrew Goodrich Says:
   December 31st, 2008 at 11:01 am

   Thanks Carla for sharing your journey with all of us. You are right on about keeping the strength to at least move inch by inch when nothing seems to be moving along with us. It’s that steadfastness that pulls us through in the end, and in hindsight we will recognize the harder times as the times we have grown the most.

   I just HAVE to quote Brian from Vanilla Sky: “Without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain’t as sweet.”

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