unearthing oldness and bringing in newness

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 5/20/2013 11:43:00 PM

'  "To be ourselves causes us to be exiled by many others, and yet to comply with what others want causes us to be exiled from ourselves"                                               -Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes This past little while has been a hu(...)'

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hello life!!!

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 5/17/2013 9:00:00 PM

' “Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”    -Mary Oliver Time has been going slow over here...and I am loving it! I made a conscious decision a few weeks ago to stop doing doing doing and just...slooooooow down. It has made all the difference, friends. It really has. I am noticing a million and one things that I normally am just too tired to pay att(...)'

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surrendering to the moment

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 5/14/2013 12:07:00 AM

'I am feeling a deep surrendering...a letting go. Of old, tired, worn out stories that don't serve me anymore. Of broken ideas + ways of being that are...boring + heavy and played out. I feel a deep need to simplyBE. HERE. NOW. The Be Your Own Beloved class with Vivienne McMaster is absolutely amazing and is opening up new doors within myself...new ways of seeing + being + playing. The class community is really so warm and wonderful and...loving. And Vivienne's daily prompts are... f(...)'

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things around here

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 5/10/2013 12:33:00 AM

'I am thoroughly enjoying Vivienne McMaster's Be Your Own Beloved class! Some of the exercises have been personally challenging for me...but those assignments are the very ones I need to do! I am realizing that our bodies hold onto our stories...all of them. This collage is a self portrait; I took the exact same pic and edited the right hand side pic and the left one is the raw image.I see how some days are such a struggle for me...to look at mySELF with loving kindness. It is  (...)'

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rewriting our stories

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 5/6/2013 2:46:00 AM

'In the sharing of our stories...something profound happens. Magical...shifting...seeing...being seen...a path that has (perhaps) been there all along...reveals itself. Giving birth to my daughter was such an experience for me because, immediately, I knew that I was sharing my stories with her. This broke my heart because...some of my stories...I don't want to share with her. They are too sad, too broken, to much of a burden for her to carry. And so. I had to claim them as mine and t(...)'

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wholehearted

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 5/3/2013 4:47:00 PM

'I took this pic. this morning for the Be Your Own Beloved class I'm taking...and a few months ago...I never would have posted this picture on my blog. Why??? Oh! I don't know...all the gremlins that would be whispering in my ear..."this is ridiculous", 'bad angle adds weight to you", "no dancing", "this is a waste of time" etc etc. But now I am at a place where I am*letting go of who I used to be +*embracing who I am (44 year old wife, mamma, artist, creative being)*shedding "what w(...)'

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"be your own beloved"

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 5/1/2013 2:12:00 AM

'It's been ages + ages since I last took an e-course...mostly because don't have the time right now. But also because I haven't come across one recently that has really pulled at me to commit wholeheartedly. Until I saw the Be Your Own Beloved e-class with the sassy + gracious Vivienne. I love her story, her truthtelling, her pics...and of course...her shoes!! I love the way she shares herSELF so openly + freely. And once I read the class content...I just knew in my heart that this i(...)'

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seeing ourselves clearly

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/29/2013 8:45:00 PM

'(a page from my art journal) For much of my adult life I had 2 diametrically opposing feelings at once: I never felt at home anywhere...and...I felt at home everywhere!! Does that make sense?? Because I had no real sense of belonging anywhere...not to culture or family or country...I could be a chameleon and fit in just about anywhere. Which was kind of nice as I floated around without any anchors or moorings but...it was also very unsettling as I struggled to fit in, belong, find m(...)'

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around here lately...

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/26/2013 9:29:00 PM

'there has been a shifting in my heart...in my spirit + mental space. I am making room for growth, looking at things differently and ...being present. I am standing at the edge of where I used to be and...not quite knowing the direction I'm heading...but having full faith and trust in the process. Taking tiny steps, not over thinking everything, inviting play and abundance into my life. Loving this inspiration house...a gift from my sweet friend Dee.Tara decorating her easel cha(...)'

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"real life" + "blog life" = my life

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/24/2013 11:57:00 PM

' I watched this TED talk a few weeks back and it resonated with me...big time. If you have an online life(blog, website, twitter account etc)...I urge you to watch it!! Not only did it open my eyes but...it really was a series of AHA moments. Not only did I separate my "online life" and my "real life"  but I also felt guilty for it!!!  In the beginning...when I started my blog...I had absolutely no idea how powerful it would become in my life. Tara was about to turn o(...)'

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O' Keeffe Country

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/22/2013 7:59:00 PM

'"It was all so far away-there was quiet and an untouched feel to the country and I could work as I pleased."    -Georgia O'Keefe We are so fortunate that we live fairly close to New Mexico-just a 6 hour drive with plenty of stops to walk, absorb the gorgeous open landscape and have impromptu picnics. This trip was totally spur of the moment because Tim had some time off work. I love the earthiness of this place...the vast, stark + elemental beauty...and of course...th(...)'

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blog makeover!!

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/18/2013 4:33:00 AM

' I've been tinkering around with my blog these past few days...I have been wanting to do it for ages but never quite got around to it! I started by writing in my journal what I really wanted my blog to look like, feel like... and inspire. I brainstormed and what I came up with was...heart, authenticity, stories, soul, more art (technique, in progress, completed pieces), larger pics, heart-FULL writing, poetry, light, community...more stories. I'm sure I'm going to make even mor(...)'

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finding my way back to center

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/15/2013 3:59:00 AM

' "Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let mekeep my mind on what matters,which is my work,which is mostly standing still and learning to beastonished." -Mary Oliver, The Messenger  *one of my fave poems!Little by little... I am finding my way back to center...that place that is still, that is calm, that simply is. Sometimes...I stray away from what I know to be true and I get burnt out and overwhelmed. So these days I am falling (...)'

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ebbs and flows

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/11/2013 10:11:00 PM

'These past many weeks have seen me struggling with juggling too many things...and carrying heavy loads of guilt, overwhelm and exhaustion. I have constantly thought of putting my art on hold and have gone back and forth...to infinity. It's a deep and painful struggle and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. . I can't keep on going the way I have these past many months...so I have had to scale back a bit. Both in terms of getting into my studio as well as writing my blog posts. But I (...)'

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heart changers

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/9/2013 1:21:00 PM

'Life around here has been full of surprises! Life changing ones that are opening my heart and mind and expanding the breadth of my days. Truth: this past year or so, I have completely let mySELF go in so many ways. Too many late nights and early mornings. Waaaaaay too much coffee (to stay awake!!), too little self care and not enough down time. Plus...at the start of the year, I had every good intention to start working out 3 x a week ...and I started. and stopped. And started...and(...)'

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wish for today

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/5/2013 1:23:00 PM

'"We do not become healers. We came as healers. We are. Some of us are still catching up to what we are.We do not become storytellers. We came as carriers of the stories we and our ancestors actually lived. We are. Some of us are still catching up to what we are. We do not become artists. We came as artists. We are. Some of us are still catching up to what we are.We do not become writers, dancers, musicians, helpers, peacemakers. We came as such. We are. Some of us are still catchi(...)'

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transforming fear into faith

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 4/2/2013 1:11:00 PM

'It never fails to happen this way in my life...it never fails to show up in this particular way for me. Every single time I start to have the most awful fears, insecurities and OMG!!! ..I have no idea what I'm doing...a door (or window) will open up for me. Does that happen to you as well??? The process for me goes something like this...overwhelming fear and insecurity attack, sometimes nausea and overwhelm, then a conscious choice to take  a deep breath, let go and surrender ((...)'

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inspiration + more great stuff!!

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 3/29/2013 4:28:00 AM

' Is it Thursday already?? It's Spring break over here (but no sign of Spring!!)...and Tara is home from "school" = busy busy busy!!!  We've been doing tons of art projects, Easter crafts and visiting the library (one of our all time fave. places to hang out). This week I have come across a few things I think are super fantabulously awesome that I want to share with you. Tell me what you think!* I came across this TED talk and was blown away by his insights into how ou(...)'

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some thoughts on shame + courage + vulnerabilty

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 3/26/2013 4:57:00 AM

'   Yesterday I watched part 2 of Super Soul Sunday with Dr. Brene Brown...and I was in tears. Literally in tears. In such a good way. How terrified are we to talk about our shame...about the deepest and most vulnerable parts of ourSELVES? So we hide and cover and deny and pretend and addict etc etc. Dr. Brown's work is so extremely important because we need to address these messy parts our lives and selves...no? For me, so much of my life was spent carrying the heavy burde(...)'

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creative life ( exhaustion, excitment, news...)

Author : soraya nulliah      Blog : My He(ART)-Full Life by Soraya Nulliah      Date : 3/22/2013 2:17:00 PM

'Have I ever shared how insecure I am about my art?? Not about the value of it or the absolute need I have to create...but about putting my heart and soul out there...vulnerable... for all the world to see. It's terrifying. and daunting. It's like walking around naked for complete strangers to see, well ...everything. But there's also a lifting of my heart, an unburdening of my soul as well. Ying and yang. They balance each other and drive me to get into my studio no matter how exhau(...)'

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