Pillow Talk – “a” solution

“An inconvenience is an unrecognized opportunity.” - Confucius

Affirmations are more powerful than I ever imagined.

Like so many people, I too, had to learn to undo (or replace) a lot of verbal scars from my past. You know, all the useless, emotional crap that we cling to – usually unconsciously. The stuff that turns us supposed mature adults into little, reactive children.

I had an art instructor in college who approached art from an interesting perspective. He taught that a piece of art was simply a problem that we found a solution for. There are no ‘set solutions’ to the problem (unlike mathematics). Nevertheless, as artists, it was our responsibility to find a solution. I liked this idea of having no set solutions, just ‘a’ solution that worked. When I realized that I had reached a point in my life where my palette had been wiped clean and my life was a blank canvas I saw that I had an opportunity in front of me to finally take responsibility for my pain and self-care and find solutions to so many of my problems. Several years ago when I was part of a support group the group moderator brought a small book to class, and she would read one short excerpt from the book at the beginning of each session. The book is called, “The Language of letting Go” by Melody Beattie. It’s a book of affirmations – and daily meditations. Now, mind you, I was NOT the “affirmation type of person” who walked around saying things like, “I am beautiful”, and “I can do this”. I, personally, would feel silly doing that. But what I did do was go out and buy a copy of the book for myself. And every night when I climbed into bed I would read one of the daily excerpts, then I would lay and ponder about how my life reflected each of the “un” truths that were brought to light. It was what I termed, my “Pillow Talk”. The book became my personal twelve-step program toward recovery and reinventing myself. I never would have thought that a simple little book like this would be such a powerful tool in my life. But it was simply “a” solution.

There is another wonderful book that I read years ago called, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, which I would highly recommend for anyone who is searching for a solution to their problem. I personally incorporated the “Artist Dates” from this book into my monthly routine. In the beginning I really had to force myself to do it, and I didn’t want to do it alone either. But now it’s just part of my life that needs no real effort.

Pillow Talk – “a” solution