Welcome,
Awake and Creative!
This first week,
In this first month,
In this one year.
We are here to set up base camp this month.
And in this first meditation,
This first talk,
We'll look at what that looks like.
To take up our materials,
Not from the outside,
But from the inside.
And start to build.
Join me,
As we start this journey into 52 weeks of the most centered self.
Awaken Creative,
Now!
Good morning,
Explorer!
Good morning,
Adventurer!
Good morning,
Awakened Creative!
Here we are.
2026 is a one year in numerology.
One is the initiation.
It's the adventure,
It's the explorer,
It's the individual.
It's time for us all.
But here,
The Awakened Creative,
To set up base camp.
To establish the space from which we are going to work this year.
Often times,
The inspiration or the building blocks for this base camp can come from the outside.
It's a place to start.
To look out from oneself.
And take up materials that,
We're told,
Will help build this foundation.
This year,
52 weeks.
I'm challenging myself,
And all of you,
As artists,
As makers and creators of all kinds,
To look within first.
Certainly materials are necessary to build,
To create,
To make.
But those materials are only beneficial on server purpose.
If they're first picked up by the hand that has set a base of discovery from within themselves.
It's early here.
I start long before the sun rises,
Even on the longest of days.
But this is part of my base.
It's where my intuitive voice rises.
It's where my instincts join those of the divine,
Of nature,
Of that creative call.
And begin.
The swish of tire tread on the road,
Early commuters.
During certain times,
The gentle call.
Frogs,
Crickets in the trees.
Always the sound of my dog.
Reacting to what I'm doing.
These things are mine.
They're what set me right-footed as I face into the day.
What are yours?
What's your base camp from which you begin to search for materials that are well-suited to you?
Mantras come to us from the tradition of Eastern religions and practices.
We in the West might not be as familiar with them as a practice.
And as an impactful way to ground ourselves.
But we have our own all the same.
For the next 52 weeks,
I'll be sharing some of my favorite quotes.
These to me serve as those grounding points.
Those mantras that settle myself into myself.
So that as I reach out for materials or I share ideas,
I'm putting myself out there.
In the way that is most authentic.
So that's my challenge to you as we begin.
52 weeks.
Pick up the quote.
Pull it a mantra if it helps.
Engage for the 5 or 10 minutes in the early morning atmosphere that is my base camp.
And begin to build your own.
In this one year in numerology,
This is the most important thing you can do.
Create your authentic framework starting with this base.
So that as you go out.
In the months,
Days and years to follow.
You'll do it from a firm foundation.
Create.
Artistry is the most important element of cultural exchange.
And one of the most important we can add and value.
As we enter into the world.
Henry Ward Beecher is the scribe behind this week's quote.
Every artist dips his brush in his own soul.
And paints his own nature into his pictures.
So this is where we are.
As artists.
As creators.
Dipping our own brush.
Into our own soul.
So that from this base.
Authenticity.
Of divine alignment.
We can go out into this world.
And share most impactfully.
Welcome awake and creative.
To this 52 week journey.
In this one universal year of starts and beginnings.
Setting our base.
For our best work yet.
Awake and creative.
Today.
