The Artist Creed by Jan Phillips

BELIEVE I AM WORTH THE TIME IT TAKES TO CREATE

whatever I feel called to create.

I BELIEVE THAT MY WORK IS WORTHY OF ITS OWN SPACE,

which is worthy of the name Sacred.

I BELIEVE THAT, WHEN I ENTER THIS SPACE,

I HAVE THE RIGHT TO WORK IN SILENCE, UNINTERRUPTED,

for as long as I choose.

I BELIEVE THAT THE MOMENT I OPEN MYSELF

TO THE GIFTS OF THE MUSE,

I open myself to the Source of All Creation

and become One with the Mother of Life itself.

I BELIEVE THAT MY WORK IS JOYFUL,

USEFUL AND CONSTANTLY CHANGING,

flowing through me like a river with no beginning and no end.

I BELIEVE THAT WHAT IT IS I AM CALLED TO DO WILL MAKE ITSELF KNOWN

when I have made myself ready.

I BELIEVE THAT THE TIME I SPEND CREATING MY ART IS AS PRECIOUS

as the time I spend giving to others.

I BELIEVE THAT WHAT TRULY MATTERS IN THE MAKING OF ART

is not what the final piece looks like or sounds like,

not what it is worth or not worth,

but what NEWNESS gets added to the Universe

in the process of the piece itself becoming.

I BELIEVE THAT I AM NOT ALONE IN MY ATTEMPTS TO CREATE,

and that once I begin the work, settle into the strangeness,

the words will take shape, the form find life, and the spirit take flight.

I BELIEVE THAT AS THE MUSE GIVES TO ME,

SO DOES SHE DESERVE FROM ME:

faith, mindfulness, and enduring commitment. ~ Jan Phillips

And the people say, Amen!

Sunset Dreams

Who says a dime isn't worth anything anymore?

One day while talking with a friend I dropped my purse and the contents of my wallet rolled on the floor. She reached down to pick up the coins, held up a dime and said "Ah, love from Marie!". She proceeded to tell me how her mother - whom she loved very much and lost as a child - would give her and her siblings dimes to go to the corner drugstore for candy. This was one of her favorite memories from childhood and she always felt her mother's love when she found a dime.

It was a lovely idea and I found myself thinking of it often when I found dimes. And I seemed to find dimes more and more often. "Ah, thank you, Marie" became "Ah, love from Elsie" - the grandmother I had loved very much and lost as a child - when the dimes appeared at times I needed most to feel loved.

Dimes show up in spots where I have just vacuumed or dusted. They show up on days when I'm worn thin around the edges or my faith in humanity is faltering. I keep them for awhile exactly where they appear. They remind me of the mystery at work in my life, the beauty in the common happenings of every day, and the power of love.

Why dimes? Who knows. But I bet that you'll start to find a lot of them!