The word for July is

I am aware of the practise of setting "words for the month", I dip in and out of this process, sometimes a word finds me, sometimes it doesn't.  A word for July quietly crept up on me today, it feels expansive, fluid, yet challenging.

And here it is

Can I allow myself to just "be" with whatever it is I need to "be" with?

I realised today that I am no longer a student, it's official, my College pass expired at the end of June, College is now finished, I feel like I have been pushed out of the nest into the big world.  Yet I find myself in a kind of no man's land, no longer a student but not yet a qualified counsellor (my exam results do not come through until September).  With a completed portfolio which has been 2 years in the making, I now have time on my hands, and I am twiddling my thumbs wondering what to do.

Completed Portfolio

Should I be "doing?" Can I allow myself to just "be" with whatever each day brings without feeling the need to "do" something.  Can I give permission to relax and see what unfolds?

Part of the "allowing" process, has reconnected me to painting. I picked up an unfinished canvass a few days ago, I'm still applying the layers, it's morphing slowly, from this:

To this:

 I learnt this style of painting from Flora Bowley  during an Art Retreat a couple of years ago, I was fortunate enough to be in a group of 15 students and we spent 3 days painting with Flora.  I dipped into her book recently called Brave Intuitive Painting and smiled when I saw a picture of myself and a few others "flocking" in a field.  Flora has some great methods of freeing you up to engage in the painting process, from dancing to yoga to flocking! I am sure this canvass will go through many iterations yet and I hope I can stick with the intuitive painting process. 

I love this quote from Flora's book "the intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the raional mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift" - Albert Einstein