Get in Touch with Your Energy!
Angela Jamison

"Get in Touch with Your Energy!" What a fun little phrase – it encourages you to do so. But then again you start to think about it and ask, well, am I not in touch with my energy at all times?

Welcome to my world. My art has been a product of me getting in touch with my energy and defining exactly what that means. For four years now I have been creating and selling vibrant abstract art, but have been at a loss for words as to my process. What process do I use during the creation of my art? I am beginning to realize that this is a common question with all of us on some type of spiritual path striving to grow and become One with our Divine Selves daily. How I may be different from you is that I use my art to help me find my process of spiritual growth.

That is what I am writing to you about here in this article, to teach you how I communicate with my Divine Self through art. Perhaps you can use my process as your own. Let’s be honest with ourselves, living in the NOW is very difficult to do 24/7. We try to find time to meditate everyday, which may work for a couple of days, or maybe even for months if you are really disciplined, and years if you are a meditation teacher! However, we as spiritual beings need to strive to find ways to be in communication with our spirit and at the same time live our busy lives. The more tools we have to obtain this goal, the more practical it becomes to achieve it. We have tarot decks, angels, animal totems, … and we also have our creativity! Yes, WE ARE ALL CREATIVE. The definition of creativity is "being productive by bringing something into existence," and we bring a plethora of things into existence each day! Why not use our creativity to shorten the gap between our human and our Divine Selves?

I practice three simple steps in order to use my creativity to increase the communication I have been talking about. The first step is Preparation. In my preparation step, I make sure to have all materials I will need to start the process. I have oil pastels, chalks, colored pencils, colored markers, and lots of different qualities of paper. I have several choices for music too In case I need help on focusing. I find it hard at times to focus in a meditative state without music because my mind takes over the meditation. In this preparation stage I always want to have an intention, be it general such as "happiness" or a specific question I want to answer. Once I have my intention, I spend just a few moments in silence before I begin my music, and concentrate fully on my intention.

The second step is Incubation. This step is totally experiential. The music begins and you let your soul choose the color you will first use. You then put the utensil you are using to the paper and let it flow. Sometimes you will have a symbol to create and sometimes it will just be a movement or feeling. The key here is to let go and allow the experience to guide you through the process. Once you are finished with the first color, pick another and then another until you are finished. You know the process is finished when you do not get another pull to pick another color or no movement or symbols are coming to you.

The final step is Illumination. This last step varies in time. After you have finished your art piece, there are several options. When people come to my studio I have a series of questions that I ask them about their process which helps them to have words to identify what happened during the incubation step. If you are on your own, you can simply hang your piece on your refrigerator and look at it for the next couple of days. Ask yourself what you were feeling during the process and jot down anything that comes to you. Look for symbols that are familiar to you. What colors do you like? Which ones do you not like, and why? Keep a log of all the illuminations that come to you for the next couple of weeks and even create more art with the same intention and see what manifests.

The more frequently you create these images, the quicker and easier the illumination will come to you. This is a wonderful way to use your creativity to "Get in Touch with Your Energy!" Although it may seem like a time consuming endeavor, you can do it in a very simplified manner many times a day. Have you ever mindlessly doodled on a piece of paper while waiting for someone, or during a rather boring conference? Voilà! That doodling process can be used as your communication process. Just take the three steps – Preparation, Incubation, Illumination – and try it out. Carry a small notebook with you and watch as your doodles transform over the weeks, and even months. It is nice to be able to add another tool to your spiritual tool belt.

Good Luck to you on your spiritual path and your trek for Oneness with the Universe!

Angela Jamison is a local artist with a studio at Lyndon Street Artworks, 205 Lyndon Street in downtown Greensboro, where she holds one-on-one classes on the information given in this article. Angela has a gift of teaching people to move through experiences to connectedness, and looks forward to seeing you in her studio. You can also enjoy her work hanging in several locations around town. For more information, you may contact Angela at ajam22@yahoo.com or 336-210-6829.