Have you picked a word for the year? One that calls you, guides you, stretches you?

Mine for 2024 is “Listening”

When I received it intuitively, I knew it didn’t only mean listening to my inner guidance, to my intuition. I’m pretty good at Listening to those on the vertical plane – to Spirit and my Team of Divine Helpers.

It also means Listening much better to those on the horizontal plane: my fellow humans, my community, whomever I’m face to face with.

Having spent so much time on my own, it’s easy to let those skills go.

Active listening is definitely a skill that can be practiced. I used to teach it at university to my English Second Language students.

But it’s more than a skill. It’s a natural outcome of having an open heart – of caring, of loving, of compassion. It’s also the result of being fully present in the here & now. 

I know I’ll be getting a lot of Listening practice on both the vertical and horizontal plane while living in intentional community this March & April at Ananda Village in California. As part of the Karma Yoga program, I’ll not only be listening to my fellow volunteers and our leaders, but to all the guests who we’ll be serving.

I can be pretty goal oriented and, when I am, can forget to Listen – inside & out. That’s why I chose “Listening” as my word for 2024.

What’s yours?

It’s been a year and a half since I added to the Love Oracle series. Here’s #24 with paintings created since. To revisit previous ones, access the index here.

Listen to your heart as to which of the 3 paintings at the top of the page most speaks to you today (on all levels).

Then scroll below to read its message, asking your Team of Divine Helpers and Higher Self how you can translate that message into inspired action in your life.

*** Note: 27 of my paintings have found a new temporary home as I prepare to leave the country for a few months of karma yoga. Thank you to Una Keenan of Boathouse Wellness at Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s NL for welcoming my energy-infused paintings into your gorgeous space.

Recently opened, Boathouse Wellness includes a rental yoga studio, so whether you’re coming to see one of the therapists on site or to do a little stretching or dancing, enjoy!

Original paintings will continue to be sold through my online shop while I am out of the country. If you’re interested in a payment plan, please contact me before Valentine’s Day.

Dear Beloved,

Listen in. Focus on the voice of your heart.

Fine tune your hearing to let go of the ego shouts of “coulda, woulda, shoulda”.

It’s only once you discern the whispers of your soul under all the exclamations of fear and resistance in your life that you can set yourself free.

Are the people, places, activities, etc. that you choose to spend time with/in/doing filling your inner and outer space with aggravating noise, or do they help you zone in on the soulful song of love that is forever humming at your very core?

Do one thing today to help you Listen more care-fully to your Truth.

Reduce the cacophony of peer pressure, self-limitations, doubts and judgment (yours and that of others).

Hear your heart. Soar on the wings of inner peace that naturally grow from living in alignment with your True Self.

Painting: In Myself I Am Free (18″ x 24″)  Professional acrylics & channeled energy work on gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing required. CAD $1,297. Buy it here.  More on it here…

Dear Beloved,

Stop. Step back to admire all the fruit that have abundantly filled your life – the fruit that came from growing such deep roots. 

You did that. Through intention, hard work, following your bliss, perseverance and patience, you have become a most beautiful thriving garden. And through all the lessons learned, you have become a most expert gardener.

But do you hear a call? When you pause, take a deep breath, are grateful for all you are and all you have, you just might hear an invitation to take a break from all the toil. What is that invitation to?

What does your soil truly need to ensure your garden continues to thrive?

Is this truly the time to get your hands deeper in the dirt, to water the roots, or to climb up a ladder to pick the fruit?

Or is it time to let the land rest, to grow new sprouts, to notice what is budding, flowering, and ripening?

There is a season for everything. Listen in. What season is it for you and your garden right now?

Painting: Vive la Vida (30″ x 30″)  Professional acrylics & channeled energy work on gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing required. CAD $3,177. Buy it here.  Order prints here.   More on it here…

Dear Beloved,

What have you stopped hearing?

Is it the prayers or affirmations you recite by rote? Have the words lost meaning, vibration?

Is it the voice of your loved ones because you’re too stressed to truly hear the meaning behind their words?

Is it the signals your body has been giving you to propel you to care for it or to seek care for it in ways that are aligned with wellness?

How about the taps on your shoulder from your Team of Divine Helpers as they place events, people, signs, and synchronicities in your days to guide you in an answer to your calls for help?

When there is so much static on the lines of communication – anxiety, fear, depression, boredom – it becomes hard to hear … to truly hear.

So ask your heart: “Where can I become a more active listener? What am I too hurried to notice? Who is feeling unheard in my life?” It could even be you.

Then call on your Team of Divine Helpers, Angels & Archangels, Ascended Masters like Buddha, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mother Mary, or whomever you feel connected to. Call on them to show you the way on your Path to your Highest Good.

Then become hyper-aware of what presents itself as you truly Listen for their answer. It may not happen immediately or how you would imagine it could. But if you’ve asked, know that the answers will come. Keep Listening through all your channels.

When you hear the Guidance, take inspired action. Trust. From baby steps to leaps of faith, you’ll find yourself back on track to hearing clearly.

Painting: I Saw the Lord in a Vision (Mary Magdalene) (12″ x 24″)  Professional acrylics & channeled energy work on gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing required. CAD $867. Buy it here.  More on it here….

“Follow your bliss” – such wise advice by Joseph Campbell and what this drum embodies.

As we approach Solstice, Christmas and the end of 2023, it’s the perfect time to journey within your inner landscape, following the arrow of your intuition to reflect, step by step, on your Path: the one that brought you here & now, and the one that is opening up to you the more you align to your True Self, to your Highest Good.

What is the essence of the 2024 you’re manifesting with every step you take?

I co-created this drum with Spirit while celebrating my year’s journey into Self, community, and the world (including my visit to Chartres in the Spring of 2023 to walk its labyrinth, reproduced here).

It was painted in the same time period as my leading the Holiday Spirit Circle, which has raised my vibration to new levels. I’d said Yes! to Spirit after receiving its Guidance – an answer to a prayer that has done so much more than stretch my technology comfort zones with my first online program. This profound morning ritual of sharing, channelling, and holding space for its participants has filled my heart and soul to overflowing.

The Labyrinth Drum was created in that space of love and gratitude while spending a few days in creative bliss: painting, listening to an audio book by Saint Teresa of Avila, chanting & praying.

Painting this drum was a gift I gave myself and is now a gift I offer to you. 

You might enjoy the short video above, the story it inspired here, or the inspired action it has led you to take so that you too can follow your bliss.

You may even decide to bring The Labyrinth Drum home – for yourself or for another. I know it will be the right bliss booster for the person it’s meant to serve.

Chanting and drumming are truly bliss boosters. They help open the throat chakra (the energy centre within your subtle energy body that regulates expressing your Truth). This chakra is also the chimney that allows your energy to flow from the heart to your third eye (intuition) & crown chakra (enlightenment).

Paramahansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi , the guru for the Ananda Ashram I went to in Italy this summer) used to say that chanting is half the battle on the path to self-realization. It can open you up to the bliss of this style of meditation, of devotion.

My drum and I attended the St. John’s Sacred Sound song circle the night before writing this post – and I’m still vibrating from it. I truly recommend you give chanting a try.

Is joining a devotional song circle something you’re inspired to plan & schedule for 2024?

The Labyrinth Drum is a one-of-a-kind hand-painted drum infused with so much love, energy, and symbolism. Can you feel it?

As you journey with the peace dove to the centre of the labyrinth, you gather what you most need.

Feel its beat as you journey towards and pause at your centre, with gratitude. Then carry whatever peace, wisdom, inspiration you gathered during your walk inwards back out into your daily life.

The lapis lazuli stone acts as an arrow and support on the path to the labyrinth. Its energy assists in opening the third eye – centre of wisdom and intuition.  This stone also helps you discover your inner truth,  leads to peace of mind and calmness in body.

The stone is embedded in mica, which radiates the energy of love & compassion.

The peace dove also symbolizes freedom, expression, a rising of vibration and Spirit.

The golden dragonflies on the outer rim and frame help remind you to look and live beyond the illusions and delusions of this life as you more fully emerge as your True Self on this transformational journey.

The sound of Labyrinth Drum is deep and rich. It’s a 16″ Remo vegan buffalo drum.

The Remo Standard Buffalo Drum is inspired by the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Equipped with a rope handle and a single mallet. The Remo Standard Buffalo Drum is manufactured with Remo’s Fiberskyn® drumheads and patented Acousticon® drum shells for enhanced durability in any environment. Producing the same tonal characteristics found on traditional wood shell drums, the standard Buffalo Drums feature excellent projection and enhanced low-pitched fundamentals.

If the Labyrinth Drum is meant to be yours, you can purchase it here in my online shop. $999 (Canadian).

Happy Solstice & Merry Christmas dear one. May whatever your inner & outer experiences be this holiday season, may they nourish your transformational journey.

You are an individualized expression of the Divine! May every step you take be a part of that re-membering.

5 painted vegan Remo buffalo drums came into being in my Fall 2023 Painted Drum Collection. See them all here.

Isn’t it wonderful to think that we’re all part of the Divine Oneness?

But what does that mean in practical terms?

This drum, my art & services, and my upcoming travels & studies in Europe are all part of my opening to a more connected sense of unity consciousness.

Do you feel connected to the Oneness of all beings in your daily life?

I’ve come a long way on my journey from me to we, but I feel I’ve still got far to go.

Playing happy hermit during the pandemic years certainly didn’t help. I contributed through my services, blog, social media…., but mostly from afar. 

It was in April of last year that I was inspired to create a month-long Community Spirit Treasure Hunt in collaboration with Guide to the Good – encouraging St. John’s to get back out to find 60 of my art pieces in 11 local businesses. I was making a Spirit-Guided opening to and for community. It was a step forward.

This year, I feel my Team of Divine Helpers pushing those doors wide open.

First, I’ll be 18 days with a group on the Mary Magdalene Pilgrimage in the South of France with one of its goal to connect to the essence of the Essenes’ way of community living.

Then, after a few days of integrating that on my own near Monet’s Gardens in Givenchy, I’ll be visiting friends in the Czech Republic (where I discovered an extrovert side to my personality teaching in 1992 & 94).

Next, I’ll be going to spend a week in the world’s largest intentional community called Damanhur in a valley near the Italian Alps. Their underground Temples of Humankind have been called the 8th Wonder of the World. That’s what attracted me at first. But the more YouTube videos I watch on this spiritual community focused on harmony between all beings, the more curious and excited I become at my learning ahead.

Following that, I’ll be living in community for 2 months at the Ananda Ashram near Assisi while studying Transformative Arts at the Academy of Arts, Creativity & Consciousness across the street.

This loner is about to be stretched way out of her comfort zones! Obviously, Spirit believes I’m ready. I must have asked for it on some level and have definitely said yes to my soul’s invitation. Yay!

Since then, everything has fallen into place to make these 3 months in Europe happen.

I’m open to experiencing what Unity Consciousness means at a much deeper level. I’m so grateful this drum project has helped make it happen.

Like all 8 drums in this fundraiser, The Unity Consciousness Drum has found a home.

As of the sale of another painting on Sunday, I’m at 92% of my fundraising goals.

What is your Spirit Calling you forward to? Intuitive Guidance is often an invitation to grow.

May your unique journey be a fulfilling one too! When you say ‘yes!’ to your Spirit Calls, doors open and energy flows. That’s all part of the Divine interconnectedness.

The Unity Consciousness Drum was the 3rd I painted as part of my 8-Painted-Drum-Fundraiser. 

This drum is filled with vibrancy, colour, and joyous momentum. I can still feel it every time I see its photo or video. Can you?

First came the sacred geometry of the Vesica Piscis, one of the oldest symbols in the world.

Two identical circles interface as Heaven and Earth to symbolize Oneness, or Unity. Each circle’s centre lies on the other circle’s circumference. This is all about the joining of the spiritual and material worlds.

The section in the middle, the actual Vesica Pisces (fish’s bladder) has represented everything from divine glory, Jesus, the vulva, maternity, and more in different cultures.

If you’re familiar with my art, this sacred geometry is the one I’m most often called to include.

The connection between heaven and earth is also represented in the sacred symbol of the Tree of Life with its rich fruit and deep roots. These call into awareness our abundance and innate gifts from Spirit – the ethereal orbs that fill both sides.

The spiral in motion at the centre of the tree trunk represents yet again that blending of spirit and humanity – the Life Force that flows within us to help us grow.

What does the Tree of Life within the Vesica Pisces mean to you? Can you feel its energies of connections, strength, enlightenment, rebirth, growth, family, joy, tranquility?

And what do you see that design to one side as being?

Is it a flower, a symbol of blossoming?

Is it an arrow, symbol of clarity & direction?

Is it a bird, symbol of freedom and motion?

During the long hours of painting this drum, all of these energies and interpretations visited the studio.

And sometimes, the meanings changed depending on which way the drum was held.

If the roots of the tree are in water and the verdant branches at the top,  the abstract design points to the right. But if the roots lie within the green earth and the branches reach into the blue sky, the abstract design faces left.

Together, all these symbols and the energies infused into this drum call us forwards and upwards in our vibration so that we may unite to ourselves, others, Nature and to the Divine.

That’s why it gave me its name as “The Unity Consciousness Drum”