What comes to mind when you hear the phrase  “It takes a community”? How about:

• to raise a child
• to build a successful business
• to eradicate hate
• to keep a city clean
• to feed the hungry
• to survive a record-breaking snowstorm

The list goes on…

I may be a bit of a loner who doesn’t have children of my own, but I’m very well aware of the benefits and need for a strong, supportive, inclusive, loving community.

Whether online or in person, being a part of such a community is a life-line.

I’m sure you can come up with many examples in your own life – either gratitude for being a part of such a blessing or feeling the need for one.

I have my Saskatchewan friend Malika Sellami to thank for the inspiration for this painting.

She’s not only a folk world bilingual musician, kirtan leader, educational music entertainer, French tutor, and passive income consultant, she’s a single homeschool mama.

A little over a month ago, she posted a video on her Facebook wall expressing her challenges as a single homeschooling mother and her disillusionment with a “tight-knit community” she had helped build.

My heart reached out to her as I witnessed her tears and her courage to speak her truth.

This loving  friend was being real – being authentic about her need to feel loved, supported and respected.

My heart reached out to her.

“Whisper” – 11″x 14″ – $497

A few days later, I was still feeling her post.

Something in it or in her reached me in a way that I couldn’t necessarily explain in words.

So I did it in paint.

First was born the painting “Whisper” (11” x 14” – $497), the mother & child half of a heart with the second half being the invisible yet ever-present Team of Divine Helpers (see post here).

Then came “It Takes a Community” (20” x 20” – photo at the top of the post – SOLD).

In this one, I completed the heart with another adult & 2 children.

Whether you see these groupings as nuclear, joint, blended, same-sex parented or extended families, community groups of single parents, foster families, interest groups, etc. – the painting represents love being the key to flourishing as a vibrant healthy happy human community.

So love to you, Malika and to all who are open to both giving and receiving more love, support & respect – no matter who, what, where or why you are…

My heart reaches out to you all! 

May we be blessed with loving communities – helping shape them and opening to their shaping us.

Creating these paintings in a state of prayer, energy-work, and appreciation was how I was moved to respond to Malika’s call.

Whenever, however, and to whomever you feel called to lovingly respond in your unique way, I wish you the intuition-into-action courage to follow through. 

The world needs you! Your communities need you.

“Healing the Transitional Flow Through Humanity” – 12″ x 24″

Each painting has a vibration that resonates with specific people, inviting them to raise their vibration to the next level.

There’s so much joy when a painting finds its home – whether it’s given, received, purchased outright or by payment plan.

I believe that the art that’s created through me is meant for someone specific.

Sometimes, it takes years for that person to find the painting or to say “yes” to that inner calling. Sometimes, it happens as soon as I post a photo on Facebook. And then, there are times when it happens even before the painting is finished, like in this story.

May I introduce you to the painting “Healing the Transitional Flow Through Humanity“, named by Lesley Rumsey who chose to invest in bringing its energy home.

It was definitely Lesley’s time to have some of my art in her environment to nourish her transformational journey. If you read last week’s post, you’ll know that a 2nd painting of this collection was gifted to her on the same week.

Talk about the Law of Attraction!

Where your attention goes, energy flows.

Keep reading below for the story in her words.

” I’ve received intuitive guidance that I’m just at the beginning of a brand new chapter of my life – one that will last for the next 20 years. Mary is here to help.

Mary, for me, is all about grace, dignity, understanding, and loyalty. She’s an aspect of me that comes across when I’m being Me. She’s part of the foundation of my soul. Her energy in this painting is the spiritual energy of me. I resonate to Mary like so many people who resonate with her.

We resonate to a vibration first – the same as when we resonate to the vibration of friends or family. I resonated with this painting, feeling her as “home”.

In this painting, Mary is inviting me to contemplation. The ravens are my ancestors coming to tell me I’m to hold strong and stand in my faith in my Guides. This is my time for Me, so that I can better serve others.

When someone on Facebook commented that 3 crows symbolized healing, that made so much sense to me.

When my sister brought me to my first meditation back in 2010, I had a profound intuitive experience – the initiation into healing. For 5 years after that, it was all about me opening to me. “What is this? What is life? What is the Universe? What is me?”

Mary has come through during my channeling, especially when I’m opening more for me, healing more, finding grace for myself at times of healing.

In 2015, I grew more confident in my intuitive skills. I had more of the wanting to be of service. It took time to figure out how what came through could be good for someone else.

(It was during this time that I, Dominique, received a reading from Lesley, during which Mary came through for me. Full circle!)

I’m now opening to being of even greater service. I’ve asked my Guides for help and they’re answering. Instead of being dragged out, I want my intuition to be quicker, so I can help more. That’s when I really started channeling. Before then, it was more through imagery, clairvoyancy.

When I spotted the background of this painting in progress on Dominique’s Facebook, it screamed out “soul”, “healing”, “grace”. When I saw Mary’s side profile a week later, it was literally a feeling of that moment of soul, grace & healing.

Dominique had mentioned she’d received a vision of Mary meant for this painting. Even before that, though, this painting felt like home. The colours of the background felt like being in a womb, nourished by the nutrients of the placenta.

Now that she’s in my home, I’ve joined Mary in the contemplation. We’re doing it together.

There’s a reason I’m still following Dominique on social media.

Her art is about feeling, not logic. Anything she puts out there as the intuitive visionary artist she is, is extrasensory -be it the oracle cards I purchased years ago or her paintings.

Even if a particular painting isn’t meant for me, I can totally understand why it would resonate with someone. I look at and appreciate everything she creates.

Her work has a whole different energy to it altogether. When she creates in that energy flow, it keeps on going through and beyond time. Dominique creates on a different vibration than most art out there.

Not surprisingly, my 8-year old daughter picked up on that energy before she even saw the painting live. She uncharacteristically  asked to see a picture before I picked it up and said “Mommy, this is absolutely beautiful!” My child picks up on vibration, on beauty.

She and my sister Kara had to see it live before the official unveiling at my family reunion. Our friend Meagan who was there was in awe seeing Dominique’s art for the first time, especially since 2 other pieces of that collection were all there on the table.

The energy has a definite ripple effect.

I had picked this painting before it was even finished because it felt good to me online. I’d already tapped into its unique energy thumbprint. I felt the energy through the screen. So now that it’s at home, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the energy is still flowing through it, resonating with my very soul.” ~ Lesley Rumsey

“Healing the-Transitional Flow Through Humanity” – 12″ x 24″

“Sheila’s Brush” (12″ x 12″) – SOLD

I live in St. John’s, a city where the last snowfall often happens in May, although it’s been known to come in June too.

This year has been unusually mild, and we didn’t receive nearly as much of the white stuff as during last year’s Snowmageddon, when the army had to come dig us out.

But we did have a surprise snowstorm soon after St. Patrick’s day in March, a weather event folks around here call Sheila’s Brush.

You can see why an island like Newfoundland, which is known for its rich & charming dialect, would have a ton of weather-related expressions. It even has its own dictionary!

As a Come From Away (CFA), having moved here in 2011, I’m still delighted, surprised, and sometimes confused by what I hear.

Just the other day, a friend commented on the foggy harbour photos I posted on Facebook with “Lovely. Tell your mother”.

Confused, I responded: “I’m not sure what you mean?”. This friend knew my mother had transitioned a little over a year ago. And anyway, why would I tell my mother about fog in the harbour?

Another friend responded: “Newfies say that about everything, lol. Some of us were brought up or raised up to tell your mudder everything.”

I smiled, having learned one more local turn of phrase.

(By the way, “Newfie”, an old term of endearment, is now usually perceived as offensive if spoken by outsiders).

I’ve had friends move away from the island because of the weather. With its fog, snow, wind and rain records, it’s not a place for those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

But it’s one of the reasons I love it here. I can’t tolerate extreme heat. I think the weather rocks! It’s not too hot or too cold. It has an average summer temperature of 16°C (61°F), while the winter hovers around 0°C (32°F).

Since I don’t do well in extreme heat, that’s a perfect summer in my books! And there’s usually enough snow to snowshoe in the winter, so that’s great too.

It saddened me to read / hear complaints about Sheila’s Brush a month ago.

Why? Because it seems such a waste of energy to gripe about something that’s out of our control, like the weather. Doesn’t it feel so much better to embrace it?

A shift of perception can transform your whole experience. Weather is a great place to start practicing that.

I used to be a worry-wart, a control freak. I can easily get anxious, which is why I practice all I do and share it here with you. I can only teach what I myself have learned.

And I’ve learned that worry only happens when I shift out of alignment with Source – when I lose my faith, my trust. It comes from our human selves, not our Spirit selves.

Worry comes from a desire to be in control. We either want to control our environment or the outcome of situations. That anxiety then leads to micromanaging, blaming, and complaining. Basically, it’s a choice for unhappiness.

Face it, there’s lots more out there we can worry about. But worry drains us of the energy to be and do well in this world.

I love Mark Twain’s quote:

‘I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.’

The key is knowing what is in your control and what isn’t. Then comes the choice to shift your perception, attitude and behaviour to make the best of a situation.

The weather has taught me that.

I can complain all I want about snow in late March or delight in a sprinkling of white as late as June – the photographic opportunities would be amazing!

The real question is:  “Is this a problem I can solve? Or do I need to change how I feel about the perceived problem?”

Sheila’s Brush 2021:

When Sheila’s Brush hit, I was in the midst of a creative flow in the studio. I delighted in taking breaks in the backyard, photographing the crocus flowers piercing through the snow – which in turn led to the painting “Awakening“.

When the crocus disappeared under a blanket of white, I was glad to get an extra snowshoe in – likely the last of the season.

As I write this, we’re starting week 2 of heavy wind and rainfall warnings. I took a few very wet walks in great rain gear, but am choosing to do more dancing at home instead.

Weather is definitely a great teacher of radical acceptance and letting go of control. It simply is.

What else might you be worrying or complaining about that’s out of your control? What’s in your control to be or do that can help you regain your balance?

May this painting created during this year’s Sheila’s Brush be a reminder of the freedom that comes from letting go of a need for control, complaining, and worrying.

May it be a visual anchor for your power to choose happiness through radical acceptance and inspired action.

When you look at it from different angles, you’ll see subtle iridescent colours appear behind the branches. You have to look to spot them though.

Title: Sheila’s Brush

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