How to be Present, Innovative and Make a Difference in the World

Creativity and spirituality are intertwined…

Creativity is...

Live Fully and With Grace by Kathy Crabbe

Live Fully and With Grace by Kathy Crabbe

For me, being creative means constantly challenging myself to explore new frontiers, develop skills, play, dream and live fully in the present. Creativity helps one be present and in the moment. When you’re creating you’re not in your head. Taking action can get you going and feels intense and amazing.

How can being creative make a difference in the world?

Art, artists and all creative beings can teach people that there is a greater purpose in life beyond just surviving: there is the possibility of creating something so beautiful, thought provoking, intelligent, funny, magical that one can touch people on a soul level and change their life. The world can become a better place for everyone in the process; people can come together in peace and love to appreciate all the arts. Art can help us care about life, make it worth living, and make it worth fighting for the things that matters.

Art reminds us that we have a soul.

Art reminds us to laugh at ourselves.

Art shakes us out of our complacency.

Art wakes us up to our potential.

Ar reminds us to live each moment in the present.

Art is life.

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Creative People I admire and why

Margaret Atwood: brilliant, edgy, biting wit, environmentalist, great writer working with integrity, makes me laugh and wince.

Maude (from the movie 'Harold and Maude'): great fighting spirit, passionate, young at heart, amazing home (a railway car), feisty, daring and loving.

Contemporary Japanese woodblock printmakers: their art is abstract, nature based, simplified, textural, primitive looking, graphic, bold yet subtle, beautiful use of color. Artists: Shiko Munakata, Naoko Matsubara

Success is...

- Knowing there are new frontiers to explore every day - being alone with one’s thoughts and creating - helping others through sharing, loving, kindness, compassion and insight .

Integrity is...

- Making a difference in people's lives through creating, writing and sharing with heart, soul, intuition, passion and intelligence.

Deluxe-Soul-Reading

My Story

I have always been involved in the creative arts: painting, drawing, making music, writing, journaling, dancing and have pursued these passions with much intensity and focus, often preferring my own company to anyone else. Being creative opened a door for me into the world of imagination.

At thirteen I began a dream journal which helped me connect with other worlds and realms of consciousness. I learned how to trust and request dream guidance for the important questions in my life.

In my early twenties I was guided towards meditation to further my spiritual quest and found a class led by a wonderful teacher called 'Om' who had been trained by the guru, Sri Chinmoy. I continue to practice meditation along with yoga, dream journaling and creative expression and this forms the basis of my intuitive and spiritual development. Because I have learned how to access and trust my inner voice and visions I am able to connect with the Divines.

Kathy Crabbe in Laguna Beach

Kathy Crabbe in Laguna Beach

Shortly after moving to Southern California (Laguna Beach) at age thirty I experienced a Rebirthing session during which I envisioned an entire business scheme for my LuLu Design artwork to be sold as cards, prints, clothing and originals. Soon after I discovered the perfect medium, silk painting and within one year I had been in over fifteen art fairs selling my work. I was also accepted into Laguna Beach's Sawdust Art Festival where I showed my work for eight years. Each year my husband would build a two story booth for the two month long (10 am - 10 pm) show involving over 200 artists - what an incredibly fun, successful, beautiful creative community that was!

During this time I continued to celebrate the seasons with sacred circles, ritual, tarot, dreamwork and meditation and my visions increased. Laguna Beach is also a mecca for astrologers, another passion of mine so I had the chance to study firsthand with many wonderful astrologers such as Steven Forrest, Jeffrey Wolf Green, Donna Cunningham, and privately with Patty Davidson.

Capricorn Goddess by Kathy Crabbe

Capricorn Goddess by Kathy Crabbe

I also spent an intensely creative month creating, painting and writing a Goddess Zodiac Playbook based upon channeled meditations for each of the zodiac signs in combination with the moon. As the moon entered each zodiac sign where it stayed for two days I created a sacred circle filled with all the symbols, foods and colors associated with that sign. I researched goddess lore for each sign (which wasn't easy to since most astrology books were not goddess oriented), meditated, wrote and channeled the energy of that sign which turned out to be an incredibly powerful experience! Then I would paint this energy as Goddesses. I also included poetry, stories and myth into the book and then gathered together a circle to experience the book firsthand - it was truly created to be an interactive experience.

In early 2000 I started drawing and painting exclusively with my non-dominant left hand, also known as the intuitive hand because it's controlled by the intuitive right brain (if you're right handed that is) and for five years drew only with my left hand. Because I had recently moved to an isolated spot in the countryside I had no friends for the first five years and so the 'Lefties' were born and I discovered over 500 new 'friends'!

During this time I turned forty and Uranus Opposition kicked in to help push me to really, really stretch and grow. I realized that I had absorbed and learned all I could (I felt very full!) and that I MUST share it by giving psychic readings using my art. It was the Lefties who suggested in a dream that I turn them into Lefty 'Tarot' cards and give psychic readings online (along with encouragement from my husband, favorite psychic and a wonderful life coach) and so the next day I did just that! I started offering free mini readings in the Etsy forum where I had previously set up a shop selling my artwork and I ended up giving 100's of free readings, learning a ton in the process!

karma-boutique

Giving Psychic Readings at Karma Boutique, San Diego

I also started giving psychic readings at a local new age store, but soon discovered that distance readings (where I never met the client face-to-face) worked better for everyone because there were no distractions preventing me from connecting and channeling the Divine. When I give readings I always prepare myself through yoga, meditation, flute playing and with crystals so that I can become as clear, still and focused as possible. I receive clairvoyant visions, and sometimes smells, words and feeling sensations in my body which I immediately write down in my spiral note pad which rests at my side. I am usually guided towards specific crystals and oracle cards (I only work with cards of my own design). More about my technique can be found here.

It's been a lifelong journey of discovery, creation and intuitive, spiritual awakening so to be able to share it with you and connect others of like mind is a gift I will always be grateful for. We, each and every one of us have within us, the seeds to be intuitive, creative beings, for truly, we are all one.

Wise Woman Radio Interview: I'm interviewed by Susun Weed, founder of the Wise Woman School.

Reluctant Medium Radio Interview: Ghostbuster Jamie & I chat about past lives, spirits, developing intuition and more.

Purchase a Soul Reading here.

How to Manifest Abundance and Prosperity at the New Moon

“I have been writing new moon checks for the past few years and it is amazing how abundance comes in!”
— Brenda & Dawn, Divine Moon Musers

Writing a New Moon Check

Anybody can use some extra cash, especially if it means being able to buy a particular item, save for a vacation, or simply to kick back and enjoy a night out on the town. A great way to manifest a desired amount of money is to write yourself a New Moon Check.

To begin, write out the amount of money you want to create or manifest. It's called a New Moon Check because you write it during the first 24 hours of a New Moon, when manifesting magic is strongest.

Before you begin writing your check, think about how much you might want to create, whether it's based on meeting your financial obligations, or for something that is purely recreational. The general rule of thumb is to write the check for an amount you truly believe possible for you to manifest.

Integrity by Kathy Crabbe

Integrity by Kathy Crabbe

For example, if you wrote your check for one million dollars, but yet, you have a strong belief that it’s not possible, that one million dollars will probably take a very long time to manifest in your life, most likely only after you have worked through any limiting beliefs. Therefore, if you want to see results quickly, it would be wisest to ask for a reasonable amount of money.

Try not to think of yourself as needing this amount of money, as needing often implies lack; instead, imagine this amount of money as adding to your prosperity. Imagine that you already have the amount of money you are manifesting, right this second. What would you do with it? How do you feel with this amount of money in your life? Play it out in your imagination with as much detail as possible. Imagine these feelings of joy and prosperity radiating out into the Universe. As you do this, you are becoming magnetic to whatever it is you focus upon.

Finally, when you're done, hold your check in your hands and surround it with white light, and then release it fully and completely. It's important not to hold any attachments to the results of this exercise; simply acknowledge that the money will begin flowing into your life immediately thereafter, and trust that the Universe will find the easiest way to do so.

Put your check somewhere safe and try not to think about it for the next 28 days. During this time, be especially alert to opportunities that come your way, and pay attention to your intuition, as it can guide you to your money sooner. You’ll also want to acknowledge any money that comes your way with gratitude, including any expected income; this will send messages to the Universe that you are ready to receive even more of what you have.

When the next New Moon comes, take your check out and review how much money you have received in the past 28 days. If you managed to manifest the amount you wrote in the check, congratulations! If not, write yourself another check and repeat the process until you do manifest successfully.

Memory of Odin by Kathy Crabbe

How to Fill In Your Check

In the PAY TO section write your name. In the box for the dollar amount write PAID IN FULL. On the line you usually write out the text of the amount again write PAID IN FULL while visualizing all possibilities (It's your creation...anything is possible!) Sign the check with the words “THE UNIVERSE” or "THE LAW OF ABUNDANCE."

Put it somewhere safe and forget about it. The Universe will take care of the rest. One version of this has directions for a drumming pattern ritual you can follow up with after the check writing and stashing.

Originally written and shared by students in my Moon Musing eClass.

About Kathy Crabbe, Soul Reader & Artist

Kathy Crabbe

Creator of the Lefty Oracle Deck and teacher at Wise Woman School, Kathy Crabbe inspires others to live their dreams. In 2000 Kathy was bored and blocked creatively so she switched to her left hand. This awakened her intuitive right brain in a holistic way so she created a 54 card Lefty Oracle Deck to inspire others.

Kathy lives and works in an adobe style home she and her husband built by hand near Temecula, California on the traditional land of the Payómkawichum.

For Kathy’s soul readings and astrology reports please click here.

Book a Soul Reading

Creative Time Tips: How To Recharge Your Soul

cactus-flower-in-bloom

Spring is in the air and I can feel spring fertility energizing my hopes and dreams in new and exciting directions! But the tricky part is recognizing which direction is the most powerful one to take without getting overwhelmed by too many choices. I've included some Creative Time Tips below to help you get started with plenty of room left over to balance life, work and creativity.

Staying Focused

I found it quite interesting that an issue of Wired magazine talked about how Twitter and Facebook can actually help make us more productive, not less - hard to believe isn't it?!!

“Research has shown that regularly stepping back from the project at hand can be essential to success. And social networks are particularly well suited to stoking the creative mind ... we need periodic breaks to relieve our conscious minds of the pressure to perform - pressure that can lock us into a single mode of thinking. Musing about something else for a while can clear away the mental detritus, letting us see an issue through fresh eyes, a process that creativity researchers call incubation ... regular breaks enhance problem-solving skills significantly.”
— Wired Magazine

I was also inspired by an interview with Danish film director, Susanne Bier who shared this important tip she learned at film school: “Kill the darlings and focus on the ball. "

In my own work as a soul reader and creative being I have had to learn that lesson over and over again. I still find it tough to let go of paintings I adore and to know when to call it quits on a painting in progress.

Staying Strong

Tip 1. Soul Time - take some alone-time but without being tyrannical about it, to be in nature, take a walk, and enjoy the scenery without putting pressure on yourself to do anything but just be in the moment - it can be a refreshing way to recharge your soul and find joy in the small things that you often overlook.

Tip 2. Creative Time - let yourself dabble around in a journal to release whatever pent up thoughts, emotions and ideas are brewing away in your mind. Allow yourself complete creative freedom without worrying that anyone else will have to see or judge your scribblings, think of it as a way to let off creative steam and once again, allow yourself to be in the moment and really have fun with it.

Tip 3. Media Free Time - free up your creative mind and allow yourself some space to hear your own mind, feelings, soul, by spending one day (or more) without listening to the media: news, tv, internet news, etc.

What new projects are you germinating right now and how could you benefit from creating healthy, balanced new ways of being?

Meditating at Crystal Point

Meditating at Crystal Point

Kathy Crabbe
Soul Reader + Artist

If you are seeking inspiration and spiritual guidance you may want to consider a soul reading, past life reading, astro report or ancestral/spirit guide reading for further insight.
All readings are here.

I work solely with oracle cards from my own hand painted decks. I teach and contribute to the Creative Cronies Moon Diary, California Women’s Museum, Witches and Pagans/Sage Woman Magazine and Wise Woman School.