You Are a Divine Offering

The universally loved Plumeria (commonly known as Frangipani) is a symbol of life, love and divine wholeness. In India it is known as the Temple Tree as it is often planted in temple grounds where its fragrant flowers are ritually placed on alters as sacred offerings.

One of the most sacred offerings we can gift ourselves is to express our wholeness through us and into our life.

The Temple Tree needs both light and dark to thrive. So do we. As we embrace our own light and shadow we create fertile ground for embodying the full expression of who we are. Who we are is ever-evolving. As one aspect heals and grows it helps our other aspects to heal and grow. Like the pinwheel petals of the Temple Tree flower, when one area of our inner or outer world experiences a shift, the others shift synchronistically.

It is said each petal of the Temple Tree flower represents one of the five qualities necessary for a divine state of being;

Sincerity tells us to express ourselves from our heart.
Faith encourages us to believe or trust in what feels right for the self.
Aspiration is our desire or that which pulls us forth into more of who we are.
Devotion speaks to us of the sacredness of prayer - the way in which you honour your wholeness and/or your interconnectedness with all life.
Surrender reminds us to let go of what no longer serves us and be present.

We each have our own list of (conscious or subconscious) qualities that are important to us for cultivating and maintaining a divine state of being, whatever that means to you.

You might like to ask yourself the following questions or explore them further by writing down your responses in your journal;
- Which qualities do you find important in your own life for cultivating and maintaining a divine state of being or sense of inner wholeness?
- In what ways are you embodying the qualities that are important to you?
- How can you enhance your connection with each of these?

Embrace your wholeness to open up to your most blossoming self and life.

I'd love to hear about the important qualities in your life! In what ways do you embody them? Add your comments below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page.

Shine on, Jelena x

© Copyright Jelena Mrkich 2013.

Permission is granted to share this post and images within it freely on the condition that the author is credited and this byline is included. Jelena Mrkich is an Artist, Art Therapist and Creative Catayst who is passionate about creativity as a tool for healing, transformation and self-awareness. For more info visit JelenaMrkich.com or for regular creative good things join her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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Angel Wings

Angel Wings was one of my littlest chickens.

I took this pic with her on Friday as part of Be Your Own Light, a photographic journey by self-love guide Vivienne McMaster. My prompt was to take a pic in the shade. I was outside with my chickens for their evening walk as the sun made its nightly descent behind the hills. Looking up I realised that dusk throws a soft blanket of shade over all things. It's a magical momentary in-between time when there is still enough light to see sans any direct sunlight. With my camera in hand I turned on the self-timer mode and had a photo shoot with my chickens.

As she had been moving slowly in the past week most pics were with Angel Wings. I had been spending more time with her recently as I could see she was needing extra care. Soon after this pic, the chickens made their way into their coop for the night. I instinctively placed extra straw on top of their nesting boxes, right under where Angel Wings was perched. The next morning (Saturday) as I opened the coop to let the chickens out for breakfast, I found Angel Wings with her eyes closed. She had passed away in her sleep on the extra pile of straw. As those who love animals know, our animal friends become part of the family. My heart panged at the loss of her.

Heart pangs at the loss of something dear to the self are not comfortable. Yet to feel them are a blessing. For it says the heart is present, open and feeling. 

Creativity is one of the most powerful ways to move through such feelings and life itself, including its ebbs, flows, ughs, ahhs, wonders and woes. Creativity helps bring things to light, and is a transformational way to honour all that moves, strengthens, shifts and uplifts us.

Thus, I find myself writing this and sharing pics of AW.



Angel Wings at three weeks old, on the first day in her new home. 19 April 2010.



Positively tiny in their new home, the seven sisters at three weeks old. Raised by Danny and I, next week they turn three years old. Top left and anti-clockwise; Starsky, Angel Wings, Hutchie, Meryl, Frankie, Titch (Chica) and Mama Coop. 19 April 2010.



Angel Wings getting her scratch on in the grass last week. 12 March 2013.



Angel Wings and me, unintentionally captured with see-through arms - reminding me of angel's wings. It's a happy memory to know she got to sit in lush grass on her last night. And fills me with gratitude that in my hunt for shade, I caught an adorable momento. 15 March 2013.



Our hand-carved memory stick by Danny for the feathery ones who have transitioned. 16 March 2013.

My turned-out-not-so-random photo shoot on Friday reminds the self that the key to meaning-making and memory-creating in life is in being present to each moment.

Whatever you are feeling right now in your own life, bless the full spectrum of your feelings. For their presence means your heart is breaking open to more of who you are.

Shine on, Jelena x

© Copyright Jelena Mrkich 2013.

Permission is granted to share this post and images within it freely on the condition that the author is credited and this byline is included. Jelena Mrkich is an Artist, Art Therapist and Creative Catayst who is passionate about creativity as a tool for healing, transformation and self-awareness. For more info visit JelenaMrkich.com or for regular creative good things join her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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You are a Meaning-Maker

For those of you who know my blog you know I love to share with you soul-nourishing creative good things and deliver self-empowering invitations via creativity and the written word to help you be more of who you really are. This week I felt guided to do that in the form of a more personal story.

I was searching for a particular tiny notebook I had bought in Milan, Italy after spending a month printmaking in Florence in 2006. I looked all through my studio, in my craft boxes, on my shelves, in my drawers and in the cupboards. It was nowhere to be found. So I took to my art supplies storage space under my house yesterday. I still didn't find it. Instead I did come across a stack of blank watercolour papers that had belonged to my mum, Miki Mrkich (1951-2002) . She was an artist, amongst many brilliant things, who allowed me to find my own way as an artist too. In the ten and a half years since she transitioned, these precious papers were still blank, waiting to be used for something fabulous. As soon as I saw them again, I knew what they had been waiting for. My 365 Acts of Creativity project. I'm already two months into it, creating in a beautiful red art journal. Yet I kept sensing that my project wanted to be in another format. Holding the watercolour papers in my hand I knew their purpose, to be the canvas for all 365 pieces. This means quite a few already completed pieces are going to go through a rebirth and transform as new creations. Quite apt really, for the Year of the Snake. Shedding layers to reveal new layers.

This afternoon I placed the papers on the lawn and lay down amongst them. Grateful that creativity - be it through art, craft, photographs, videos, music, voice recordings, hand-written notes, letters, postcards, poems, hand-painted plates, hand-knitted socks, hand-quilted blankets, hand-beaded jewellery, family recipes, hand-planted mulberry trees or any other creative imprints and expressions - gives form to our essence and when shared with others, allows a part of us to be with them in the present and in the physical when we pass on.

Some may say, 'But it's just blank paper, there's nothing on it.'. True. There is nothing on these papers. But they hold a lot. They were my mum's and as such hold a deep meaning to me. They mean the world to me.

As with anything we own, create or do ~ what touches us and can immeasurably shift us the most is the meaning that it holds or the meaning we give it. Whenever we wish to make or create anything for ourselves or another, it is an opportunity to create greater meaning in our life right now. From my soul to yours I say, "Get your create on!".

Your view. If you like this post click LIKE, add your comments below or on my Facebook Page.

Pass it on. Here is a ready-to-go prod for you to share on Facebook, Twitter + elsewhere on the web; You are a meaning-maker, http://ow.ly/i5SV9 via @jelenamrkich

Shine on, Jelena x

p.s. Kalvin dove straight into the papers and hopped from one to the next imagining they were stepping stones. Kalvin says life is a journey of stepping stones. Some stones are more challenging than others to travel across. Each one carries its own experience, which can include; joy, sadness, laughter, tears, easeful~ness, frustration, clarity, confusion, expression, suppression, stillness, movement, wounds, healing, anxiety, liberation, grief, peace or gratitude. Each step holds value, purpose and meaning. Each step is what leads us to where we are. And when we acknowledge where we are at, we allow ourselves to be more of who we are. Kalvin says wherever you are at, express your brilliant self. It's beneficial for your whole self and your sense of wellness. And as a bonus, one day someone who loves you just might one say thank you for it too.

p.p.s. For details on my 365 Acts of Creativity project, see the postscript here.

© Copyright Jelena Mrkich 2013.

Permission is granted to share this post and images within it freely on the condition that the author is credited and this byline is included. Jelena Mrkich is an Artist, Art Therapist and Creative Catayst who is passionate about creativity as a tool for healing, transformation and self-awareness. For more info visit JelenaMrkich.com or for regular creative good things join her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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