Ep #78: (Part 2) Creating an Environment You Love with Amanda Gibby Peters

Amanda: What pushed me there was I happened to read a Chinese proverb somewhere – it wasn’t even in the book that I had picked up – that said, “If you only have two pennies, buy a loaf of bread with one and flowers with the other.” That was a sign. To me, I’m like, “There you go. Beauty is as important a nourishment as food.”

Leah: That is one of my favorite proverbs.

Amanda: I love it. I love it and I think that because – telling people to clear their books, like, you know, going through their bookshelves and then telling people to buy fresh flowers, man, that gets the haters out. Like, they have all sorts of things to say to me.

And here’s the thing; you do you. However, I’m going to tell you that having beauty around you is so important. And, from a feng shui, like, elemental perspective, when you bring fresh flowers in, you’re bringing in water. Water is really good for stimulating career energy. And then, when you have wood, which is what your flowers are, that is all about new growth, about branching out, about – if you think of spring. That is very wood energy.

And then, depending on the flowers that you get, you’re probably going to be bringing in a little bit of fire too. And when it’s about ascension and reaching out and going beyond where you’ve been before, wood and fire are really important to have in your space.

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That was a clip from the second half of my conversation with feng shui expert Amanda Gibby Peters. I chose that particular clip, especially right now, April 2020, during the midst of the global pandemic, sheltering in place because I hear from so many people, does art matter now? And to me, it matters more than ever.

And when Amanda mentioned that Chinese proverb, which is one of my favorites, I felt it spoke to many of the conversations that I have been having. And then also, the way she talked about bringing in this ascension energy.

So, if you’re listening to this and you’re somebody who does want to go beyond where you’ve been before, who is reaching out, who is looking for that ascension in your creativity, in your career, in your personal life, listen in because Amanda delivers so much wisdom today; wisdom that will help you feel more centered and less harried in your everyday life and wisdom that will ignite your creative potential and help you rise to that next level.

You are listening to The Art School Podcast; a show for artists and creatives who want to become the next greatest version of themselves. Learn how to cultivate an extraordinary way of being and take the mystery out of making money, and the struggle out of making art. Here is your host, master certified life coach, artist, and former lawyer, Leah Badertscher.

Hello, everyone. And welcome to The Art School Podcast. Welcome back, if you are a regular. And welcome, welcome for the first time for those of you who are new listeners. I hope this finds you doing well. I’ve been taking moments in all of the recent free classes I’ve been offering, free coaching calls, as well as our group calls for The Art School Immersion Edition, just collectively moments of silence to gather our intentions and send the best of our energy to those in the world that really need it.

And also, along those lines, before we launch into this interview with Amanda, which I love, I also want to touch on a theme that is coming up frequently these days during this pandemic, during the shelter in place; a theme of people being concerned about being selfish or experiencing shame and guilt around continuing to work towards their dreams during this time, during this global pandemic.

So, what’s really fascinating – and I think this is a topic that deserves its own episode, so you will likely hear one in the future. But what I want to offer to you, if you’re listening and thinking about that, is just to look objectively at what shame and guilt produce.

Because you would think, if they’re telling you you’re being selfish and there’s other suffering, you think then that that would then motivate you to do something to alleviate the suffering of others, to do something to contribute to create more goodness, to have a positive constructive effect on the world.

But, if you’re familiar with the model – and if you’re not, that’s okay too – if you follow what happens, what the result of guilt and shame are is that they produce not more selflessness, but they produce more of a self-absorption where you’re concerned about being selfish, so you worry more about yourself and you think more about yourself. Maybe then you do something out of guilt.

Whereas, to then say, “Maybe there’s some wisdom in this that I do want to be outwardly caring and outwardly thinking, but I want to do it from a place of love and not shame and guilt.” Because also, what shame does, that emotion produces the desire to hide and to retreat. And how much do we help the world, help anyone, or even help ourselves when we’re retreating and hiding?

So, think about those two and think instead, where then can I come from a more empowered place, a more loving place? And a bit of wisdom I always love to share is this classic Wayne Dyer, because he used to say, “You can’t be ill enough to help a sick person to health. You can’t be impoverished enough to help lift someone else out of poverty. You can’t be enough of a victim to help somebody into a more empowered place. You can’t be a martyr enough to help someone into fulfillment.”

So, think about that and think about, are you waiting to give yourself permission to be well and to be thriving? And think about then when you are in that empowered place where you are thriving, you are well, you trust yourself to be able to take care of yourself, you trust yourself to be self-actualizing.

Imagine how much you can then give and create from that place. Abundance will amplify your values and you don’t have to wait to be a millionaire to do it. Every step along the way, if you desire to be generous, if you desire to be a light, you can be asking yourself what you can do now from that place and not from a place of martyrdom and guilt, but from a place of empowerment and love.

So, a little tangent before we get into today’s topic, but maybe not so much of a tangent because I think it is in this conversation with Amanda, where I was telling her about the Mother Theresa quote about, “If everyone swept their own doorstep then the whole world would be clean.” Maybe we also had that conversation offline.

All of my conversations are starting to run together. But at least it’s a good segue into this topic today. And the other reason I think this conversation with Amanda is so timely is the theme running through all of the conversations I’m having lately in Art School, with private clients, and also as I am putting the final touches on the mastermind that I’m about to release the details of as I am honing and refining and generally just making, like, taking it to the next level, The Art School for the fall is this concept of the creative ecosystem. And this idea that you put yourself in a container, in the kind of environment that ensures you are going to cross your finish line.

You’ll hear Amanda talk today about her motto of, “No dead bodies.” It’s awesome. And it’s sort of a mafioso take on my concept of there’s no way I’m not doing this, my concept that one of the most powerful creative concepts you can master is that of the creative commitment, that of knowing and trusting yourself that once you have decided you are going to do something, it’s done, and then you’re walking yourself home.

And part of ensuring that that happens is creating this space where you feel supported to get to that finish line and you know that you’re going to see it through, that you stay with something and see it through for that long-term investment.

I love how Amanda speaks so eloquently about aligning yourself with the kind of energy and cultivating the kind of environment that is going to support the growing, the evolution of you as a person, the evolution of your work, the growth of your dreams, and the way that she talks about this ascension energy, this energy that reaches out, this energy where you are going beyond where you have ever gone before.

And I talk a lot with my clients and in The Art School about intentionally creating the ecosystems that will allow you to do that. And those ecosystems are the inner ecosystems, the internal structure, the mindset work, the emotional mastery, the spiritual resilience. That’s the outer work. That’s, you know, who do you surround yourself with? What do you fill your mind and heart with? What qualities are you honing in yourself? What skills and crafts are you becoming a master of? And then also beyond even a master, how are you taking it and mixing it with your own essence to create something that puts you in a league of your own?

There is a fine subtlety to the way Amanda talks about this work and I want to make sure I point it out ahead of time because it’s something we’ve also been talking about a lot in The Art School and with private clients. As you make these changes to your environment, to your inner world and to your outer world, and as you make decisions, to consider and to contemplate how you’re going to make those decisions from the place of who you want to become, rather than the place where you currently are. So, just keep that in mind as you listen to Amanda, and I hope you love this episode. I so enjoyed this conversation.

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Leah: Let’s talk then about house as vision board.

Amanda: Yeah, let’s.

Leah: I love that because what if you are in a rut, like a self-concept rut of this is how I see myself, and therefore your house perpetuates that. But yet then how can you – what you just said, there are two different access points really. You can change yourself and your house change, or you can change your house and that can help pull you more and help invite or facilitate that change. So, how can somebody them empower themselves by loving on their house? And what might that look like?

Amanda: Well, I think that what you have to ask yourself is, “What is it that I’m trying to create?” So, let’s go back to when I very first started feng shui, and what happened was we moved here to this house and our expenses, the cost of living here was so much higher than where we had previously lived. And so, all of a sudden, I got super stressed with money.

And what I remember about that – so if you remember, I picked just a few things to do. And one of the things that I felt I could commit to was buying fresh flowers for a house. Now, when you don’t have a lot of money to start with, going and buying fresh flowers feels incredibly wasteful and it feels like overly indulgent. And honestly, like, what the hell is this going to do, right?

But I committed to dismantling this, and this seemed like a really easy way to do it. So, I went and I started looking for whatever was the cheapest. And there are really cheap flowers. I think I started buying carnations and they were like $3.99 a bunch, $4.99, whatever. And I didn’t have big vases.

Now, if you come to my house, I have vases of flowers everywhere. But when I started, I only had one vase and it would be one vase of flowers. And I was committed to replacing those. And it was hard every single time I went to do it. But if you’re going to disprove something, you’ve got to give it everything you’ve got.

So, I did it. And if you remember, I said within three months, my husband had a new job and his salary had doubled. So, it goes back to what is the thing that is going to feel like whatever change you’re trying to create in your life. And then find the visual metaphor for it.

So, for me, I would think of hotels and, like, really nice boutiques, and they always had fresh flowers. And that is why flowers, for me felt super-extravagant. And I remember when I started buying them, because even when you’re buying them, it feels like, “I’m one of those people that buys fresh flowers.” Like, I thought in my head, I’m one of those people.”

And I remember saying to myself one day, I’m just going to be able to go and buy flowers for every room in the house and that’s just how it’s going to be. And I am that person today. And I don’t think twice about it. In fact, my house feels so empty. Like, if we come home from vacation and we don’t have any flowers, I can tell. And not only can I tell, but my family can tell.

So, they’ll be like, “When are you going to go get flowers?” Because there is an energetic deficit when they’re not around. That was what worked for me. It was a very simple thing. Again, I found the cheapest thing I could, but it began that subconscious conversation of you deserve this, you’re worth this, these represent wealth. Like, all of that information that wasn’t anywhere in my house.

Leah: So, talking about energetic deficit. My word for 2020 is energy. So much of the work I’ve done leading up to this point, I’m like, “Okay, let’s just pull back the veils,” and what we’re talking about here is when we bring things back to the most fundamental, it’s energy. Because when I’m working with a client – and sometimes the work begins from a place of, I’m in a great place, and now I’m just like, I want someone that can help pull out my next greatest work or can help take me to the next level.

But it’s figuring out what inputs need to be there, like what needs to change in a self-concept. In other places, people come presenting with something that’s a little bit more acute, like painful, like a deficit. And I do all this work, I’m well-regarded for my art and my writing, but I’m struggling to get beyond month to month. And so, when deficits show up in that way, recognition for your creations or financial deficits, then I’m always like, “Okay, let’s pull it back and look at where is the energetic deficit. Where is there some kink in the alignment or more energy is going out or coming in? Is it the thoughts? Where is it?”

And so, everything that you’ve been saying about making energetic deposits and also just what is metaphorical and also literal, what does a woman who knows she’s worth it, that knows beauty is of such great value that it’s not frivolous. I know so many artists who know beauty is not frivolous, that art is not frivolous, and yet deprive themselves and try to create from deprivation.

Amanda: Yeah, and that’s the thing. It’s always that, “If, when.” Right? So I’ll tell you, what pushed me into deciding on the flowers – and I really can’t stress this enough, because we always see people where they’re at currently. But when I was going to buy the flowers, I was just like, “What am I doing?”

But what pushed me there was I happened to read a Chinese proverb somewhere – it wasn’t even in the book that I had picked up – that said, “If you only have two pennies, buy a loaf of bread with one and flowers with the other.” That was a sign. To me, I’m like, “There you go. Beauty is as important a nourishment as food.”

Leah: That is one of my favorite proverbs.

Amanda: I love it. I love it and I think that because – telling people to clear their books, like, you know, going through their bookshelves and then telling people to buy fresh flowers, man, that gets the haters out. Like, they have all sorts of things to say to me.

And here’s the thing; you do you. However, I’m going to tell you that having beauty around you is so important. And, from a feng shui, like, elemental perspective, when you bring fresh flowers in, you’re bringing in water. Water is really good for stimulating career energy. And then, when you have wood, which is what your flowers are, that is all about new growth, about branching out, about – if you think of spring. That is very wood energy.

And then, depending on the flowers that you get, you’re probably going to be bringing in a little bit of fire too. And when it’s about ascension and reaching out and going beyond where you’ve been before, wood and fire are really important to have in your space.

So, not only are you bringing flowers in because they’re living qi, they’re considered a qi or energy-enhancer in feng shui. Not only to they bring beauty in, but then you’re also playing to the elements. So, you’re getting all of this wisdom in a bundle of flowers and it’s doing all of that for you and it’s not complaining. So, you probably shouldn’t either.

So, I mean, it really is the whole reason I do Simple Shui – and obviously, when I work on a consult, we get into things. But it’s really trying to encourage people, like, you have all of this opportunity to cocreate immediately within your reach. It’s in your house. And instead of trying to outsmart it and think, “That’s too simple. That won’t work.” It is really leaning into it and surrendering the need to be right and making yourself open to what happens and understanding that when we want change, most of the time, that is not going to present in the way that we would like it to. And so, when those assignments show up and knock on your door, your job is to say, “Yes, and…”

Leah: And that this is not what I asked for.

Amanda: Right, you don’t get to judge it. You don’t get to push back. Or if you do, you need to understand that that is where you got in your own way. Because what I see with people is they’ll say, “Well I did all this but the feng shui is not working.” Yeah, because you just stopped in front of it. It’s staying open to the process of it because energy is working, and a lot of times, things are shifting at a very subtle but profound level first.

And as long as you stay in that trusting or almost neutral space, you know, be positive, but be neutral about how it’s going to show up. As long as you stay in that space, things can get to you. But the minute that you start becoming impatient about it, you’re resisting it.

Leah: And then it stops – well, going back to the garden metaphor, you plant the seed, but you don’t see anything for months. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t something profound happening beneath the surface within that 85% of energy that we can’t see. So, things are shifting. And I think that too is where ritual serves so well.

Amanda: Yeah, ritual is kind of like that fertilizer stick. The fertilizer stick in the ground, the fertilizer isn’t going to make the soil rich overnight. But over time, you’re going to have all sorts of good things happening in your soil. And your ritual is nurturing and nourishing your ecosystem, where you live, your creative space, wherever you’re trying to grow, those little things that don’t immediately seem obvious, like there’s a benefit here, that they are working in your favor, absolutely.

Leah: And I think that is probably a lesson, as a culture, that we might be resistant to hearing it, but I do think we are craving hearing it. That to stay with something, even when the instant gratification isn’t there, is good for you. And not just a, “Take your medicine,” good for you, but it’s cultivating your soul. It’s cultivating something.

There is so much about modern life that doesn’t let us go deep. So, to stay with these things that require you to go deep and stay with something without an immediate hit, to know that a deeper part of you really wants that and it’s not just “Take your medicine, take your lumps, wait it out.” It’ smore to live deeply.

Amanda: Yeah, you know, I studied with Pixie Lighthorse a couple of years ago for a whole year. And she’s an earth medicine teacher, shamanic teacher. And at the beginning of the year, we had to pick a crystal and a plant or a stone and a plant. And maybe it was something else, I can’t remember – an animal. And you had your three. And you were not – everyone’s like, “Oh but I resonate with all…”

She’s like, “No… because this isn’t a superficial relationship. We’re not staying surface. You’re going to go deep and you’re going to get to know these because…” and this was such an important lesson and it changed how I do so much in my own practice. We are so used to just thinking everything is light. And we talk about light. We live in light. So many people sell light.

And you have to understand that, with light comes shadow. And when you work with something and you get to know it intimately, you get to understand the shadow. And here is why that is so important. Because when you are going through the struggles, if you do not allow yourself those lessons, you will never have the muscle memory, you will never have the confidence that comes from going through something and coming out.

And so, going deep with the few things allowed me to really get to understand all of that meaning that, when you’re trying to take it all in because you’re like a kid in a candy store, you can’t possibly. You’re hoarding information. And we know hoarding is not a good situation. That is a hard no for me. So, it’s the same thing.

You pick a ritual or two. Don’t do all of the things. Pick a ritual or two and really dedicate yourself to them and stay with it long enough that you can see how it is improving your life. Because if you do something for a week and you’re like, “It didn’t do anything,” that was a transaction. And feng shui is not interested in that conversation. That was not feng shui, in fact, that you were practicing. That was buying flowers. If you stay with something, then you get the wisdom that comes from practicing that ritual.

Leah: Yes, so I wonder if staying with something – let’s say you pick a year or however long you might prescribe. Because there are two other things I have on my list that come up a lot. And that is shiny object syndrome, and that is also people getting so far into a project or a career and then quitting. And you sense it’s like quitting right at that point when something might happen, if they could just continue to keep going.

But it’s when they do – Julia Cameron calls it a micro quit or a creative U-turn where you’re like, “Oh no, I thought I was going to do this novel, but actually illustrating children’s books.” But then it’s, to what you were saying about it, then you don’t – to ask yourself, “Why am I quitting right here?” And I think it’s a lot of times, it’s like right when that shadow comes up. And then you don’t get the muscle memory of having moved through a shadow experience, having moved through a dark night of the soul where it’s like, this novel is never going to get published and I’m going to keep sending it out to agents.” Like, having gone through that valley of the shadow of death on that hero’s journey and giving yourself the experience of having walked something all the way home.

Amanda: So, I think that, you know, the thing with it is, as a personal practice, it’s okay to take breaks. I have this really awful phrase. It’s going to make me sound messed up. But when I get into those spaces, I’m like, “No dead bodies.” And what it means is that I’m not going to carry this with me into next year, so this gets done. I can take a break. I can put it aside for a minute, but no dead bodies. Like, this is not coming with me. So, we’ve got to figure out what’s happening with it.

Leah: So, no unfinished project?

Amanda: Yeah, because otherwise, if you look back on your life, you’re going to realize you’ve been carrying a lot of dead bodies.

Leah: Yeah, and that also means, to your point of, like, you have to call and edit. You can’t hoard projects; hoarding a lot of dead bodies. This podcast, of anyone jumps in right at this…

Amanda: I thought she said feng shui… Yeah, and again, it is creating the space that feels supportive to get to that finish line, whatever that finish line is for you. But if you’re just impulsively making that choice, then that’s – so, what I always tell people is when we’re working and doing a whole house, the closet is always the last place we’re going to address. And the reason why is because it is so tied up in identity and showing your true self and authenticity and all this kind of stuff.

And the reason why is because when we are going to excavate your whole house and we’re looking at it from all these different things, I don’t want you making decisions about your clothes until we have gotten through the rest of your life.

And the reason why so many people have clothes in their closets that they never wear or things that still have tags is because they usually go to shop – most of us do – as a coping mechanism. And we buy when we’re not in our normal space. Meaning maybe we’ve had a fight or maybe something frustrating happened or maybe we just need some self-soothing.

But whatever it is, we’re not in our fullest power. We’re not connected really. And so, we buy. We buy these identities and then they all live in our closet. And so, the closet’s always the last place I go through because I really want people to be in touch with who they really are so they can let things go and feel good about it.

And it’s the same thing when you’re making decisions about your creativity. Make sure that you haven’t been triggered by something. Make sure, you know, go back to, “Maybe I need to clear up space. Maybe there are other noises around me that need to be removed so that I can really just focus all my energy here.”

I remember early in my studies, a teacher said to me, “I want you to imagine that everything has a voice around you and all those things are talking to you. So, do you like everything that they’re saying?” And I think if you can assign everything a voice, you might realize that there’s some things around you that you don’t necessarily want having around you, taking up oxygen.

And so, when you get to those, you know, you hit those walls, get up, stretch out, move a few things around, take inventory of what’s happening around you because it could be an influence around you that’s really getting into your space and not necessarily that you want to quit the project.

Leah: Because I know you are very creative, you are a writer and I love your workbooks, you released your book in the last year. It sounds like there’s another book. Have there been points along the way where you were, like, temped to drag a dead body?

Amanda: You know, my workbooks were where the no dead bodies came up. I was like, “I have talked about this and I’m not going to quit.” And even last year, there were a lot of things – there were a few things that came up that really I would have had full permission to say, “You know what, I’m just going to put this book on hold.” But what happens is when you learn to push past the resistance and you get that, again, the muscle memory of it, you know you’re capable of it.

And I’m just someone who, if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it. Now, like everyone else, I’m going to complain. I’m going to be like, “Why did I say I was going to do this?” you know, all the things. But I’m not going to be the person that’s carrying the dead body. Just not.

Leah: That’s going to be the quote I pull from this.

Amanda: I know, I know, it’s so horrible.

Leah: No, it’s awesome. I love it.

Amanda: And the other thing – so my girls, they’re also writers. They’ve always wanted to be filmmakers. They write scripts and all this kind of stuff. And one of the pieces of advice that I gave them years ago that I hear them saying all the time is, “We’ve got to kill the darlings.”

Leah: Yeah, Steven King’s line…

Amanda: Right, kill the babies – please don’t quote me on that. So, the thing is, like, know when some of that stuff that looks fun and shiny, no, do not let it into this space. What you have done deserves to see its finish line, it deserves to take a bow on the stage. And so, don’t let those new things distract you. You have to trust the energy.

Here’s what it is. You have to trust the energy that was present when you started out on that path, even when that energy has faded. You’ve got to go back to whatever it was. So, when I said I was going to write a book, I had to return to that energy over and over. Like, right now doesn’t feel like it did then, but that energy I trusted, which is what started me on this, and I am going to see it through.

Leah: And I think it’s key that you said you returned to it over and over again, you didn’t wait for it to come back. You didn’t use the fact that it wasn’t showing up every day easily and naturally. You went and saw it, cultivated it.

Amanda: Yeah, what’s the phrase? Creativity knows to find me at my desk. Whoever said it, yeah, I’m creative, it knows to find me at my desk every morning at 9AM. Some writer said that, whatever. But when people are like, “Oh I want to be a writer. How can I do that?” I’m like, “Stop talking about it and do it.”

Very rarely do I sit down and I’m just like, “I know exactly what I want to say.” Never. It is that shitty first draft every single time. And I stay with it. I stay with it. And that’s the secret. And that’s the secret with all of everything we’ve been talking about. You know, staying with the feng shui, staying with the creative process, staying with whatever the intention or the goal or the objective is.

Because things are going to change. The weather is going to change. But that doesn’t mean you’re done. That just means you’re picking up some other things along the way.

Leah: And the story too of the consistent, like, the ritual of attending to that energetic bank every day, adding deposits. What are you doing to energetically generate however you would describe your creative energy; beautiful, powerful, sunlight? Like the great artwork on the wall behind you. Like, what are you doing to cultivate that kind of energy every day?

And one way we do that is by showing up consistently to do the work, even in small ways when the brain wants to say, “That’s not going to add up. No one’s going to know if you showed up today. What does that matter? It doesn’t matter if you rearrange your furniture. It doesn’t matter if you write 15,000 words.” It’s like that radical act of tending to something every day.

Amanda: Yeah, and if you feel a resistance to, say, going and buying flowers once a week, then you know that consistency may be an issue for you. Do you see what I’m saying? That’s the beauty in ritual is that we learn a lot about ourselves. Where am I willing to show up for myself? What is this worth to me? Am I someone who can stay committed? These aren’t judgment calls, but they’re great invitations to learn to stay with something, you know, and not to see something for, again, that immediate transaction, to see it as a long-term investment.

Leah: I love that. So, for the people listening – I know my listeners are very interested in living more deeply and loving the lives that they have. And I also have so many listeners and clients who are in that place, where they have beautiful lives they love and they’re also desiring that ascension energy, that next level for their work and their career.

So, one thing I’ve heard you say is to trust how their space, how the energy around them is speaking to them. And then if they want to learn more though, where can they – do you have any last pieces of advice? And I’d also love for you to share where they can best find you and your work.

Amanda: So, you can find me at my site simpleshui.com and you can get a lot of really good very east to apply feng shui advice at Instagram. So, it’s @amandagibbypeters. That’s the handle on Instagram.

But what I would say is in terms of what people can do, I would say there are two things. I would say, go today and buy your house some flowers, light a candle, introduce yourself to your house, say, “I’m open to this conversation and to this relationship and I’m here for you.” And just make a gesture.

And then the other thing I would say – and we didn’t get into this at all, but really great places to start to feel empowered, like little places that you can go, like, love up on your front door, love up on your bedroom, and love up on your kitchen. Those are all power spots. And you can find that information on my site if you want to learn about that, or even in my new book Simple Shui for Every Day which is on Amazon.

But those are power spots that really affect our energy, they have a huge affect on our energy. And so, in terms of just starting to see what feng shui can do for you, those would be really good places to start. And they’re really great for the energetic integrity of your home. So, that would be sort of like, here’s your little homework. Now, go make me proud.

Leah: I love that. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your energy with us today. I know, like, this whole conversation around aligning ourselves with fortune in every sense of the word I have so appreciated and I will have to have you back on because we’re going to have to keep this conversation rolling.

Amanda: Well, I loved it. Thank you so much. And I hope that everyone is able to take something and just put a spark in their lives from here. And if so, please call me.

Leah: Testimonials – I talk about we’re going to have art babies. I want to hear about the art babies that are made form diving into the shui work.

Amanda: Oh absolutely, I need these stories. So yes, please feel free to share.

Leah: Thank you, Amanda.

Amanda: Thank you.

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So, now, after basking in, soaking up everything that is the loveliness of Amanda Gibby Peters and her Simple Shui method, this brings me to the part of the podcast where I want you to do more than just listen. I want you to take this work and not just be entertained by it, but to take it, implement it in your own life, contemplate it, integrate it, and make it transformational.

So, Amanda’s exercise about home as vision board, that’s the assignment I have for you. Now, don’t try to eat the whole elephantine apple in one bite. Make sure you take a bite that you can chew and savor and ingest and process and be nourished by. So, maybe you want to start with just a room I your home. maybe you want to start with a corner in a room of your home. Maybe you want to start with a bulletin board or a vision board.

I recently, just in fact this last weekend, found the first vision board that I ever did, the first time I was ever introduced to this exercise of creating a vision of who I wanted to become and putting it up in my home. And it was probably over 10 years ago now, in a Martha Beck workshop.

And I had been telling her about my dreams for being an artist and I didn’t have really an understanding that I’d be coaching yet, but I knew it was something along those lines, that kind of mentoring work, that kind of teaching work. And I wanted to be writing and creating, producing content prolifically, and I was telling her about how I had looked far and wide for the perfect graduate school program; one that would help me cultivate an extraordinary way of being in mind, body, and spirit that would make my results inevitable.

For instance, one where I could go in and say, “Yes, I want to become a painter and I also want you to show me how to become a better human being in the process. And I also want you to show me how to become a successful entrepreneur who sells her art and thrives, making a living as an artist in the process.”

So, that was one facet of my criteria for the MFA program, the graduate program I was looking for. And maybe not surprisingly to you, I didn’t find it. So, as I was telling Martha, she said, “Well then that’s what you need to go create.”

So, when it came to the time – Martha Beck, by the way, if you don’t know, is one of the world’s best life coaches, life coach to Oprah, Maria Shriver. She was my first introduction to life coaching. So, when it came to the portion of that retreat where we did vision boards as a workshop exercise, I was thumbing through some magazines and I found this text that said, “The hottest MFA in the country.”

I’m sure it was advertising a traditional school’s MFA program. But I cut it out and I put it on that vision board thinking, “This is what I’m going to create.” Thinking first that I was going to create that for myself, that I was going to cobble together the sort of curriculum that I would do just what I had said I was looking for.

It would help me cultivate a way of being, cultivate the mindset, the psychology, the emotional resilience in health, in strength, that would help me love who I was and create from that loving place and create powerfully and prolifically from that loving place not only art but also relationships and also financial means and also anything that I set my mind to.

So, almost 10 years later and I pulled that out as I am packing up our house and getting ready to move into our new house, and there was that vision board as I am in the midst of The Art School. So, not only did I create what I wanted for myself, but I’ve then created it and offered it for others as well. And I pulled it out right as I’m in the midst too of creating the next edition of The Art School and as I’m creating the first Art School Mastermind.

So, this work of putting out in front of you a vision of who you want to become and, at the same time, it also is not just who you want to become, but you’ll see it out there and you’ll see that also as a refection of who you really are and what you’re really capable of, even if you haven’t produced it yet, but you just still know in your heart of hearts that’s something that’s available for you to experience in this lifetime.

And as I keep telling the current Art School clients, it is important to me that they get the results, that they create and live into their dreams, that they hit their goals and then go beyond and astonish themselves with what they’re capable of creating and achieving. That is absolutely important for me and I am all onboard and I am going to help them do that and more. And what is also so important to me is that sacred twin intention of deciding who you’re going to become in the process, of creating your creative process with intention and agency and deliberation and empowerment along the way, of taking radical responsibility for all parts of your life. Because that gives you the power and the knowing that you can absolutely follow through on anything you set your mind to.

And the best part of all is that in order to do this, you have to find new levels of belief and trust in yourself. And at the root of both of those is a love and appreciation and a gratitude for yourself and your life like you have never known. That’s available to everyone.

And as I keep saying in The Art School this week too, we’ve had so many people celebrating extraordinary breakthroughs and we cowbell the heck out of that. And also, I want this to be about normalizing the extraordinary, that we celebrate the heck out of it and we’re also then like, “Yeah, and of course.” It’s extraordinary and it’s what you are capable of.

It’s extraordinary and it also gets to be this beautifully humble – and by that, I mean you’re deeply connected, like roots down like an oak tree, and then arms open to your vastness at the same time. So, normalizing extraordinary ways of being, normalizing extraordinary results, and I look at that piece of paper that’s on my desk right now on a little red – well, it’s like a construction size red piece of cardstock paper, the words I cut out of a magazine, but it was so much more than that. And it’s been a guidepost for me. And here it is.

So, don’t underestimate the power of exercises like this. And I think too, at this time, don’t you want to love being in your home? What better way to express creativity and exercise agency but to make your home a place that you love to be and to make your home fertile grounds for your own next great becoming?

Thank you for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, if these episodes have been useful for you, the best thing you can do to pay it forward is to share and is to go to iTunes, subscribe, and leave a review. That helps me reach more people with this work.

And, when you’re ready to take the work deeper, there are three ways to do that. The Art School fall 2020 is now open for enrollment. And for those who enroll before the summer, the summer workshop series will also be included for free as part of your enrollment in the fall session.

There is also the upcoming mastermind. Details for that will be released soon here on the podcast and also on my website. The best way to stay informed about that and also upcoming events for The Art School is by going to my website, www.leahcb.com and signing up for my newsletter. Finally, if you are interested in private coaching, the best way to learn more about that is to email support@leahcb.com with discovery consult in the subject line and we will take care of you there.

In closing, I was thinking of this quote from Thomas Moor, who wrote Care of the Soul along with other books, when thinking and reflecting about my conversation with Amanda. And also, because I have relistened to the conversation with Amanda a couple of times now, I even realize, after having known her and had similar conversations, that I still pick things up, nuances and subtleties every time I relisten or when I contemplate it from a different angle.

And one thing that really struck me when I relistened to this particular episode was the way she talked about, for instance, the difference of just buying flowers versus the difference of practicing shui when buying flowers.

And I thought this quote from Thomas Moore, from his book Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life was a beautiful and illuminating compliment to Amanda’s wisdom.

He writes, “To the soul, the most minute details and the most ordinary activities carried out with mindfulness and art have an effect far beyond their apparent significance.” So, what I’m enjoying now is thinking of those of you listening who will then turn the loveliness that is the essence of you and to bring that energy with intention and attention to imbue your living space with that amplified energy that’s so beautiful, that’s so loving, that’s so you, so that you get to receive that benefit every day, as do your loved ones.

I hope you are all staying safe. I hope you are well. Thank you so much for being a part of this community, for being a part of this creative revolution, being a part of this movement, for bringing mindfulness, beauty, art, creativity to your corner of the world. I am so grateful for you. Have a beautiful week and I will talk to you next time.