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Be the Wild is a poem I wrote a few months ago. In revisiting it, I found new ideas that longed to come to life about being WILD and they happen to go hand in hand with my upcoming collaborative class, WILD: The Way of the Woman’s Wild Creative Heart.

This poetic video highlights an exploration of planet and – looking deeper – the soul.

WILD: The Way of the Woman’s Wild Creative Heart is a deliciously fabulous online workshop created to let that WILD woman – you know the one who is wildly creative, imaginative, confident, and full of life, the one who does not wish to simply be polite OR quiet – out to celebrate life!

With 11 wild classes taught by 11 equally wild and wildly inspiring women, this course is sure to not only bring out all the things that have been screaming to be set free but it will connect you with equally amazing women. This WILD experience officially kicks off on March 26th, 2012 but you can register TODAY!! YAY!!

For me, WILD means connecting the heart, mind body and soul and shaking up how we think about each so that we can think about them all as one!  You see, if we believe all we read in magazines or see on television then we believe that our body is an unforgiving landscape with endless areas that need to be fixed, pruned, changed, etc. This type of thinking makes it sound as though the body is separate from the soul and that is simply not the case. Changing this type of thinking does a something quite amazing. It allows you to step outside of mainstream societal thinking to reclaim the power and beauty of your individual body and reconnect with your wild, joyful, succulent, sensual soul.

In my workshop, An Intuitive Mixed Media Journey to the Center of the Wild Woman Soul, we will be uninhibited adventurers using our intuition to explore and celebrate the landscape of the feminine form and soul. We will reconnect with a wildness we knew as children while re-establishing our kinship with both the natural world and our authentic selves. Through the use of writing, painting and collage, we will create a mini mixed media book of paintings and vignettes – a love letter to your wild heart – that celebrates the magnificence within you and let’s your stars and inner moonlight dance out into the world. You will have access to PDF files, videos and other little treats that will remind you each day to remain WILD!

I’m not the only one getting WILD – to meet some of my Sisters of the Wild, click here.  OR tune into Transformation Radio tomorrow so hear some of us talk about what this journey will be like! For more information about tomorrow’s radio program at 3pm EST, pop on over here!

Registration for WILD is only $49 ! 11 amazing teachers and 11 amazing classes!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR A LITTLE WILDNESS!

So what do you say? Want to get a little WILD with me and some fabulous women?

Come join me!

What are you doing on Friday? Are ya busy??

Well, I say drop everything  - YES everything – and get a little WILD with some of the MOST amazingly WILD women!!

Natalie Kimbrough, host of the Transformation Talk Radio show, “Chat With Natalie – Getting to Know Yourself” has invited Lisa Dieken, founder of Wild Creative Heart AND the amazing online collaborative course I will be teaching in (you are going to find out so much more about this incredible WILD course tomorrow), Mary Rives, creator of Thrive and Shine, Tina van Leuven creator of Inner Delight and me YAY! to chat about all things WILD including the upcoming workshop I mentioned, WILD: The Way of the Woman’s Wild Creative Heart.

So, tune in on Friday, March 2nd, at 3 pm EST!

It’s going to be a BLAST!!!!!!!

This poem started to take shape during an evening stroll last summer. I’m thrilled to be able to share this with you.

Remember this stunningly sensational artist? Tracie “Totally Rocks” Hanson

Well..here’s the thing. The night we were texting, she shared the painting featured below with me and the thing is – I heard words when I looked at it. Immediately my mind became filled with a story about this powerful woman. It is a story that Tracie invited me to write. So, please allow me to share what I learned from this gorgeous creature about her life and her pots…then please take a sneaky peeky at Tracie’s blog, My Blooming Life,  to see the poem that accompanied this story.

Tracie, thank you for giving life to this incredible work. Your work CLEARLY inspires!! SOOOOO much love to you!

The Transcendent Potter
By Natasha Reilly

A lost stranger happened upon a captivating woman walking along a peculiar road on the night of the full moon. As a thank you for helping to find the right path back this stranger bestowed upon her a gift – an ancient art –that would rip her life open like a strike of lightning and lead her to the home of her soul.

Returning to a village she’d left behind years ago, she stood alone in the house of her youth staring at the symbols upon the wall – deep inscriptions she’d made as a child to create both story and memory in the hope of never being forgotten.

Forgotten. That one word called to mind her parents- two souls whisked away by a storm like fine grains of sand. The winds wiped clean their history as though they had never inhabited the Earth but they were alive within her memory; though she wondered what would happen to them when her days came to a close.

She believed fingers held memory and touching those etchings on the wall, she recalled an ache felt – even as a child – in the very tips of her fingers that was only ever remedied by an act of creation. Drawing faces in the red dust resting atop rocks in the creek behind her home, building fairy homes from leaves and the almost transparent wings of foreign insects, and squeezing berries to make colorful pigments for body painting -these were the acts that brought her temporary peace.

The creation of landscapes was what she wondered about as she brought her body to rest upon the earthen floor. In the books father had once shared, she’d always been most fascinated by lava forming new land. Many a night she lay awake in this very space pondering the ideas of creating permanence. Could such an idea exist?

Sitting with emptiness, her fingertips touched the clay for the first time and instantly a feeling so powerful she almost could not breathe tore through her with the force of a million butterflies. Shockingly, her hands began to work as though this was what they had longed for, been created for and she knew then clay, body and soul were one, a perfect trinity. Dipping her fingers into a bowl of water just as she’d watched the stranger do a fire exploded within her and instantly every closed gate within her swung open.

A visceral hunger crawled through her soul. She was animal and tree, ocean and sky; she was every blade of grass and every bulbous cloud pregnant with the elements of life. Hoping to steady herself she closed her eyes and suddenly found sight. Wild birds ascended to the heavens, the majesty of a waterfall moved through her entire being overflowing upon her cheeks. Warm sunlight coursed through her veins and a tigress lying upon a red rock – thin and hungry yet fierce– was making love to the Earth.

Praying – for she had not allowed herself to believe in an Other, or any other divine notion until now –to the Goddess of Nature, she begged for strength to accept the past and open her heart to the future. Humbled, she knelt over the pot and let the clay cover her hands and forearms completely.

When she felt it was complete, she sat back and noticed a deep, blood red color – it was like the rock the tigress had been perched upon. There were marks that looked like the sun and lines that could have been tigress claws on the pot. How could that be? For she had not used any pigments of color nor had she worked to create lines.

She placed her hands on a new piece of Earth and began again. Behind closed eyelids she witnessed a gazelle moving at lightning speed across a field of grass under a sky of the deepest blue. A song emanated from the sky; a melody no creature could ever mimic. When she opened her eyes, the pot had blue and green tints like the sky and grass she had just seen. How? And yet she knew.

The clay connected her with a deep truth, forgiveness and vulnerability. Through the creation of her pots, she could release the past, bask in the present and create the future. She became a vessel that moments of time could move through and as she let them go, she shared them and inspired others to collect and release their own. Her energy melded with her creations. Even if the pot should break and be lost for thousands of years, the one who stumbled upon it or its pieces would be connected with bits of her – for she and her family would live on.

There was a knock at the door. People were looking for the Transcendent Potter just as the stranger predicted they would. As she stood, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. There before her were the deep dark eyes of her father, the warm soft belly of her Mother and her own radiant beauty. In the long gown she’d recently traded for a pot, she stood tall. Searching her fingertips she was sure she felt sand mixed with stardust and for the first time, she understood the power of transcendence.

It started with a text.

Across the miles, two friends

shared about life and paint.

It ended with a project.

Meet my friend, Tracie. You love her don’t ya? You just see her fabulous spunk and that makes you want to cartwheel, doesn’t it? Go ahead. Cartwheel. I’ll wait.

Tracie Hanson, a creative inspiration and beautiful friend in my life, took a piece that I wrote and created an unforgettable painting from it. Normally when I am writing I see things in my mind’s eye and I saw some of this work but not most of it. When I gave it to her I realized that it felt as though it had always belonged to her. It felt as though only she could breathe life into it.

Tracie, thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul for sharing your vision, your creative heart and soul with me. Your work elevates the soul and leaves a gorgeous mark. It changes perspective, enhances thought and breathes life and love into a world that needs more of both. Thank you for the gift of you.

Please visit my friend, Tracie. She’s one of the funniest, warm, strong, creative women I’ve ever met. I promise you one time around her blog playground and YOU won’t want to leave, YOU will be hooked!

The following is her work. The original piece of writing is beneath it. I want you to bask in the beauty of her work – it is enchanting, elegant, majestic, alluring and unforgettable. Please do not just view it here, visit her blog to see even more photos of this stunning piece. Within this work, I not only see my words having come to life I see my subconscious thoughts. How is that possible? It speaks to her skill as an intuitive painter. I see a woman dancing as well as a soul I lost together in that one figure pointing toward the tree – away from those stone towers – letting me know that all is ok and things continue to flourish even when we leave here.

Enjoy this gorgeous work and know there is more to this collaboration to come…very soon.

Original Painting by Tracie Hanson

Original Painting by Tracie Hanson

Please visit Tracie to see more of the breathtaking painting – they will render you speechless. True story!

The original writing I gave to Tracie:

Sometimes I pray to the trees and when I do everything opens.

Under the darkened sky, the trees whisper stories of sprites and ancient souls, of women who howled at the moon – mad with delight – and danced in scarves made of stardust, their bodies shimmering in the moonlight.

They would sing to Mother Moon songs that sounded like the giggles of children - raw, honest, pure and full of innocent beliefs. Then lay down with wolves upon the Earth – Goddesses of the Moss, grass and all manner of green, moist growth.

After

Rays of moonlight dangled from their wrists like jewels and they danced. They danced for the owl – to inherit its wisdom. They danced for the stars – to honor light – the light of heaven and Earth. They danced for the naked tree limbs to celebrate vulnerability. They danced for the promise of colored leaves – the changes that life would bring to all of them, the promise of explosive beauty before death.

They kissed the sky, savored the clouds, made love to the galaxy of planets and prayed to the orbs of light that hovered in dew drops as the first bands of warmth stretched like a cat across the horizon. Joy dripped from the corners of their lips like raindrops and pregnant with passion they let forth a holler to the sky before disappearing into the mist.

Yes, sometimes I pray to the trees and when I do every wonder is revealed.

-Written by Natasha Reilly 2012

Snippet of a large Original Work by Natasha Reilly 2012

Discomfort

Moving along the pavement

There is a sound

Shh….Shh…

These streets, my secrets

Life rushes through

And I worry about

Winter in my soul.

I shiver slightly.

Before turning the corner

And like the first Spring blossom

She finds me  – my  wee summer –

and runs full force into my arms.

-Written by Natasha Reilly 2012

What does your everyday poem look like??

Ready?????

I’m going to be teaching along with 20 other stellar, knock your socks off, ridiculously amazing artists in 21 Secrets which opens on April 1st!! YES I have been cartwheeling ALL over the place (quietly of course) while almost bursting at the seams to tell you.

I’m SOOOOOOO excited about the class I put together – Soul Poetics: Paint, Music, & Other Expressions Prompt Adventurous Storytelling -because it combines my passions – writing, art and adventure. Think – mind body and soul!

You see, I truly believe that your life is soul poetry. The unique colors, stories, images and dreams within long to move through you like waves ready to crash down upon and gracefully transform the shores of life. But how do you tap into all that energy, give it a language of its own and set it free? Well this is something I’ve been working on for awhile so let me share.

Laying down paint, listening to music, meditating on a word and more invites your soul to step forth and respond to artistic expression by sharing your inimitable stories – it’s a powerful conversation –and all you need to do is listen and let it expand like the ocean within your being.

In this workshop, we will work together to create a small art journal in which we will sing, dance, shimmy, shake, paint, write, swim, art and collage our way to the heart of the shimmering, wild poetry in your soul.

And it’s not even like you just get this class if you decide to play!

For $59 dollar you get to play with 20 other fabulous artists AND learn heaps about art journaling, life, kindred spirits and MORE!! 21 AMAZING classes and 21 AMAZING artists from April through December 31st???? Is it legal to have this much fun? I will look into that!!

I am just as honored to be teaching alongside each and every artist as I am to learn from each and every one of them. I am also completely stoked to meet as many participants as possible and share this journey. It’s going to be an incredible experience – I know I was lucky enough to teach a class within 21 Secrets last year and I met people I have become friends with and work with even now!

Don’t take my word for it though – please click HERE to read up on who is coming to this art journaling playground to play!! I guarantee you will want to come join in the fun!!!

Come on, let’s spend the better part of 2012 playing with art journaling, writing, paint and so much more. Let’s make a mess, learn a ton and share our artistic hearts!!!

Sign Up Right NOW and be completely Delighted, by clicking HERE and get ready for colors, words, excitement, adventure and so much more!!!!

Original work by Natasha Reilly 2012

On this day when most of the greeting cards, chocolates, hearts, flowers and so on are directed toward the land of “coupledom” I feel like the richest woman in the world. Nope, not because of who I am with although I love him a great deal but because of ALL the love there is in my life. From my children to my friends, I am blessed with folks who are funny, smart, and warm with open, incredibly loving hearts and that’s what I am grateful for today and all the other days when there aren’t giant red hearts floating around.

But when I stop and think about it, it’s more than sharing love and being grateful for all the love in my life today. It’s an opportunity for me to stop and realize that I have the ability to send love out into the world with every single breath I take and interaction I make.

So here is my giant Valentine for the world. Can you feel it? Can you feel the hug that exists in between each word?

When you do, you will feel like the richest person alive (and it won’t even matter that we didn’t hit the lottery!

Original Page from Natasha Reilly’s Sketchbook Project 2012

How often do you find yourself reacting to something – a comment, a news article, a movie? Think about it. Now how often do you find yourself in action, moving forward, and initiating one of YOUR ideas – the ones that are born within you??

As children we are all about bringing our ideas to life. Life is a canvas on which we can create anything we can dream – truly anything and we don’t hold back. We want to see what the couch would look like in fluorescent marker colors – we test it. We want to see if we can make tidal waves in the bath – we are all over it. But somewhere along the line we are told to stop exploring and “just listen.” “Do what I say.” And often if asked why, the answer is, “Because I said so.” Enough times hearing that and that’s what we do. In adulthood we may make suggestion and contribute ideas at work but how often are they just variations on what we know works or will be accepted. The golden ideas that are born of exploration and action fall by the wayside.

YOU are filled with color. It’s just a fact. When we were created we were created with as much color and life on the outside as we are on the inside. We were given gifts that are distinctly our own – others may have similar ones BUT they are NOT what YOU have. So why sit on the sidelines simply taking in what others are doing as they explore life. Don’t spend your time reacting spend it in action!!

Create the MOST absurd thing you can think of – chances are it will inspire. BE that new style and sound you are seeking from the world. YOUR longing for it is really a longing for what’s within you, so bring it to life.

Don’t Spend Your Time Reacting Spend It In Action!! Let your colors burn bright like a raging bonfire. Let your dreams take shape and gallop across the canvas, the imagination, the heart, the Universe!

Let it loose! Don’t Spend Your Time Reacting Spend It In Action!!