The only truth we can tell is from our own experience…

I am writing from an enchanted cottage on Flat Bottom pond on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.  It is one of the most magical… sacred places I have discovered and it is a powerful realization to be able to come back to this divine sanctuary of nature to offer a painting retreat.  Another major dream manifesting…. here.  Now.  Wowah.  Receiving it all…EXPANDING…..soaking it up. Breathing it in.  Gratitude all the way around.

I could not have realized this dream, without all the beautiful people along the way who have inspired and supported me to this realization.  It truly takes a village. My dear friend George who was brave enough to trust the flow and go courageously into the unknown to take a road trip up to the East Coast with me.  Good times.  He has supported me in so many ways from building out the studio in Austin, supporting me during my opening, cleaning out the art barn and setting up a painting studio for the retreat and enouraging me along the way.  I am moved by his generous spirit and others that have inspired me to live in my full potential.

blast from the past.

The other night I was out at dinner with some of my girlfriends from the island from when I used to live here, Nya Clarke and Nicole Bilzarian.  Nya and I both worked for Nicole and her husband, Kenny at The Great Put-On a designer boutique that’s genius is in dressing both men and women and making them feel fabulous, knowing what looks good on who and when.  It had been several years since I had seen Nicole, as the her business is seasonal and if I am on the island during the summer…I rarely get to see her.  We went to Chesca’s for dinner just like we used to do 16 years ago after a long day of work  (modeling platforms or stilletos and serving people in high fashion…high stress, I know…) and in the first few minutes of reconnecting with her and Nya…just like countless summers and a few falls in my distant past…it hit me. Tears swelled up and I started to realize another layer to the amazing gift Nicole had given me and what she had taught me ….and how it contributes to how I show up and what I have to offer the world today.

shopping & dressing others as a spiritual practice.

A simple summer job in the hottest boutique on the island …wasn’t so simple.  Not only did the experience give me self-confidence, in working with a diverse, high-end and sometimes Hollywood, clientele…it  came with it added responsibilities and I learned how to begin being comfortable managing money, being in my own body,  how to express myself with clothing, what my style was and most importantly…Nicole taught me how to intuitively connect to and dress other people.   Quite a creative process…. She is a master at intuitively reading others and sensing what looks good on people…experimenting! Discovering together what their style is and how to uplift them into a higher feeling place.  Aligning with a style that feels unique for each person.  Just like my Mom taught me so much about intuitive cooking, Nicole taught me about intuitive style and connecting with others, tapping into the realm of the senses to collaboratively dress people.  What colors—fabrics are you attracted to you…? What do you feel good in?  What…. FEELS RIGHT?   Each customer was a blank canvas, ready to be born…and experiment in sensing, connecting and co-creation.  The customers always gave me feedback when I missed the mark, so I was constantly evolving my intuitive skill and learning to trust myself.

no, you are awesome.

Funny, because whenever the three of us reconnect, as we did the other night…. we always drop into a thick Massachusetts accent just like we would goof around when the store was slow…and go into shelling out obsessive (think Saturday Night Live skit…), ‘Yourahhh awehhhsome.’  ‘ No, your awehhhhsome.’   ‘You arrahh so f@$#-ing awehsome!’  and we rolled into barrels laughs so hard that sometimes the wine would come out of our nose.  And I never would have been inspired to keep coming back to Martha’s Vineyard if it wasn’t for my sister-like connection to Nya who as the islands real estate goddess, found me this enchanted property to host the retreat in.

gather your squash.

Willy & Georg

On our way up to Martha’s Vineyard, we stopped into NYC and we stayed with an old college friend from Tulane, Will Corey.  All I have to say about Will is that he is one of my absolute favorite people and is a wizard at being a catalyst for infectious laughter. He is quite the character…. I remember exploring New Orleans music with an incredible and passionate guide as we lead us all to the best tunes in town.  During Jazz Fest one day in college we were out and about moving from venue to venue listening to music.  It is a very over stimulating experience…lots of incredible music…mouthwatering cajun food and tons of people partying, celebrating everywhere.  At one point Willy just looked at me and he said,  “Hold on a moment, I need to gather my squash.” He left us for a few minutes and took himself outside.  I could see through the windows that he was having a moment to himself.  He was soaking it all in.  Taking a breather and pacing himself in receiving this kaleidoscope of creative energy and expression and well…. perhaps also grounding his sobriety…but you get the idea.  Thank you Willy for coining the unforgettable phrase for grounding and coming back to center.

trust yourself.

I had lunch with Joe McCambley …a highly creative and gifted entrepreneur who is one of the founders of The Wonder Factory in NYC-–my first boss when I worked in internet marketing a few years out of college.  Those .com daze.  Every thing was about innovation, taking risks… it was highly creative…  read— we made up a lot of stuff as we went along—and I was able to leverage my intuitive customer service skills from my summers at The Great Put-On.  So when Joe hired me to help open the office of Thunder House in San Francisco back in ’97 I was thrilled for the opportunity (ignorance is well only sometimes bliss…) it was all so exciting and yet I remember saying…ummmm yeah… but what is Internet Marketing?  What does that mean?  Good question.  I think we all evolved with it along the way.

So in reconnecting with Joe, I remember how I felt that he believed in me and my potential by giving me so much responsibility and freedom at such an early time in my career… probably due mostly to the circumstance of a start-up and that as President of a quickly evolving cutting age interactive agency, he didn’t have the bandwith to manage me.  I had to learn to manage myself and ask for what I needed. And I thrived in this circumstance. I flowered in the chaos of crisis and sometimes difficult clients, it was a fabulous creative challenge.  Joe has this amazing gift of seeing the powerful potential in people…unassumingly trusting and he consciously or unconsciously created the space for me to trust my experience and make things up as I went along.  It helped build my confidence, self-esteem and my ability to seek out creative solutions.  Thank you Joe for all your continued support and inspiration!

So your awesome….gather your squash, trust your self and dive into your creative process at the painting studio!  Join us for a 4 week Intuitive Painting Class beginning October 4th.

With love and great gratitude…

Melissa

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