(Paint, paper, rocks, bark, hardware, branches, ink…anything goes where transformation is concerned.  Now I need to learn to transform the pictures!)

There is a place of true transformation in all of us, when, at the exact moment we think it’s the end, a new beginning emerges.  Say hello to your creative process!

I fully grasped the magic of my Imaginal at the most challenging time in my life when I thought I lost everything (relationships, body, mind, self, financial freedom, creative voice) again!  Everything tipped and I experienced the true meaning of transformation, as a human being, as a mother, as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend, as an artist and as a writer.  What I still had were my creative whispers and I became a way for them to come to life on a whole new level of gratitude and appreciation.  In breathing from a new place, so did my art and my life.  Picking up paint, scissors, canvases, nails, screws or anything you can think of, is a celebration of the beauty I see in this world.

I read some words years ago about the transformation of the butterfly and fully understood the beauty of personal transformation.  It makes so much sense to be thankful for the gifts of our own life challenges; the ones that lift us up even higher then we could ever imagine.  Lost in the middle of the storm, when we consciously choose to react in a different way, true metamorphosis takes place and we can never return to who we were.

The creative process is all of that.  It transforms not only yourself, but those around you.  When we share the beauty of who we are, we become agents of change and inspiration for one another.  To me, Imaginal has come to symbolize that land of inner metamorphosis.  It is a place of magic and of conscious, intentional change; a place that exists within but is reflected in our relationship to life. It is accessed through facing our greatest challenges with courage, trust and love and by listening to our creative whispers.

(Deepak Chopra discusses the Imaginal Cells and their role in the transformation of the butterfly in this video.)

What is your Imaginal like?