What can be more conducive to wellbeing than common sense, which comes from the synergy of all senses? Sentience, the capacity to feel and sense, is the habitat of a visionary, as it is how that which understands has an understanding of “God” (the ultimate vision). It works hand and hand with sensibility, the ability to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences. I feel this holy pair (being sentient and sensible) when I am in the place in between – the zone when I am at once here (totally focused), and not here (no judgment).

Surrendering judgment is a tall order! How do I not judge agony and not resist it as “bad?” But when I ask to see beyond the limits I impose on my imagination, I transcend my idea of good or bad. I stop thinking “this is Art, this is not Art.” In that sense, the pain caused by my judgments is necessary for me to open to a vision. At last, I understand and relax in the midst of chaos. Here is the kicker: the more extreme the swing that I am willing to withstand as I move back and forth from agony to ecstasy, the more compassionate and thus far-reaching the vision that will express through me.

What does it take to be a Visionary? To have something to say, yes, and to have mastered a skill or two to express it, yes again! And there is more: I also need to be moved to serve the good of all. More than any mission, being a Visionary asks me to be selfless. Such generosity of spirit is how I can be empty enough to receive the gift of light I am to share. So yes, there is a responsibility that comes with being gifted – the will to be a clear and perfect channel, mature enough to own my errors, so as to parent (my) vision into the world. This is Response-ability. 

It is my sincere belief that being heard and seen is a universal desire. We come here to express the unique gifts of our soul. I know I did! I came to express my “heART” by using my Art (whatever it may be, painting, gardening, nursing, selling, etc.). The fact that Art is and has the generosity to open sentience is obliterated by another fact: it is not enough to be, for example, a master gardener. I must also master myself, which involves giving up what makes me sick. And as I now trust myself, I also find that my voice naturally and surprisingly finds a trust and a hearing.