Greenhouse Arts

2011: The Year of 'Let 'Er Rip!'

When I came across Lian Dolan's podcast this past week, it was like taking a long drink after traveling for months in a desolate wasteland.  In it, she recounts the results of her self-branding of 2010 as The Year of Let 'Er Rip! I encourage you to read the article for yourself as you head into 2011. She offers four bits of advice to have your own 'Let 'Er Rip' year. 

1) Saying Yes is As Easy as Saying No

2) Do One Thing Every Day that Scares You

3) It's Okay to Talk To Yourself

4) Today is As Good a Time As Any

Photo: iStock Photo

Why has this concept been such a find for me on a heart level as we enter the new year? Well, the final seven months of 2010 was not so fun due to witnessing people I love in my extended family navigate pure, raw pain on a daily basis because of separation and now a forthcoming divorce. It has consumed me, leaving little time for more than just getting the basics done. I've continued to work, homeschool my two kids (one of whom would rather not do school at all...ever...also not so fun), parent a teenager (!) and nurture my own marriage to a man I am so unbelievably thankful for today there are no adequate words. But it has all been done with an overwhelming sadness that has threatened to take me under altogether.  

Due to this heartache, I have had little brain space to write.  No heart room for creativity. My heart has kind of shriveled up. That is NOT who I am. I know I need a jump start back into what I value most: creating a life that brings my heart into 'fully alive' status. Due to the fact that my circumstances have not changed, I know that it won't happen if I am not intentional about it.

So, that is why I've decided to follow Lian's lead and brand 2011 as my own 'The Year of Let 'Er Rip' in the hopes that maybe I will shake myself out of the funk I've found myself in and move forward with the things that need to happen this year...the things that really matter to me.  So, here is my list of 11 things I plan to do in 2011. Perhaps this will help you to make your own list so you can 'Let 'Er Rip' in 2011 too!

1)    Shamelessly market and promote myself and my husband.  

After talking about it for 20 years while continuing to work on other people's projects and our own stuff individually, Mark and I finally have an album (entitled Simple) coming out in early 2011 and there is much to do to promote it. It's awesome. You need it. Your friends need it. You will all love it because it's awesome.  We're awesome. You'll love us!

2)    Write a new album in February.

After a long dry spell of no songwriting or writing of any kind, I think this will be just the ticket to get me working on new material for the next album. Yes, I am determined there will be a 'next album'. 

3)    Book a non-continuous coast-to-coast tour to promote the Simple album.

The one good thing about being old like me is you know lots of people all over the place.  I hope to leverage this and get some of those people to let us use their living rooms to do house concerts this year. Besides, how fun will that be to hang with people we love all over the country?  Not to mention all the new friends we'll make who will discover our awesomeness once we shamelessly promote and market ourselves....

4)    Train for (and run!) another half marathon and beat my time. 

Finishing my first half marathon in June of 2010 was a thrill.  I'd love to do it again...even faster!

5)    Pitch my brilliant idea for a TV show to someone connected in Hollywood.

Yes, I am serious.  I'm tossing this out to the universe because I believe I have an absolutely great idea for network television that could change people's lives. Know anybody willing to talk to me? 

6)    Fiercely pursue identity directed learning opportunities for our children that afford us the chance to capture their hearts and unlock their destinies.

After literally feeling suicidal as a homeschooler recently, I've decided to make a radical shift in how we approach learning for all of our kids, not just the homeschooled ones.  I'd like to move from filling their brains with facts and figures to making sure they are learning the things they really need to be the people God created them to be.

7)    Say no to things that clog my brain, time and creativity, such as: extended family drama; fear; negativity; guilt; words of condemnation; the poverty spirit; taking teenaged angst personally; podcasts, audio books, reading material, television and people who drain my battery; falling into my childhood pattern of feeling obligated to be responsible for everything and everyone; clutter internally and externally; excessive house cleaning done to please people who don't even live with me; killing myself trying to be all things to all people; and all-consuming remodeling projects on our 50+ year old house that last longer than one week.

8)   Say yes to doing something kind for myself every single day, such as: napping, long baths, intentional time alone, staying in the Word, eating a high percentage of living foods, cultivating gratitude in my heart, snuggling with my kids, looking long into the eyes of the people I love, stopping to breathe and live in the moment right now!

9)    This year I want to (I NEED TO!) learn how to meditate to better handle stress and keep my mind stayed on what is true.

10) I plan to BE and HAVE way more FUN in 2011, because I AM FUN!

11)  In 2011 I will LIVE BY MY VALUES, and not the tyranny of the urgent.

This year I plan to say yes to those opportunities that stimulate me creatively.  I plan to do one thing every single day this year that scares me. I plan to say to myself every single morning this year, "Let 'Er Rip" and hope that at some point, I will really mean it...really live it out.  I will not procrastinate living out of a heart that is fully alive any longer, continuing to put off to tomorrow what MUST be done today.

Today, on this the first day of 2011, I MUST begin my journey into The Year of 'Let 'Er Rip'!  I've gotta. I feel it's my lifeline to climbing out of the dumps.  How about you?

Christi Bovee is a singer/songwriter who co-founded Greenhouse Arts in 2004.  She lives in authentic community with a dynamic group of artists and musicians in the mountains of Colorado.  She is SO MUCH FUN!

 

 

 

 

WWF does it again! Check out WWF2!

We are very excited to tell you about a project that many who are affiliated with Greenhouse are a part of.  It launches today digitally and you are going to want it!  

Women's Worship Fellowship is releasing their second album, a songwriter's project by and for women 'round the world entitled, Women's Worship Fellowship Two!  Women wrote the songs.  Women play the instruments.  Women sing their lungs out.  Wow!  If you are needing a little pick me up in your heart (or a big rescue for that matter), this is just the ticket.  Buy it!  You won't be sorry!

It is hard to pick a favorite tune on this album, they are all that good.  But one my heart can't stop singing is Japan's Kyong Hayes' Right Here.  Sing it about ten times in a row and watch fear go bye-bye. Love it!

"I know Goodness and Love will keep chasing me down as long as I live!"

Congratulations to the many, many women who were part of this amazing project, led by Michelle Patterson.  We'll be marinating in this one for the time being, longing for more to come from this talented group of ladies!  

You go, girls!

Here is the link:

And check out their Facebook group!

Greenhouse: Growing Gratitude!

Just turn on the news for five minutes and you definitely get it:  Life is tough.  

 

I realize that my asking you as an artist to shift your thinking to ABUNDANCE is going to take some work on your part.  Some of our best work comes out of misery, am I right?

You are going to have to want to do this in order for this little 'experiment' we are trying as a community for the 2010 Collaborative to bear some fruit.  I also realize that I can't make anybody do anything they don't want to do! (A source of continual frustration for me, ha!). Oh, how I hope you'll take the 'Abundance Challenge'!

Here is a suggestion of how to start to make the shift.  It's pretty counter-cultural, so brace yourself...

 

Try being thankful for what you DO have.

Whew, I need this exercise as much as anybody!  For the rest of this week, at some point in your day, every day, think about all the things you are thankful for...the things you DO have.  Look for the areas in which your 'cup overflows'.  If you want, write those things down.  Let your mind think about them and dwell on them. See if anything stirs in your heart after you do this.  Does it cause you to pick up your camera, or your pen, or your dancin' shoes?  That is ABUNDANCE!  Create from that place.  See what happens.

Repeat.

If you want to go a little farther, consider tuning out the stuff that drags you down.  Turn off the news, the Tweets, the noise, and get some space from the things that drain your battery.  Fill the void that those things leave by tuning into and doing what feeds your heart.  That is ABUNDANCE!  Create from that place.  See what happens.

Truth be told, we as leaders at The Greenhouse are never interested so much in the art you make, as we are in the health of your heart as an artist! Ultimately, we look at our annual collaboratives as a chance to see your ability to live from and create out of your heart, expand! Your truest art comes from that place.  That's what we love to see!  That is ABUNDANCE!

The question of the day: What are YOU grateful for?  Leave a comment below!

Artists, worldwide!  Get your submissions ready!  Our theme: ABUNDANCE.  All art forms are welcome! Your first draft must be submitted for the jury process by 9pm on Monday, April 12th, so we can start pulling a cohesive presentation together by May!  Thanks for considering being a part of this!

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OUT OF THE BEDROOM IS THIS FRIDAY NIGHT @ WPAA, 7P!

with Special Guest, Singer/Songwriter

ARIA SOUDER!!!

Minneapolis-based musician Aria Souder will grace our stageless stage on April 2 with her keyboard. She’ll be doing a classic OOTB mini-gig. For the rest of us, things are as usual with one exception: We’ll be plugged in!

Yes, it’s still original tunes only, 3 songs max each, and you may use the keyboard. It will be interesting to experience our little room with a PA. So … something different. I predict you’ll love Aria’s music, too.

Christi says: This open mic night, for ages high school and up, is a great opportunity for you to bring what you are working on for the ABUNDANCE collaborative.  Take your work for a spin before a live audience and see how it goes!  And, this is not just for songwriters!  Writers! You get five minutes to read your stuff!  Weee-hoo!  Visual artists!  PLEASE, the walls of OOTB need your work!  Get cracking, people. 

Check out OUT OF THE BEDROOM'S new website!  

ART by Tanya Davis

ART

by Tanya Davis

i wondered what would be the worth of my words in the world
if i write them and then recite them are they worth being heard
just because i like them does that mean i should mic them
and see what might unfurl

i think of the significance of my opinions here
is it significant to be giving them does anybody care
just because i'm into this does that mean i should live like it 
and really do i dare

art, art i want you
art you make it pretty hard not too
and my heart is trying hard here to follow you
but i can't always tell if i ought to

so i pondered the point of my art in this life
if i make it will someone take it and think it's genuine
will they be glad that i did 'cause they got something good out of it
will they leave me and be any more inspired

i question the outcome of the outpouring of myself
if i tell everyone my stories will this keep me healthy and well
will it give me purpose, to this world some sort of service
is it worth it, how can i tell

art, art...

I caught myself dreaming...

I caught myself dreaming last night.

 Awake.

 I have not allowed myself to do much of this for many, many years. 

 I caught myself in the middle of it with my typical, "Hey! Snap out of it! Dreams don't come true for you!" 

 I caught myself in the middle of it with my new typical: if I am the righteousness of God in Christ, why wouldn't dreams come true for me? 

 I have held a position of cautious optimism for way too long.  Is that really how God wants me to live?

 Things are coming full circle for me.  Pieces of my history are clicking into place. Parts of my heart are coming alive for the first time.  Things I filed away as pointless, irrelevant, make sense. 

 I am a masterpiece God has been restoring for a long time.  He has worked me over, every part, with care. When I have pointed out the flaws I feel disqualify me, He has covered me and relieved my fears.  I sense Him standing back to take a look at His progress, dreaming over me.

 I am ready to be shown. ~cb

Prodigal

I see a funeral procession winding its way down the far hillside.

Police lights flash and car lights are illuminated.  They drive snail's paced, trying not to ruin an already shitty day by ramming into the car in front of them.

What was the life like that they drive for?  Do they simply mourn respectably or is there honest anguish in the grieving?

Did the person live authentically?  Not trying to cover up wiping their own runny nose with their fingers instead of a clean handkerchief; laughing from the gut, weeping from the same?  Or were they stilted and itchy in their own skin?  Emotions tender to the touch, therefore buried to save all from the stench.  Brokenness, compounded and open to infection, yet glossed over with a glittery varnish?

Now.  This one is dead.

I sit and watch and ponder.  How are they any different from me?

True, I'm not  posh and pillowed in the dark low rider with those who esteemed me following close behind.  I'm alive.  Yet, I'm dead.

I spoke...out of my passion and my glory and my sweet spot.  I was shut off and pulled down and told to be quiet and be good.  I became infected with the cancer of self-consciousness.  And I stopped dreaming, speaking, living and reaching out of my poverty to the Only One who can cool my tongue and melt my heart. 

I'm longing to be romanced by the Only One whose affections can satisfy this longing.  The Only One who can fulfill me in the deepest place.  After believing my own bad press, it  has been so long since I've felt worthy to come Home.

I don't know how to be a revolutionary, but I do know how to be depraved and utterly broken.  I have looked too long at one place in the wall and it has burned into my brain so that I see it everywhere I look--I am not enough, nor will I ever be.  I need.

At this moment, I recognize that my need is the only thing I possess utterly and hopefully.  It is the only thing I should own without shame.

Through the void, He's whispered many times this past year, "Your brokenness is beautiful to Me."  Yet, I've continued to hide from Him--a ridiculous game of peek-a-boo, believing with all my soul that He really couldn't see and hoping He wouldn't.

Oh God, my God why have I forsaken You?

My pride has swallowed me whole and the rumbling of its hunger has never been satisfied.

The beauty of it all is You are there waiting to see me limp pitifully over the distant hill.  You are running to meet me, Your own longing for our reunion fueling Your every step.  You rejoice over me with singing as You embrace me.  You cover my shame with Your fierce cloak of mercy.  Your presence knocks the wind out of me and I see stars.  I'm reeling and gloriously disjointed.  Your life seeps into bone and sinew like sweet water.  Your breath flows warm into my lungs like pure life.  Every part of me is jolted with Your force.  The heart of stone explodes into dust.  What is left behind is pink and new and flowing with enriched blood.

What You've done for me.  What You've done.  Your entire Kingdom has come to my rescue.  Your entire will has been done in my self.  War has been waged on my pride and it has been revealed a traitor. 

I am so sorry and so glad.