Attraction: What we attract with our creative choices

By Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach

II used to be a jazz singer. I thought Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan were wonderful and I strived to sing like they did. But no one impressed me as much as Billie Holiday. The tragedy and the talent meshed together into a musical offering unlike any I'd heard. I was inexplicably drawn to the drama and the heartache.

Louise Montello points out, in her book, Essential Musical Intelligence, that I was drawn to those songs for a reason. They corresponded with how I was feeling about myself and my life, and the real or imagined conflicts or unresolved issues that were going on for me.

Later, I found myself still listening to music that was at a different 'frequency' than me, simply out of habit. I either didn't notice that all the songs I was choosing were focused on 'negative' topics or content I didn't agree with anymore, or sometimes I was drawn to the music or musicality of the performers. Or it was simply habit.

There was sometimes a 'coolness' factor - maybe the performer emulated a quality I wanted to possess. Maybe it was their version of success I was after.

A common concept in the personal growth field is that whatever we put our attention on, we unconsciously manifest into our lives. This is the purpose behind the gratitude list - taking time each day to focus on what we're grateful for. It helps to balance out the time that most of us spend lamenting what we DON'T have.

Last night I saw the new movie, 'What the Bleep do We Know?'. My mind is still reeling from all of the scientific evidence that supports the notion that the possibilities, for all of us, are infinite - AND definitely within our control if we choose to think a certain way.

One of the most fascinating and concrete examples came from a Japanese researcher who documented how water crystals changed depending on which thoughts were directed towards them. For more information about the movie, see http://www.whatthebleep.com.

This is not to say that we shouldn't ever sing sad songs, that we should only paint with pink and yellow, or that we should use our computer to filter out negative words in our writing. It's not to say that we should in ANY way censor our authentic expression.

My point here, as it with many of the topics I speak about, is that we should consciously choose and be aware of what we're expressing. AND, as an experiment, we can choose to try and manifest what we want by describing THAT in our art, instead of focusing on expressing our feelings about what we don't.

Today I experiment with choosing songs, both to listen to and to sing, which evoke images of things I want to create in my life, or things I'm grateful for.

I have a very special collection of songs that I listen to every morning. Every song choice is very deliberate. Some of the songs remind me to be grateful, some songs remind me to celebrate and all of the songs connect me in some way to my spirituality.

I consciously choose to explore and express my creativity in ways that reflect my gratitude and the other positive thoughts I cultivate for myself. When I do I feel a magical synergy. Not only am I using my God-given talents, but also I'm integrating them into my chosen path of personal growth and development.

What are you attracting in your life with the creative choices you're making?

Originally published: October 2004. Republished May 2006.

(c) Linda Dessau, 2006.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for the free e-course, "Roadblocks to Creativity" by visiting http://www.genuinecoaching.com.

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Linda Dessau The Self-Care Coach 416-229-0263 6502 Yonge Street, P.O. 37021 North York, ON M2M 4J8 Email Linda