Joyanne Sloan's Podcast

Welcome!

I'm rather excited about this episode and the chance to answer the question "How can my life become a work of art?"' I'm excited because, at heart, I'm an artist.  I have a fine arts degree and began a graphic design business just out of college.  Now my creative expression comes in different forms: as a writer and poet, as a gardener and cook, and certainly as a mother.  Life's energy is creative energy.  And the older I get, the more grateful I am to be blessed with it.  People are forever saying "Joyanne, you are soooo creative.  I wish I were creative too, but I'm just not."  But nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Did you know that the Oxford dictionary defines art as 'human creative skill'?  And it's just that, a skill.  As a skill, it becomes better with practice.  Like a muscle, it becomes stronger with use.  But even though you have an innate capacity for art, I believe that art is NOT art until someone appreciates it.  As you know, art appreciation is entirely subjective.  But in terms of your life becoming a work of art, the only opinion that matters is yours.  In other words, who will appreciate the work of art that is you, if not YOU?

 

I'd like to tell you a story about my dad.  As long as I can remember, he's kept his loose change in a place in his top dresser drawer.  Every day when he came home from work, he emptied his pockets and changed out of his work clothes.  He'd open the drawer and place his spare coins into a little lump of an ashtray-paperweight-thingamajig that I'd fashioned out of clay in pre-school.

 

He'd remind me over and over, "You know, you made this for me sweetie pie." And each time he'd tell me, I'd wonder why he kept it.  It was like a blob covered in a truly unsavory brownish-yellow glaze.  It wasn't good, it was embarrassing. In fact, it was sinfully ugly.  In my immature opinion, it seemed unrecognizable and not like "art" at all.

 

But my father saw something different.  He loved and kept my artwork, because he adored the tiny hands that created it and to my dad that made it beautiful. The value of art to him, or any observer, comes not from the work itself but from those who see it; those whose vision goes beyond the surface to recognize:

- a unique perspective or

- evolution or

- intention or

- love

 

Art isn't art until it's seen. So what is seeing?  Seeing is about vision.  Interestingly, the word vision is derived from a root word meaning 'to know'.  So, to have clear vision is to have real knowing.  Therefore, the ability to recognize your life as a work of art doesn't require a well developed self-image, but a growing self-knowledge.

 

How then do you get to know your self?  Well, if you're always engaged in the process of becoming "somebody", then your orientation is to external actions.  What I'm suggesting is that constant motion precludes true vision.  When you're going full speed ahead, you can only focus on what's directly in front of you and the rest is just a blur.  But when you slow down, you can safely look around and invite deeper knowing.  So... what do you know? What can you learn by looking?  What can you notice and name and finally appreciate?

 

The question "How can my life become a work of art?" can be answered this way: by laying down the brush and setting aside the paints; by becoming the canvas itself as you enter into and honor what IS.

 

You know, you don't have to become a great artist.  You have only to develop your vision to appreciate the existing work of art that lies beneath judgment, behind your goals, and beyond the limitations of those whose own blindness prevents them from seeing or knowing your unmistakable beauty.

 

When you allow the truth of you to surface from beneath the cover of doubt or shame or unworthiness, then and only then, will the masterpiece that is you reveal itself upon your canvas.  Your work then is not to perfect your craft, but instead to sharpen your focus by looking long and hard.

 

The creative work that is your life will come to light in keeping with your ability to discern, and then share, the splendid truths you've always believed about yourself.  When you know that, others will also begin to know that... about you and then perhaps, about themselves.

 

It was the Indian philosopher Osho who said "Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece.  You can not be improved.  You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it."

 

Please join me next time as I ask the question "What are you wearing?"

 

Until then, I leave you with abundant peace.

Welcome! Today's topic is one I'm particularly excited to share with you. The question I'll be answering is "Where's my piece of prosperity?" And the word I'd like to bring your attention to is PIECE: p-i-e-c-e which suggests that prosperity is something it's not. Because TRUE prosperity is not tangible, it's not quantitative and, above all, it's NOT finite.

 

You and I live in a culture that not only perpetuates those false ideas, but is largely focused on promoting the notion that we should do everything in our individual power to secure our own PIECE of prosperity. To get your piece is to maintain the pervasive consciousness of scarcity. It means to live in a mindset based on lack, or competition or "me-first-ism".

 

Indeed, scarcity is an awareness of what you don't have, of all the things you "need" before you give yourself permission to live happily ever after. I personally know some financially secure people, even millionaires, who hoard and skimp and isolate themselves in a deeply impoverished way in order to attempt to secure what's theirs. Do you know someone like that? Do you see that person when you look in the mirror? And, if so, are you ready to make a radical shift; to fundamentally alter your thinking and, therefore, your life?

 

When you're ready to say "Yes!" to abundance and to your self, then you're ready to learn the secret. You're ready to know that the rules of the game have changed; for your piece of prosperity is not out there waiting for you to finally hit the jackpot, it's not waiting in the realm of "some day" and it's not sitting subject to the somebody who might get to it first.

 

Because the truth is that the missing piece you've long sought was there along. You just couldn't see it so cleverly disguised, unwittingly misspelled with an 'E'. PEACE: p-e-a-c-e. Yes, your peace is here right now; waiting like an old friend to be embraced. It's the ripened fruit resting patient and still upon the tree of life and ready for your absolute delight.

 

It is this very moment when I lift my pen from the tablet and take in the sounds of my true love as he fills our life with music. The gentle chords of his guitar bring me to the exquisitely sweet realization that the creative life I've yearned for is HERE, is NOW, is REAL.  I'm taken in by his sounds, by the music inside of me; a happiness only I can hear but that I want so deeply to share with you right now. My awareness shifted, and so did I; moved almost to tears by the overwhelming joy of knowing my long-held dream of true artistic expression had come to pass in the most subtle and lovely way. So subtle, in fact that I might have missed those moments of peace altogether had I failed to simply stop... and notice.

 

This inner peace of prosperity belongs to you, yes you, if you're willing to claim it. If you're able to name it as the twinkle of a child's eye, as a tender moment you shared with another, as any gift or treasure that brings meaning or joy to your day.

 

In fact, that you are human provides you with the greatest gift of all: the consciousness to recognize, to affirm and to be truly grateful for the infinite joys of your beautiful life. I affirm your worthiness and your privilege to the Peace Of Prosperity within you, within me, within the grasp of anyone and EVERY one who knows where to look and how to give thanks.

 

In the 15^th century lived a prominent Italian scholar and monk by the name of Giovanni Giocondo who said: "There is nothing I can give you which you have not got; but there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No Heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it to-day. Take Heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see; and to see, we have only to look.

Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power.  Life is so full of meaning and of purpose, so full of beauty, beneath its covering, that you will find that earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage, then to claim it: that is all! But courage you have; and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together, wending through unknown country, home. And so, I greet you; not quite as the world sends greetings, but with profound esteem, and with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away."

 

Please join me next time as I answer the question "How can my life become a work of art?" Until then, I leave you with abundant peace.

 

 

Welcome!  As a prosperity coach, I'm excited about answering the essential question "What is prosperity?"  You know, it's taken me years to get clear about its meaning, because the ways in which we define language change as we change.

 

As a young girl in Southern California, I had a significantly different idea about prosperity back then, as I do now. And there's something I want to point out before I go any further, and that is we're not talking about some rigid dictionary meaning here, but a fluid and evolving understanding of the power of language to define yourself.

 

In other words, I'm going to share what prosperity means to me, but I don't want you to take it as anything other than my opinion.  Instead, I'd encourage you to define or even redefine prosperity for yourself. Because, after all, it's what you think that makes the difference.

 

I think it's fair to say that American culture has essentially equated getting rich with being prosperous.  In fact, there's a strange irony when you consider that while much of the world believes the United States to be extraordinarily affluent, the hard statistics show that we are currently facing record-setting national debt and personal bankruptcy.  It's about time for new meanings and new methods.

 

The dictionary defines prosperity as: The state of being successful, thriving or wealthy. And there you have it. If you remember anything at all from this episode, let it be this: Prosperity is not something you have, it's something you are. By definition, it's a state of being rather than in amassing of what you can buy, or store, or covet or lose.

 

To be prosperous is about merit, not material.  To be successful is to enjoy personal power, not purchasing power.  And to be a wealthy is to be healthy and whole; to have a presence about you, and to own your own brilliance, your own joy and to be fully autonomous, fully free to pursue the happiness you seek.

 

It seems that the ways in which my ideas about prosperity have changed is not so much a function of aging as it is of maturing.  By that I mean that how I define success is more holistic than ever before. And I'm curious if the same thing isn't true for you.  Do you feel successful when you are tired and stressed out and overwhelmed?  Does what you have in the bank ever make a difference when you get to that burned out stage?

 

Yours truly was the poster girl for the Superwoman Syndrome.  By the age of 30, Iâ??d started my third business, was deep in the throes of an eight year do-it-yourself remodel, all while taking courses and doing volunteer work.  My motto was â??If it is to be, it's up to me." Everyday I got up and lived my list.  But no more!  Now I get up and live my life.  I choose the sweetness of being human over the habitual desire to do more.

 

 And the thing is that choosing your self is the key that unlocks what's possible.  When you are willing to stop getting and stop going, you have an invaluable, precious opportunity to uncover the reasons why you put yourself last.  It's a journey; a long and winding path from merely surviving to really thriving.  Welcome, you're not aloneâ?¦

 

It was Earl Nightingale who said â??We must be the epitome, the embodiment, of success.  We must radiate success before it will come to us.  We must first become mentally, from an attitude standpoint, the people we wish to become."

 

Please join me next time, as I answer the question "Where's my piece of prosperity?"  Until then, I leave you with abundant peace.

Welcome to the inaugural Peace of Prosperity podcast. My name is Joyanne and I'm absolutely delighted to embark on this journey with you. It seems to me that the best place to begin is with the truth.  And the truth is that I'm a little scared, because I'm in uncharted territory and I can't really be sure what's going to happen.  Even though my podcast is new, my path is not. While this isn't my first step along the way, it's a big one! It's one I won't take by myself because if there's anything I've learned in life, it's that you don't have to do it alone. About a week ago it became very clear to me that the theme of my first podcast would be friendship. After all, friendship is critical to success. When you combine challenge and togetherness you get effort, but challenge and solitude is an equation for struggle. And I don't know about you, but I've had enough struggle to last me a lifetime.

 

So I took a look at the word friend. It's an old English word which means "to love or to favor".  And I remembered a time during my junior year of college when I really needed a friend.  I was at a new University with a new major in a new town and I didn't know a soul on my first day of class. Midway through the day, I mustered my courage and walked right up to a girl sitting across from me. With a big smile, I cheerfully said "Hi!"

 

To my total dismay, she said nothing. In fact, she didn't even look up at me, but stared straight ahead as if she hadn't seen me at all. I went back to my seat confused and embarrassed and tried my best not to look hurt. That was almost 20 years ago, and yet I can remember it vividly. Like a majority of painful memories it was based on lies; the lie that I was invisible and the lie that I was essentially alone.

 

So much has changed since then. I've grown and evolved and discovered the truth that I'm never alone. I learned that what's most important is to be honest and be myself and understand deeply that that is enough. And I learned that by entrusting others with the truth, it creates a conduit through which the favors and love of friendship can flow outward.  It's only when I trust that magic happens.  Magic is full of wonder and life is full of magic. It happens when you need it the most and when you expect it the least. In fact, it happened just this afternoon.

 

As I worked in the garden, I considered how to approach my first podcast. I was pruning back the overgrown rhododendrons and the blackberry brambles and thinking all the while. The light was growing dim as I moved closer and closer to the mailbox. I set down my rake, crossed the street and pulled out my letters. Among the junk mail I discovered a card with a return address of a very dynamic woman I'd coached over the summer. The envelope was torn and taped and oddly postmarked twice. I could see that the card had become lost along the way, trying to keep up with me as I'd made two moves in just six months. The letter had come from across town and had started its journey in the middle of July. Here it was the last week of September, but the timing of its arrival couldn't have been more perfect.

 

I opened it to find a sweet illustration of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet having tea with honey. The caption read "It's so much more friendly with two". Inside, I found a beautiful heartfelt inscription: "Joyanne, thank you for your guidance and light as I continue my journey toward abundance, prosperity and joyful living.  Woo hoo!"

 

I smiled with my whole body and I marveled at how life gives us such magnificent surprises and support in ways you could never imagine. I was reminded that true friendship is an invaluable exchange of a joy that encourages all life. With that, I welcome you to the Peace of Prosperity podcast. And I look forward to our friendship, to sharing our many steps, our truths and successes. In the words of Donna Roberts:

 

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you've forgotten the words."

Until next time, I leave you with abundant peace.

 

 

 

You too can experience the Peace that appears when you shift from just Surviving to really Thriving. Prosperity coach Joyanne Sloan shares her secrets to success when you subscribe to the Peace of Prosperity Podcast. For more information visit PeaceOfProsperity.com