Artis Mooney | The Boundless Life

I’ve been taking time to honor my proclivity towards moving slower, as I ease into the cold of Winter & out of all the bustling energy of the holiday season. As an empath & HSP who can feel EVERYthing, Nov. & Dec. can be a lot… 👀 Add to that, friends (& myself) who are missing someone dear to them, war abroad, war on the streets, humans being insane, gunning each other down, people freezing to death, on & on… w nothing I can do about it. I tend to retreat when overwhelmed, it’s a pattern I have observed in myself since I was a kid. (Trauma response / self-preservation.) It’s part of the reason I have worked for myself most of my life, so that I can plan to go with those ebbs & flows in the ways that work for me. Sending love to all those who feel a bit exhausted right now. Let us take time, without guilt, to rest, ruminate, & be; play, download, percolate, hibernate. A lot of generational trauma comes up for me around the fall. Each year, new layers of healing (& triggers, & integration) unfold. I need time for that. Also, my private sessions go strong through the holidays, so I also am holding space for others who are processing their own family traumas. I am doing my best to be there for my family & have quality time with them. I have to take time for rest, breaks, books closed here & there. I’m grateful to move on my own time. Who’s coming over for a fire? 🌝 My yard is imperfect, my basement space is still not 💯, & I’ve been down there (in the basement now) for nine months, so I guess I’m a newborn baby in some regards! The kitchen may or not be clean, life is messy! It’s a house w kids! Life is a work in progress. F*ck perfection. Meet with me in my glorious messiness. How long do we let that subconscious stream of {What will _____ think about me if _____?} hold us back / keep us from doing things we want to do / prevent us from moving forward? Discernment. Initiative. Sustainability. Boundless Creativity. Patience. Joy. 👉🏽 Some of the qualities of life that I value. Calling in more of these. Got some things in the works… Excited to make more magic & strengthen my community this year. TBC 😘 https://www.instagram.com/p/CnNM4g1uGji/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

⚡️Who’s ready for the adventure of a lifetime? ⚡️ I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes to make this cohort of Polish Your Shine even better than the first. Last winter I launched this flagship program for creative & spiritual women who are ready to heal their trauma, on all levels of being. I guided an intimate group on a truly transformative Journey of the Shero. Step by step, they worked through honoring & releasing their past, & writing a new story for themselves. What I witnessed was nothing short of Soul Alchemy. The way these women came into their power - faced their deepest fears & shadow parts, healed, held space for one another with no need to even know the details of what has been endured, and did the work, with integrity & self-compassion - moved me deeply, often. And it proved that this course works. It’s time for Round 2. Starting 2/22/22 😂🙏🏽 This is a true Shero’s Journey. It is a commitment to yourself to do the work necessary to free yourself - identify your past pains, karmas, samkaras, traumas - honor & release your old stories, your old soul contracts, let go of what no longer serves. Excavate the Gems formed under the pressures of your life experience. Write a new story. ✨ This is a 13-week Deep Dive with live online weekly classes (Mon. pm), personal work with weekly assignments, check-ins (tbd), group coaching, ready access to me, weekly sound baths & optional (but highly encouraged) biweekly Moon Circles. Avg. time commitment of about 5-8 hours a week, including meetings & personal work / assignments. Learn life-long tools of self-care, self-healing, self-expression, self-empowerment, & self-liberation, so you can peel back the layers of pain & trauma you've endured, find more inner peace and inspiration in your daily life, honor everything you’ve grown through to shape who you are today, & manifest a truly fulfilling life that is a heart-felt work of art. 2/22/22-5/21/22 There are up to 10 spaces. Reg. Deadline Feb. 20. See site for price Early Bird & Paid In Full discounts. Payment plans available. Intrigued? Read more &/or pass it on: www.theBoundlessLife.net/polish-your-shine Link in bio. 😘 https://www.instagram.com/theboundlesslife/p/CZF8d_gtWnh/?utm_medium=tumblr

🙏🏽 Thank you Teacher, Sweet & Inimitable Thay. We will carry the flame in your Honor. 🔥 I am eternally grateful for the teachings of this humble, bold, & gentle man. My heart is changed because of you, Thich Nhat Hanh. Thank you for your continued guidance from the other realms. 🙏🏽✨💚✨🌙🙏🏽 ✨Please Call Me By My True Names - by Thich Nhat Hanh✨ Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow—
even today I am still arriving. Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone. I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive. I am a mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river. And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly. I am a frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog. I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda. I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate. And I am also the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving. I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp. My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans. Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one. Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up
and the door of my heart
could be left open,
the door of compassion. 🪔🕯✨💚🙏🏽💚✨🌙 . . . #thichnhathanh #mindfulness #meditation #gratitude #master #ancestor #love #compassion #selfcompassion #patience #grace #thay https://www.instagram.com/p/CZFyJXquc8M/?utm_medium=tumblr

My Daddy became an ancestor on October 3. Some of you may have seen my story at the time, but I’ve been meaning to make an ‘official’ post for quite a while. It’s taken me this long to be able to type these words, and still, it brings tears to my eyes to actually say it. I miss him so much! 😭 Today is a portal. 11/11. I step consciously through a Gateway, from the Life that Was, to the Life that Will Be, while vowing to Honor each day, each moment, by being present, with Gratitude for it All, the joys & the sorrows, the highs & the lows, the ebbs & flows, Love, & the lessons of heartbreak. My Dad was there for it all, he was always someone I could talk to, until his dementia advanced so that it was difficult to have ‘those’ kinda deeper talks we always had, because he could no longer keep track of who was who, or what he or I had said 30 seconds ago some of the time! 🤪 It was comical & frustrating, sad, but sweet somehow. Our roles and way of interacting shifted, and I am so grateful he lived his last years with us, and that I was able to serve him & care for him through to the last Moment. There’s so much more I want to say, but truly words are inadequate to describe the love we had for one another, and how very special our relationship was, and for that, I feel so incredibly fortunate. I’ll begin with this: a simple poem. ✨ father though his physical form is gone, his spirit is very much alive in & around me. not like a ghost who lingers, lamenting, but a soul whose presence is comforting like a warm embrace. no longer encumbered by his deteriorating body and mind, he is much more available to me than he has been in a long while. i see him clearly in mind’s eye, i feel him in my heart, i remember his arms squeezing me tight (he gave the best hugs), and when i speak to him, i hear his voice responding to me, words of comfort, wisdom, and wit. as always, i feel sure of his love for me, and am forever grateful for his undying support throughout my life, which helped me to follow my dreams & become my best self. rest well, daddycakes, Daddy-O, my Love. ✨ Thomas Robert Mooney, Jr. Dec. 28, 1929 - Oct. 3, 2021 Final breath at 3:21 pm 🙏🏽✨💚✨🌙 https://www.instagram.com/p/CWJsfeULCnI/?utm_medium=tumblr

Depression is Deceiving y’all. It comes in many shapes, sizes, & presentations. I’m sure many of you know this, intimately, either from first-hand experience or from witnessing a loved one struggle through. And we don’t talk about it enough. I’m not talking about pity parties, I’m talking about acknowledging that it’s real, honoring the vulnerability of this human condition, and breaking the taboo that keeps us silent, or keeps us from getting help when we need it. That being said, depression is sneaky. Sometimes, it’s really obvious, but it can also creep up on you & linger for a long while without you even noticing it. It’s taken me a long time to acknowledge the signs & symptoms - which for me can look like not showering/changing my clothes, lethargy, inability to focus, binge watching, excessive social media scrolling, lack of public engagement, lack of timely responsiveness to personal or business inquiries… It looks different for everyone. Many many people are out here pushing through their lives, sucking it up, putting on their best face every day, while being really fucking depressed. So just keep that in mind. Life as a human is stressful! Be kind. Lend a hand. Offer an ear. Give a hug. And if you’re one of those people who is feeling it, you’re not the only one, & you don’t have to go through this alone, there are many types of help available to you. So here I am, being vulnerable, coming out of an extended depressive episode, to share personal insight into this shadowy aspect of ourselves. Being depressed doesn’t mean ‘there’s something wrong with you.’ It wasn’t until I shifted into a mental health profession & was helping my daughter navigate through her own mental health challenges, that I began to recognize that I’ve been (mostly) functionally, chronically depressed, most of my life. I’ve realized this by learning to recognize the signs and symptoms, and as I look back over my life, I see, ahhh, now it makes certain things, certain periods of withdrawal in my life, make sense. I see how I intuitively developed certain healthy coping mechanisms which led to passions & careers. Read further in my blog later today. I’m here for you. ✨💚✨🌙 https://www.instagram.com/p/CWI9rnjL3mD/?utm_medium=tumblr

vigilant like the hawk watching and waiting listening taking flight when the moment is right I (part of me) kinda feel like I’m in that holding pattern when your plane has to loop a few times before getting the green to land, except it’s stuck on the loop in some glitch in the matrix and I’m circling, circling… Another part of me simultaneously feels like I’m waiting for the signal to take flight… Interesting place to be, to feel both sides of that dichotomy coexisting in me. Can you relate? 📷: [Image is a detail of a mixed media collage by Artis Moon with red, tan, brown, white, and black textures and pattern, a caption that says ‘making a list, checking it twice,’ and a hawk perched on a branch looking to the right, with dots painted around it.] #embrace #bevigilant #vigilance #patience #waiting #unknown #opportunity #collage #mixedmedia #fineartist #artistsoninstagram #coach #transformation https://www.instagram.com/p/CR__rbTnQEG/?utm_medium=tumblr

Growing Good Vibes 🥰 Over the course of this two week stress management program, participants were guided in mindfulness, meditation, reflection, journaling, dialoguing, visualization, shamanic journeying, and using art for clarity, tapping in to their own wisdom, & its own inherent therapeutic value. Transformation was witnessed, and I am honored to be of service. https://www.instagram.com/p/CRl-0n8Bv0q/?utm_medium=tumblr

Painting is really therapeutic. In a lot of ways it was my first meditation. I love sharing this opportunity with others. Last Friday we weapped up my 2-week stress management course, Growing Good Vibes. These guys got some great tools and today they are integrating their self-discovery. All in all, about 25 people participated. It wound up being a different combination of people each day, mostly teens (+ one 10-yo little brother) and our officers each participated at least a few times. This was a powerful workshop and proved once again how universal this work is. 🙏🏽✨💚✨🌙 #painting #therapy #mentalhealth #stressmanagement #freedom #soulwork https://www.instagram.com/p/CRl9LF0BEza/?utm_medium=tumblr

My flying pegasus is emerging as the shero of the painting! 🥰 I started this piece during the past year when I was still at my Takoma Park studio - as I usually do, just playing with color and texture and seeing what emerges. And I kept seeing this flying pegasus, I couldn’t see anything else there in that part... So, finally this week, I looked for a source pic whose body position most closely resembled the pegasus I was seeing in the paint. Voila! This was really fun as I haven’t been doing much representational work for some years now, so I was a little nervous, but I definitely have been wanting to weave more of that into my work, and I’m pleased with her. Now to figure out how I’m going to bring out the sinking burning pirate ship I see emerging below her. 😂 . . . . #wip #mixedmedia #paint #painting #studio #milkpaint #mixedmedia #plaka #artist #abstract #representationalart #pegasus #fly #shero #love #peace #therapy #meditation (at Windom Rd) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRa56evB1_u/?utm_medium=tumblr

#wip I was at the studio tonight and picked this piece up that was part of a piece many moons ago and decided to play with it, and that little blue area in upper right told me that it was little buildings, a little cityscape, they just appeared in the paint & texture that been put there 20 years ago. I’m pleased. 🥰 This started from a little scrap of nothing and I’ll keep playing til it’s something. It came to life again tonight because I opened an old container of white Plaka, this casein-based (milk-based) paint/ink & my friend Juan blended it for me with the drill (brilliant! duh!) as it was - well, kinda separated and thick, but it worked like a charm - & then of course I had to paint some stuff with it. I love its super matte velvety contrast with the shininess of acrylic. We’ll see where I take it next. Back in the studio tomorrow. . . . . #mixedmedia #painting #exploration #innateintelligence #calming #therapy #therapeutic #healing #studio https://www.instagram.com/p/CRa3p3sBHct/?utm_medium=tumblr

#wip part 3... where i’m headed / what i’m creating #saturdaynight #studio #mixedmedia #collage #soulmap #orientyourself https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ6JLnhhNdm/?utm_medium=tumblr

#wip part 2... where i am now... #saturdaynight #studio #inspired #mixedmedia #collage #soulmap https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ6Iu90hIuT/?utm_medium=tumblr

#wip part 1... where i’ve come from.. #fridaynight #studio #mixedmedia #soulmap #orientyourself https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ6ITUBhKjQ/?utm_medium=tumblr

Repost from @the.alchemist • Prime energy is our creative life force expressed as energy-in-motion aka emotion. A heavy emotional load that consists mainly of adverse and trapped emotions distorts our energy field creating dissonance.  This is not to demean our adverse emotions, rather, it’s a call to bring expression, unconditional presence, and voice into these areas so that they have space to acquire resolution. Without movement, these trapped emotions stagnate our life force, breaking down coherency much like an injury sustained to the nervous system would alter the tissues’ ability to effectively communicate. Adverse emotions exist only within Space-time and are not compatible to the facets of consciousness outside of it. The only prime energy that can traverse the lower dimensions is the original one; the form we return in. True love is more than romantic affection, friendship, or empathy and yet it is all these various expressions of love that provide the opportunity to generate love in its distilled form.  True love is cultivated in our everyday experiences from ordinary moments of shared humanity to lessons that lead to profound awareness. All of the varied forms of its essence are synthesized into a force larger than the sum of its parts. True love is the power source that builds escape velocity. — Sarah Elkhaldy 🌑Art by: @anewspecimen 🌑 . . . #love #truelove #reiki #chi #attitudeofgratitude #unconditionallove #selflove #loveyourself #healyourself #beyourownhealer #masterenergy https://www.instagram.com/p/CQClxh0BObh/?utm_medium=tumblr