April Edition!

Welcome to the very first edition of Highlights for the New Energy Writing Fellowship! It is with great excitement that I am featuring three amazing creators in this first edition. Our first featured author is Carol Walczak whose first self published book will be available anyday. The story behind her book is as inspiring as the words within it. Molly Schmitz joins us as this month's featured artist. Molly plays in lots of different creative fields and has a wonderful sense of connection with others. I'm sure you will enjoy what they both have to share. From the message board I have featured some digital art by Teka Luttrel. Teka will be joining us in the next Highlights edition as the featured artist so this is a nice taste of what Teka's creations are like. I have given this months edition an Alice In Wonderland theme. Just like Alice we can explore and experience amazing things with only our mind as a limit. When we let go of the boundaries we can encounter things that puzzle and scare us as we experience new people, creatures and worlds. For the true creator this shouldn't stop us, it should only make us curiouser and curiouser......

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know", Alice answered. "Then", said the cat, "it doesn't matter." Lewis Carroll

Featured Author; Carol Walczak At age nine, I sat down with a new notebook, all ready to write, but nothing came... so I filled in the time between then and much later with a lot of reading, which I loved.  In my early 30's I did some university studies and had the pleasure of writing then, but it was my spiritual journey which started me writing regularly, though mostly just for myself, in the form of journals, stories and channelings.  Eventually, in a psychic development group, we got to the point of channeling short readings for each other, and this gave me confidence.  After that I channeled a short series from The Oversouls on Cosmic History.  It was a lot of fun to channel these stories, as each turn of the tale brought unexpected elements.  I posted these on my personal website www.newenergyjourney.bigpondhosting.com, which was created to share my journey. So far, most of my writing has been channeled, and channeling has a way of coming in it's own time.  Usually, I'll get a feeling that I want to write, I'll find some peace and quiet, usually at night, and I'll sit at the computer and let the story flow.  I am currently writing a book called "Love Yourself".  It started off flowingly, but now I am stuck.  I tried to start again from scratch, but it doesn't feel right, so I'm leaving it for now.  It will come up for attention when the timing is right. "Choose to Live!" has a very personal history.  My son Daniel died in January 2007, and this book is his legacy.  After the funeral, I went home to Eden to grieve, not knowing how I was going to deal with my feelings, not even knowing what those would be over time.  It was Australia Day, a Friday, and the whole long weekend loomed ahead of me with no distractions, which I would so have welcomed.  Suddenly, though, I got an urgent push to write, NOW!  I went to the newsagents, bought a new notebook and pen, and spent the next three days channeling this book from Daniel.  First we wrote the chapter headings, then we filled in the chapters one by one.  It was an amazing experience.  My whole being was saying "Yes!" to the things which we were writing.  At times we had a tussle over the wording.  I would have put in a lot of examples.  Daniel preferred to get straight to the point.  I like the way it turned out. After writing, I needed to find a publisher.  My only publishing house contact was my ex-husband's fiancee, so I emailed her the text.  She sent it back with helpful comments, but it was obvious that to get this book published, I'd have to do it myself.  I set about finding and contacting self-publishing companies.  Several sounded good, but Seaview Press was the first to respond, by far, so I chose to publish with them.  This involved paying for all costs myself, in advance.  In future I'll explore the print-on-demand publishers, which charge you only for the initial setup and then literally print books as they are ordered.  An illustration was a must for the front cover, so I emailed Anthony Butkovich, whose work is so beautiful.  I knew he would be able to capture the spirit of the book, and this he did.  Seaview Press put the artwork together with the title and blurb in a basic fashion.  When Anthony saw the results, he suddenly realized that he could design covers too, so he took over that part of things with wonderful results. A couple of weeks ago I received the bound proof of my book.  It looked good, and the energy of it felt good.  It had a couple of errors, so I am waiting for the next proof, and then it will be off to the printers! I have started to write a children's book, "Daniel and the Golden Dragon".  It is the first in a series of three, and they are not officially channeled.  I use my own mind to create the story, but it is a lot of fun, and the feeling of flow is similar to channeling, though slower.  Perhaps we all channel ourselves when we write Read more about Carol's book "Choose To Live" on the Books page. Visit Carol's websites at www.carolwalczak.com.au and www.newenergyjourney.bigpondhosting.com Anthony Butkovich's amazing art can be seen at www.abartist.com

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master. That's all.” Lewis Carroll

Featured Artist; Molly Schmitz What areas of art do you play with? I play with many types of creative expression.  I paint, write, take photographs and play with clay to form sculptures as well as pottery forms.  Writing for me is simply about journalling my life experiences; I love to express how I spend my days and what unfolds, especially as I make this transition into the New Energy. I learn so much, and I love capturing all of that on paper and then going back and reading it later. Painting happens when it happens; I have a nice table with paper and paints set up for whenever I need to play with the flow of watercolors.  I also paint my ceramic pieces sometimes.  I take photos in nature often.  I love flowers, closeup views mainly.  Creating Sculpture and Pottery forms using clay are the areas that I have devoted most of my time over the past two years.  I just started this in 2005.  I have an entire room at home dedicated to creative expression – for my clay work, painting, or whatever project I am interested in.  How did you get started and at what age? I have been creative all my life.  I feel that being creative is our natural state.  I always loved to draw and color as a kid.  I also spent time journalling since I was a little girl.  In high school I got more into art classes and writing, too.  I liked writing stories.  After highschool, most of that left me really.  I went to college and a lot of that artistic expression went to the way side.  I would still journal and doodle in classes out of boredom, but I did not give myself much permission to go beyond that until a few years ago.  I had this desire, this secret wish, to take a pottery class for a while, and then when I finally quit my job in June/July 2004, I had the time to experience more of my inner desires.  I slowly began listening within about what I wanted to express creatively, and it was so nice to let all that inner flow of creation come up.   That is when I officially started journalling on a computer, instead of a notepad or diary, to express my days.  I set the intention to share this journal with others one day in book form.  (And it is now in book form!)  Then the photography part started to be a part of my days, then the painting, and then the art classes with clay.  I played a lot, and it felt so good! Describe how you create? Interesting question.  For me, it is an inner feeling that really gets me started.  Most of my creations begin with this inner impulse that is a feeling like excitement and a nudging to express something.  With clay, sometimes I have a desire to create a human form, but not sure how it will actually look; then I will start out sitting at a table with just a block of clay, breathing while I work my hands in the clay.  I consciously will breathe as I work with the clay and allow energies to flow through me.  I will actually get into this state of creation where there is no thinking at all; I get swept into this rhythmic state of being and creating.  It is like my hands are working with the clay themselves.  I just trust SO much that it is all unfolding perfectly, and it does.  The human form that comes out sometimes has its own message or energy, and it is so amazing to me to feel that I co-created this form.  I feel at times these pieces have something to say and to give to the world.  So the main thing for me is really breathing in the now moment, following the flow of my heart, and the rest just really flows for me.  I feel like it is magic.  I feel that I am part of something so much bigger, and it is the ultimate feeling of working with creation energy.  It is profound.  I hope to share this someday with others, so they can feel this unlimited flow within, from our own source within.  I realized just recently how I can apply that to my actual Self, seeing my Self as a creative piece in my hands that I shape.  I can breathe into who I am, and trust the flow of life to move through me and to create all I need.  Funny how that is.  Something that I apply to my art can now be applied to being freer in just living my own life, in my expression of Self.  What inspires you? Everything around me inspires me.  I might see someone else’s claywork forms or see forms in nature, and the next time I sit in my chair to work in the clay, new forms emerge that I was exposed to; they are not the same as the others but have been influenced by them.  I take a walk in an art exhibit and see new expressions, and that influences me or gives me permission or freedom to go into a new space for myself.  Everything and everyone inspires me really.    Do you ever have creative blocks? If so how do you move through them? I don’t have creative blocks often when it comes to creating an artwork.  I do have times where I just need a break from creative expression.  It is my downtime to be empty for a while.  I don’t have blocks because I feel that the breath really takes me everywhere in my expressions and just trusting that no matter what I create, it is okay.  Judging my creative unfoldings does not work for me, so I allow the experience of creating to happen, and to just enjoy it.  When I have focused too much on how good it should be, or if others would think it was good, I have felt limited and sad.  To me, everyone needs to create and express themselves, and to judge the outcome is sad to me.  It stops the flow.  It stops feeling good.  So, I give myself permission to just flow.  I choose to stay free, and all seems better in that kind of space. What are you creating or working on now? in the future? I am in a transition period with myself and just allowing that to happen now.  I am in need of the quiet space often, but I still get inspiration to journal and do other things.  I have recently been working on re-thinking my small business Creationworks – re-evaluating how I feel in this creation.  I do enjoy being creative, but I also feel that there is more for me to get involved in in my community. I feel this desire to create safe spaces of home and sanctuary and inspiration in our communities using creative expression.  I see that in our communities there are hospices, hospitals, and homeless shelters, or other community spaces that may not have that feeling of creative expression.  I am now just playing with the idea of sharing my vision of setting up these spaces in our communities in the coming months.  To me creative expression has much to offer: first it serves ourselves for just allowing ourselves to be in that creative space of self expression that is so sacred and free flowing, and then second, that expression changes the actual spaces they are in.  Creating these spaces in our communities can create sanctuaries of peace, inspiration, safety, home, and of escape. I will continue to play with this vision, and we’ll see what comes.  Visit Molly's website at www.creationworks.us  Read more about Molly's book on the Books page or at http://www.lulu.com/mollyschmitz

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more." "You mean you can't take LESS," said the Hatter, "It's very easy to take MORE than nothing." Lewis Carroll

From The Writer's Retreat
	Teka Luttrel (aka Highwhistler) has been posting some amazing writing and digital art on the message board. Here's just a small taste of some of Teka's work. Please visit Teka's website at www.soulconnection.net

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end.Then stop." The King. Lewis Carroll

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