The warriors way story

THIS COLLECTION IS A REFLECTION ON THE PROCESS OF CREATING. IN ALL THINGS IN LIFE, ALL CREATIVITY FOLLOWS THIS PROCESS. WHEN WE GO FOR BIG IDEAS OR LOFTY DREAMS, THERE IS A STRUCTURE THAT FOLLOWS THE WAY WE CREATE; ENGAGE WITH, AND WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED AS PART OF EVERY JOURNEY IN LIFE.

BROKEN DOWN INTO 7 DIFFERENT ARCS, EACH ARC REPRESENTING A PART OF THE STORY AND EACH ARC HAS BEN DEVELOPED INTO A PRINT DESIGN. THE FLOW AND BALANCE OF LIFE stems from the creativity we are able to create with and rise to in our daily expression and living. When we go for these goals, we are approached by obstacles, situations and discomforts, however; following through on our vision, working and shifting through these arcs, we can find ourselves at the result of our labours and efforts. This final end result being what we would love to create, the vision of which was born from our intention and love to have that creation. The arcs are as follows:

1. THE PHOENIX

   This arc is the beginning of the journey, its an idea, a concept, something that has elements of tangibility about it. It may be a wish, a desire, a dream or something that needs to be created. Just like a phoenix, its the beginning of a new life for this idea. The cycle and process has just begun, and the vision of this dream is born in the mind of the individual. Imagination sparks and much energy goes to forming this idea, to see the details about it and what life one could live through and with it. There’s an element of desire; to see and experience this idea for any reason; ultimately coming down to the love of completing/creating it and having it. But this is just the beginning, it all starts with an idea… will you chose to create it?

2. THE VOW.

Just after the beginning, after the inception of an idea.. the individual must make a choice.. a vow. Am I going to go for it? - am i going to create this idea? - The bigger and bolder the idea the better, but the bigger it is the scarier it is.. what if it doesn’t work out? - what if i fail? - what will others say? Many do not pursue their ideas, the dreams or goals. Out of FEAR. The great divider… many say they can’t achieve their dreams because of one or another reason, all stemming from fear. But is that what you will do? Will you step up? Can you see yourself a better, happier person as a result of holding this dream that you love? Can you see your life without it?

If you choose to go for the idea, to pursue your dream and create it. You consciously make the vow on achieving it, you chose to leave the nest and pursue it. You begin to understand the path you’ll take, and what it will take to achieve it.. you know not how you will get there, but that you must.

3. KINDRED HEARTS.

On the journey of creativity, you will find many others doing the same in their lives. People creating, expressing and simply living their lives. Some create bigger than others, some dream bigger than others.. and yet you will meet others in the same mindset and energy as your own. Some are further in their journeys than you, they may offer their guidance and advice. Some may become potential partners and associates, while some others may even help you further along than you ever expected. You will meet all sorts of people on the path.. souls that collaborate, create and partner with you. For its creativity and kindness that brings us together, and when we do create together; our work becomes larger than the sum of its parts. Its on the path that we meet our allies, that we will stand shoulder to shoulder and work together to create our dreams.

4. RETURN TO CENTER.

The journey is arduous; full of perils, dangers and distractions. We may lose ourselves, maybe just a part or our whole selfs. We may get caught up in our work, in our daily grind, we may fall to the comforts of the modern world or the experiences of others. We might find ourselves exhausted and battered, like the warriors of old. The world is full of many distractions, and if we are not careful we will end up losing the way. But not all is lost, for there is a light that guides us; the one deep inside. Returning to Center, (or Centering to Return) means to come home to yourself; it means to rest, to decompress. To return means to re-kindle that fire burning inside, and listen in on that voice - the same one that gave you the idea to go for your big dream and ideas. To stay tuned in with who you are and what you’re about; whilst staying focused and taking action on your dreams - that is the way of the warrior, and if you are not centred then you are off balance and will very easily fall to the distractions and dangers of the world, or even worse - the ones in the mind… FEAR.

5. THE DRAGON

The road has been long indeed, many experiences have been had. You started with little and have come some way, you’ve been shifting through what needs to be done on the way and your allies have been with you alongside them. But now comes the greatest challenge of all, the dragon. The dragon can be symbolised in many way; the beast, fear, the devil, the ego, trauma, the shadow. What matters isn’t the definition, but the logic of this space on the journey. When you are close to the final line, you are about to experience the greatest challenge on the journey to your creation. That may be the releasing your work, it may be the final interview, it might even be completing the deal you’ve been going for. It is essentially the final 1% of the journey. This 1% weighs heavier than the previous 99… its here where everything you have learned on the path, about yourself; your skills, your abilities, and you true nature will all come into play. FEAR is the biggest aspect of ourselves that keeps us kept in a lifelong loop of low level living. We have dreams, and yet we don’t always go for them… sometimes we do but we fall short. Why? - because we allow the fear to take hold. We forget or try to forget, we allow ourselves to get caught up in the world, we belittle and judge ourselves until we feel like nothing at all.

But the fear… the dragon does not need to be fought. This is not a battle of fighting and pushing as hard as you can against your mind. This is simply about being self aware, and understanding what the fear drives us to do.. and usually its to take the safest most logical option, that option that doesn’t align with taking risks and going for our dreams. The bigger the dream, the bigger the fear and its initial hold on us. But by holding our fear, by being able to hold the space and sit with it.. without acting on it and still moving forward to our goals and dreams is purely the way we ‘conquer’ it, to pacify not destroy. Our fear after all is a part of us, a part of mankinds duality, and destroying it is impossible. Think of it this way, when you went for that interview.. your fear inevitably kicked in, you thought you couldn’t do it, you wasn’t good enough, or that you wasn’t qualified even though you was. Despite that fear and how it made you feel; you did the interview and you got the job or project. All despite the fears that were holding you down. This is the fear, this is the dragon.

6.TREASURE

All life is truly about, is creating. Breaking everything down, it can be understood that all we do in life is create. Even when we don’t think about it or about what we are doing, we are creating. Even the smallest of creations are still creating. Did you cook for dinner? You created. Did you drive to work? You created. Did you go for a big goal and achieved it despite your fear? You created. After every creation, particularly the ‘big’ ideas and dreams you will find a treasure at the end of it. For what would be the point of pacifying a dragon in service of your dreams without treasure at the end? - All of our childhood stories have treasure at the end. The legends of old always had treasure at the end. Though today, treasure may not be a treasure chest laden with gold coins.

Today the treasure may be the opportunity to work on bigger projects; it may be a job, or a new business connection.. maybe your treasure at the end of your self development is the confidence to take on the world. What can be said with integrity is that when we go for our dreams, and overcome our demons - what we are met with is a reward for our efforts. The bigger the dream, the bigger the dragon, the bigger the reward. The bigger it is, the easier it is to see and notice. Without noticing, we may become ungrateful and assume we haven’t achieved much in our lives regardless of the size of our dreams.

7. REFLECTION

The journey is over, you started as a child and became a warrior through the process of following your way of creating and living. You ‘fought’ and pacified your dragons and created your treasure. When you reflect you notice how small you were at the start, you were afraid, unsure and maybe didn’t even believe in yourself.. but you plucked some courage and used it to fuel the fire in your heart.

Over time throughout the process of creating you learned about yourself, your abilities, your personality, your limits and the things that hold you back.. your fear. After many journeys and many reflections, you become experienced and understand deeper and deeper, you notice where you are in your creation and spot your fear with ease when it comes up and at the end; after creating your treasure you think about the journey you went on and created. At this point you’re reflecting, the confidence and energy that comes with trying and succeeded builds and builds; with each creation it becomes bigger and bigger, with each creation your next one is even bigger. This cycle is life, and reflecting on it, brings on more energy to create more, to be in service to others with our lives and work. Looking for new, interesting ideas to create, exploring our creativity and building a life for ourselves worth living for. With all that’s said; what are you going to create next?