Inspirations from my childhood

by D.M. SessousSeptember 21, 2015January 29, 2017

After writing my last post, I felt compelled to reminisce…

Here are the top five influences on the imaginary play of my childhood. I draw from these for inspiration today.

• Doctor Who (Tom Baker) – It wasn’t just the coat, the fedora and oh-my-god the best scarf ever, it was the promise of adventure and spontaneity. I remember playing in the expanse of woods that was my back yard and hoping that I would come across the TARDIS. It was one of my greatest childhood wishes to join the Doctor on an adventure or two.
• Star Trek (Original Series) – Oh yeah, Kirk had his charms, but it was Spock that I admired (I even had a bit of a crush). He helped make it okay to be intellectual and different.
• Twilight Zone (80’s reboot) – There were so many episodes that affected me on an emotional level, they should have a list of their own.
• Fairy Tales (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin) – For me, these stories were about discovering I was more than what showed on the surface, and the potential to move past it into who I could become.
• Romancing the Stone (1984) – What I loved (and still love) about this film is that our heroine lived in her fantasy world, then she has a real adventure and became a real version of the heroine she wrote in her novels.

Seems there is a theme emerging here…

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Writing 101

by D.M. SessousSeptember 9, 2015January 29, 2017

So…I haven’t been paying much attention to my blog…

It’s a sad, unfortunate thing. Thankfully, Blogging-U came along and pulled me out of my rut.

Crazy overachiever that I am, I chose not only Blogging 101 but also Writing 101.

Even though I signed up for both, my main goal is to write more. Primarily, I’m using this blog to open up and share who I am and what’s going on in my head. I’m the type of person who usually sits off to the side, listening and observing. This blog is my opportunity to share the craziness that churns below my sane demeanor.

And now, the first assignment: why do I write?

Stories find me everywhere I go; when I’m walking in the park, driving in my car, at work or standing in line at the grocery store. Even when I read a non-fiction tome, there’s a part of me that finds a nugget that could be a concept for a character or story idea.

These ideas have lived happily inside my head for most of my life. It is only within the last eight years that I’ve attempted to write them down. The decision to tell my stories started with a spontaneous visit to a bookstore where I discovered a writing group. With a deep breath and a brave step out of my comfort zone, I joined the group and began my writing journey.

Finally – and not just because they read my blog – I want to thank my parents. They let me have the time and space to play in my imagination long after most kids were told to grow up and get serious. I consider this the strongest reason I am as creative as I am today. My imaginary play from my childhood is a large source of inspiration for much of my writing.

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Resourcefulness

by D.M. SessousAugust 11, 2015January 29, 2017

When taking my office mail to the collection box on the corner, I take a short cut through the alley behind my building. One day, I was surprised to find this ingenious, little fern growing out of a small crack in a brick wall.
It struck me then as a metaphor for my philosophy that there is a solution to every problem.
We are all surrounded by obstacles, brick walls that can seem so thick and insurmountable. All we see sometimes are the bricks and mortar, but if we relax and breath, we can find a crack. And as with this fern, a crack is all that’s needed to grow.

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Healing Waters

by D.M. SessousJuly 20, 2015January 30, 2017

I created this piece for my mom. (Aww…) She has very high energy, almost akin to perpetual motion. She’s always on the go, doing for others to the point she has very little time for herself.

So, I wanted to give her a respite, a cool, calm sanctuary to bring her Aries energy in check and allow her to relax and heal.

This started as a small sketch in a pocket-size journal. I had initially wanted more detail, but as I worked, I realized I needed fewer lines.

It took about two weeks to complete this piece. Soft ocean sounds and whale song played in my studio while I worked, layering wash upon wash of tranquil blues and greens.

When it felt finished, I hung the rough-edged pages on the wall. I wept as the love I had poured onto the paper washed over me.

In my Reiki studies, I learned about kundalini energy. I discovered that if the energy encounters a closed or blocked chakra as it rises along the spine, it can manifest as health issues in the physical body.

Women tend to have blockages around their throat chakra from repressed expression of voicing their own needs, ideas and feelings resulting in thyroid issues. The color representing the throat chakra is blue. So in hindsight, it looks like my higher-self intended healing with this painting all along.

The framed original hangs proudly at my parents’ home. Prints of this piece along with a piece that I created for my dad are available on Etsy.

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Why “My Dreaming Butterfly”?

by D.M. SessousJuly 12, 2015January 29, 2017

I have been fascinated with butterflies for the past two decades or so. They’re graceful, colorful and mysterious.

Butterflies symbolize transformation in many religious and spiritual doctrines as well as dream interpretation.

Just as I started walking down the path of metaphysical spirituality, I stumbled upon this quote. It truly spoke to my mystical side and my desire to understand what reality is, how we perceive it, and how we change it with every thought we think.

“Once upon a time, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting about happily enjoying himself. He did not know that he was Zhou. Suddenly he awoke, and was palpably Zhou. He did not know whether he was Zhou, who had dreamed of being a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhou”

Wikipedia – The Butterfly Dream

I’m not sure if this quote made me more obsessed with butterflies or simply solidified my love of them. But it certainly impacted me enough to want “My Dreaming Butterfly” for my business name. I’m so glad it was available as the URL for this website.

All my best fellow dreamers!

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