How can it be that I am still coming to terms with an exceptional performance by José James and his band on January 29 at The Cedar in Minneapolis? The event was, unequivocally, one of the best performances that I have ever attended. José and his band were truly inspired. They relished their playing, their interaction, tenderly present and joyously celebrating each one of the solos in the truest of jazz traditions.
Superbly generous, they included us in their creative moment, permitting us to share a show that will never, ever, be performed the same way again. I am trying to reconcile the dueling emotions of ecstasy from my contact with creative genius and the pain of separation. The band is on the road again, heading to Chicago, Japan, Australia and Europe — so I am reduced to comforting myself with CDs. I feel like a spurned lover.
The complex experience following a superb performance is not new. I can recall numerous live performances — jazz, dance, theatre — that have left me feeling ecstatic and abandoned in this same way. This feeling of loss is a mystery. I believe that when an artist truly creates, she is entering into direct contact with pure Divine potential, and that energy manifests before us, the audience. We participate in an essential way simply by our witness. The immense energy of Source is tangible for an ephemeral instant, and then disappears, leaving this sense of loss. That moment of Divine contact with the Mystery is a glorious privilege, like the sensuous abandon of orgasm, but it lasts longer! Delicious.
There has been an energetic quickening on the planet since December 21, 2012. One result of that long-anticipated date is that a veil has dissolved, allowing each one of us to access an expanded form of Divine potential. This is a deeply creative period for many people, and we all are required to find new ways to navigate our lives. The possibilities are so vast that a person can become overwhelmed, confused, allowing excesses to drain our energy. Another option is to choose to lovingly midwife each creation, one by one, into existence.
To be Divinely inspired, to have a strong sense of intuition, to create, is something each person is capable of doing. Yes, we have our outstanding artists, musicians, actors and poets, and they are demonstrating what each one of us can aspire to achieve. Consider that wonderful metaphor of the world as mirror: If we look on “the outside” as just an image in a mirror, reflecting back to us something that exists inside, we know then that if we can perceive something in the world, we are that.
There is a Divine thread that allows an idea to leave Source and travel into our mind, flowing to the senses, out through the mouth, the hands and fingers. This is the gift of creative direction that we call intuition. As children, we are indoctrinated into the tyranny of mind. Throughout our educational systems, this primacy of mind is stressed over and over again, disconnecting us from our natural intuition. Blessed are the children who have parents and mentors who keep their creative flame alive, stoking it so that it burns brightly!
During the certification courses I lead, teaching the powerful healing modality Frequencies of Brilliance, a vital component to a practitioner’s effectiveness is her dedication to following her own guidance — her intuition — thus committing to a deep level of surrender to Divine Will.
I have witnessed many people glow with special joy as they reclaim their intuition, once again beginning to trust in their Divine direction. This intuition is part of our Divine inheritance. Each one of us can reclaim it. Intuition is simply waiting for our call, for us to open our hearts so that its gentle whisper can once again be heard.
