I have a wonderful friend who is an artist. She paints and paints, sometimes so furiously and so passionately that she crumbles in a heap for a few days exhausted, weary from creating, and then she picks herself right up again and paints some more.
Apart from being incredibly talented and a gorgeous friend, Joni is also very wise and philosophical. Determined and tenacious, nothing will get in her way to pursue her dream and she also knows that vision, patience and focus are the keys to success.
Sometimes when you have a vision and you embark upon the journey to manifest it, you need to cocoon yourself for a while in both your imagination and reality and just ‘go for it’. You will be met with much resistance at times…..not only from your internal chatter but from those around you.
I know when I left a corporate career to pursue my dream to teach yoga and create my beautiful yoga tours, I overheard some referring to my work as ‘mumbo jumbo’ and ‘she’s into all that new age stuff’! “How are you going to make a living?” many have asked.
I remember Joni once saying to me “no-one will stand on my dreams”, and I have never forgotten those words.
All we need to do is ‘rediscover wonder’ and the world will again and again become a blank canvas upon which we can paint our masterpiece.
I had tears in my eyes when I saw the presentation given by Janet Echelman on TED.com. Joni passed this on to me and the picture is one of Janet’s lace works. Give yourself a few moments to rediscover wonder. This says it all.
coolcalmandconnected 
Hi Annemaree. Thank you so much for posting this beautiful and awe-inspiring talk. Janet Echelman’s work is extraordinary, as is the story of how she discovered her true art.