Here at the airport on my way back to Costa Rica after the first of 12 blessed months-to-be of 2015 ... What a journey! I knew before I arrived here in Guatemala that I wasn't going to be satisfied with a measly 10 days, and ended up changing my flight to the end of the month before the week was up. Immediately welcomed by my new lifelong friends, Ginou and wolf, I spent my first week at their place. It didn't take long for me to feel anxious and lost, as I tend to when I arrive in a new place. Some things never change. But once I established my purpose to paint people into the world, I became settled into extreme busyness. Ginou described me as a bee with fire shooting out of its ass... And it seems that this might very well be my natural state. I buzz with endless creativity and I don't chill out easily so i have been practising balancing my days with meditation and yoga. Gandhi said "I'm such a busy man that I have to meditate twice a day" and I totally resonate. In order to juggle all these projects and visions whilst travelling with my home in a bag on wheels, stillness is my best friend. Those small glimpses of eternal silence and calm existence instil me with a sense of connectedness that is required in order to keep going... With intentions to make some money I secured a gig painting a wall at a sweet motel! After three days of negotiations, agreement was made and I arrived with all my bags, not expecting him to cancel the agreement after it was made! Things tend to work out for the best, and his guilt lead him to give me a free room for the week... And what a lovely room it was! :) super blessed with good fortune, I was then offered the best room in San Marcos which was something like living in a lighthouse or a boat. A platform glass house on the water, I watched the rainbow sunrise from my bed every morning and only had to open a door to be welcomed by bellowing volcanoes that overlooked the magical lake Atitlan. An experience I will never forget, those two weeks in that room were filled with creative inspiration! A beautiful woman named Vanesa had asked to shoot some pics of me, and having somehow gathered an incredible collection of handmade clothes that somehow matched my mystical bedroom, we played dress up and recreated the scenes made only in dreams. Two camouflage paintings where created, and deep meditations were shared. And because spirit is very generous, I house sat my beautiful friends Faery house for the remaining three days of my time in San Marcos, whilst they went to the rainbow gathering. Walking through the small streets of that town could end up being a whole days excursion of socialising with the beautiful people... Eating tamales and tostadas was heavenly, so cheap and so good, imbued with the love of the women who fed us every day. I had intentions to go to different places, see more, travel etc... but in the end I stayed in San Marcos and got to truly feel the vibe of that one town. I created seven artworks in total and performed my poetry at three events, sharing parts of my heart never share before. Each experience with its own story, lessons and memories... I have climbed a few mountains in vain and accepted the spontaneous change of plans, allowing magic to happen through the unplanned synchronicities is worth each and every supposed breakdown. Learning how to flow is one of my greatest lessons.

I will never forget January 2015 on the magical lake Atitlan that rises mysteriously 3cm a year and holds the secrets of ancient Maayan culture. Surrounded by volcanoes, no doubt this lake has bubbled and boiled once upon a time long ago. One of the volcanoes fumed many times a day, and bellowing smoke could be seen from across the lake whilst I painted. It's seems there is always more In this world that I have not seen or experienced, more to enrich my mind and heart and soul. My gratitude for this life is overwhelming. Every single being I have met has enriched my experience in some way, as is always the case. Whether through alignment and resonance or insight and reflection, each person offers me the opportunity to grow. It is always our choice whether we receive the lessons presented to us. Practising trust and discernment and walking the tightrope of self love and humility is central to the happenings of this story. This is indeed a never ending journey of spiracular growth and I am so honoured that creative collaborations shower my trail of adventures. I continue unquestioningly in my callings paint, to merge, to reflect, to write, to travel and to connect deeply with those who are ready and willing. Indeed like a bee with fire shooting out of my ass, I continue to buzz with excitement and enthusiasm for the possibilities of this life.

Now as I fly over Guatemala back to Costa Rica, I prepare for another adventure of painting and presenting in three festivals over the next 6 weeks whilst doing my by to organise my debut exhibition in Australia for May. So much to do, I breathe in every moment, one step at a time, trusting that my drive to create and inspire the world is worthy of all my efforts. Tomorrow I shoot my crowd funding video and begin my campaign to support me support pachamama. Looking forward to including you all in this process of creation. Together we make a dream of life. Remember to ask for what you need, spirit is looking out for each and everyone. 

Blessings,
O.
xx

I entered the new year of 2014 with a heavy and hurt heart, freshly sliced open with the sword of unrequited love. Or some illusion like that. Healing became my main focus, as I nursed my wounded spirit in the sacred space of my own little home, set in the luscious green and free lands of outer Sydney. Protected and safe in my cave, I began to heal. Deep in my heart I had always know that Sydney wasn't my real home. Sure, I grew up there, and yes indeed blessed with a supportive and inspiring family who I love more than anything in the world - but Sydney always felt like a foreign place to a Faery like me. Early in the year, after much healing had already taken place, i put my wings back on and once again leapt of the cliff of dreams and possibilities. The big world beckoned me back after a couple of years aimed at "settling down" . The truth was that there was nothing settling about my static life. My heart was restless until the day I flew away. A new decade of life had just begun. 

In retrospect, I have had the most rewarding and enriching year of my life. Through the darkness comes great light, and I have a deep sense of gratitude to those who contributed to those dark times and those who supported me to find my way back to the light. We can never know the reasons for the happenings until they reveal themselves, and our gratitude lies in lieu of trusting spirit. Easier to say in retrospect yet always important to remember. Trust is a good friend that I get to know better every day, who loves me more and more as I surrender to the unknown. 

This year, I have felt the blowing wind under my growing wings, wings that develop one feather at at a time, and have become more powerful and defined than ever before. I continue learning to love myself again and again, whilst journeying up this spiracular experience of being human. Our perfection indeed lies in our divine imperfection. The world reflects infinite amounts of beauty into my realm and I am in love with the fact that happiness is infectious without reason... The poor still smile more than the rich as I learnt long ago in my days wandering and wondering about India. It is no surprise that i love to live simply. Knowing all my possessions fit in a bag on wheels that fit in a car with wheels that has a mattress in the back - is the highlight of my life! Reflections of all the exquisite people that I have met affirm the identity of my soul reflected by theirs, light and only light in a world of illusions. 

Creation is our natural state and 2014 opened the door to infinite inspiration of an unending passion within my art: merging the sacred feminine with Mother Earth, encouraging men to support and hold space for creation as is their divine role, recognising the healing potential of body painting and putting my life's teaching into words has become my journey and a story that will continue for the years to come. Combining my passion for travel over the last 12 years with my anthropological training, words art and graphic design have merged together in a beautiful mandala of my professional life. I couldn't have dreamed of a more aligned way to spend my days. Gratitude overwhelms my being when I am present to this magic, and so i continue in full trust that abundance is my destiny and service to this beautiful sacred world, is my lifelong mission, the journey of giving a secret beacon to overwhelming sensations of contentment.

Though there have always been few and far between, my intention to partner with a soul like mine is engraved deeply in my heart. Scar tissue seals the deal with much clarity since my last run in with a man I loved more than he loved me. Lessons are good and learning them is better. Grateful to have given myself the space needed to morph into a butterfly. I celebrate love around every corner, recognising when love is lost to fear, and knowing the importance of mutual enthusiasm in every relationship. In studying the ways of the world and the dances of the heart, I am showered with insights as I manifest a masterpiece of life. 

After two months in Israel, two months in Peru, three months in the US and one month in Costa Rica, I am flew to Guatemala to welcome in the new year with my conscious community, celebrating our devotion to Pachamama, our magical mama earth. Together we danced in the dirt and indulged in sweet yummy moments of earthly pleasures, we shared our hearts and stories and blessed one another with happiness for the new year. My first body painting project of the new year signified the mountains that we climb in life and in love, the volcano of our heart. Though I intended to paint two beings, man and woman, into the volcanic view of lake Atitlan., the man was enough as he encompassed much of the volcanic energy, calm yet potentially erupting, full of destruction and creation and magic. Throughout the years of following my heart I have learnt that declaring our dreams is already half way to manifesting them. And so it was! Magic happened very quickly and my first piece of 2015 was born.... So grateful for all the beings I come into contact with, all the diversity of spirit's manifestations and all the beauty of creativity. 

May 2015 be the awakening of our spirit's calling to reach higher towards the light, to impact the world with our hearts through the arts, to speak up for what we know feels right as the light and stand up fearlessly in the firing line for those who cannot stand anymore. 

So to you my friends and family, my supporters and my observers, may the new year bring peace into our hearts and may this peace emanate outwards, may we be bestowed with appreciation and gratitude and learn the joys of simplicity. May the spirit of 2015 shine light where it is needed all over the world and may we practice to be better humans by loving, forgiving, remembering where we came from so that we may be ready to die complete that we have lived beyond the illusions of this world. 

I love you!!!

In light, 
Orly 

Peace to all my bothers and sisters.
X