I spoke with Margaret on Jan 23, 2023 and we had a wonderful conversation about being in the doing world versus being in the flow. We also spoke about following the fun and shifting into listening to ourselves versus the expectations or feedback from the outside world. It was just a conversation that kept on having one more piece of wisdom after the other.
Bio
Margaret first explored painting while in culinary school in 2000. At 40, she declared herself an Artist which meant that she could freely play in any medium as she deepened her practice of creating. Margaret’s practice is predominantly acrylic abstract and mixed media. However, in 2021 she began a self portrait series that she combined with poetry for her 100-day project. The poetry became a book, and she uses the images in her current mixed media work.
Margaret has shown her work across the US and Canada. She paints and creates in Montreal, Canada.
https://www.margaretlipsey.com/
I spoke with Margaret on Jan 23, 2023 and we had a wonderful conversation about being in the doing world versus being in the flow. We also spoke about following the fun and shifting into listening to ourselves versus the expectations or feedback from the outside world. It was just a conversation that kept on having one more piece of wisdom after the other.
Bio
Margaret first explored painting while in culinary school in 2000. At 40, she declared herself an Artist which meant that she could freely play in any medium as she deepened her practice of creating. Margaret’s practice is predominantly acrylic abstract and mixed media. However, in 2021 she began a self portrait series that she combined with poetry for her 100-day project. The poetry became a book, and she uses the images in her current mixed media work.
Margaret has shown her work across the US and Canada. She paints and creates in Montreal, Canada.
https://www.margaretlipsey.com/
Welcome to Sears Beers, knowers and Doers, a podcast about intuition. Do you know what that is? Intuition to me is that inner sense of knowing that something is true. And yet I have no proof. But there's so many definitions and there's so many ways it can come. I'm looking to bring together and share with you some amazing guests who have some amazing life stories and also some insights into how intuition can come, and I'm looking to gather those crows in the trees. I hope you're one of them. I hope that this podcast inspires you to be more connected to your intuition, and I hope that by doing that, we make the world a better place. Thanks for coming on this journey with me.
Speaker 2:Before we get started today, I would love to share some tools with you to help with stress and feeling overwhelmed, especially for the energetically sensitive person. Feel free to go to my store on my website@www.healingvitality.ca. Thanks so much for coming on this journey with me.
Speaker 1:So I'm super excited today to connect with somebody that I, again, found on a whimsical post on social media where I witnessed somebody speaking about intuition and what they do, and I was like, this lady gets it,<laugh>. So I reached out and she said, yes. Thank you so much, Margaret Lipsey for saying yes,<laugh>. I'm excited to share you with the world today. Would you tell us about yourself, please?
Speaker 3:Sure. So I grew up in Michigan and kind of had no clear direction of my life in general, um, and ended up in university and then went to culinary school, and I was a chef for 15 years. And then I had kind of a burnout where I didn't wanna cook anymore. I didn't wanna do that level of service in that degree of fastness in my life. And about a year later, I found painting and realized that I was an artist with capital A and could really explore in any way that I wanted to if I leaned into that creative path. So I've done painting, I've done some photography, I wrote a book of poetry, and I've really just been kind of following that muse down the twists and turns of this life, which has been very cool and, uh, a lot of fun. And that's sometimes scary too, I think, to, to be that deep into trust.
Speaker 1:That's an interesting word. Do you use there, that's a really interesting word. Yeah. Because I think a lot of people resonate with that, but you, you've stepped past it. Yeah. And so, yeah. Can you talk about that? Can you talk about stepping past the scary?
Speaker 3:Well, when I started painting, it wasn't really with the intention of it being a profession or, you know, something that I was gonna do that other people were gonna resonate with. And that really came through social media and people starting to ask me to buy stuff. So it was a, it was a surprise to me. But I remember I had one friend from university who was also an artist and said, you're ready to go bigger with your work. And so I remember standing in the art supply store and looking at different size canvases and saying, do I wanna go for this six foot canvas, or do I wanna stay with like a four foot canvas that I'm a little bit more comfortable with? And a friend of mine said, you know, you have to do things scared, like, be scared, but do it anyway. So I jumped on the six foot canvas, took it to the cast, like, got into the car and realized it fit in my car with like a millimeter space on each side. No way. But I was like, okay, but I'm doing it. And got it back to the house and immediately made the peace. There was no fear in creating. There was a fear, I think, in going to that next step. And once I decided like, it doesn't matter, just go for it. Then all of this other stuff opened up. Like, it just really created space for me to let that creativity out. So that's one way. And then, because I used to be a chef, somebody asked if I could do a Valentine's Day show, and it was centered around chocolate and fashion, and I'd been doing these dresses as, uh, motif in my work. And so she said, could you do it in chocolate? Oh. And I said, yeah, yeah, sure, no problem. And then, you know, you get to the show and I was like, oh my God, chocolate is not acrylic. This was a bad idea, but I don't, sounded fun. So I said, yes, but now here I am. And it was another instance of Jess, you know, kind of lean into it and have fun with it, and everybody's scared at some point, but there's a reason that I said yes to this. And so I, that I think has been kind of my guiding force throughout, uh, my painting career, that even though it's scared, that just might be energy building to get me up to the next place that they need to go rather than something to stop me.
Speaker 1:Wow. I don't think anybody has said it like that. Did everybody just hear what she said? Did everybody just hear what she said? Scared can be energy building to get to the next step. That's the name of a book,
Speaker 3:<laugh>. I can't take full credit though. I, I started meditation at the same time I started painting and my meditation teacher said, you know, it's all energy, right? All of these emotions. The, the story that he told was, if your life is like train on a track, the energy inside you is like the guys pumping the coal, even though we don't use coal anymore. And if you're going along on a a, a prairie, you need the same amount of energy. But when there's a hill coming up or a mountain coming up, you've gotta start building that fire before you get to it. And so in those moments where I can feel that, like fire in my belly, I know it's a, it's a, oh, we're launching onto the mountain. Like, don't stop. Now that I'm getting the energy to go to that place. Uh, I'm not in the prairie anymore. I'm now moving upward. So I love that story and I really felt like, okay, now I can lean into that fear and use it rather than just being shut down by it.
Speaker 1:Mm. Well, and lately I've been talking a lot about that word shut down on this podcast and like, well, lately, yeah. It's come up on a few podcasts and it's interesting that transformational mindset, really mm-hmm.<affirmative> that your meditation teacher gave you, because it is so easy when there's so many distractions or triggers or whatever book, pick a word, whatever word Yeah. Out there to lose focus on the thing that you're passionate about that is actually gives you that excitement and happiness and joy and not do anything. And then there's the dynamic of, okay, I need to pause. I need to do the meditations, which seem like they're not doing anything, but they're actually creating that space. And that's different than being stuck in the mud fear or stuck in the mud procrastination, or what ha whatever word you wanna throw on that. Hmm. So what's your reflection on that
Speaker 3:<laugh>? I found it very interesting to go from this really fast paced career of being a professional chef. I'm like, go, go, go. And anytime, you know, somebody needed catering, I was there, I was doing it like first one there, last one to leave, working hard, hard, hard to make things happen. And really coming into this career now where I have to be in a very quiet space in order to create. And I have to, again, trust<laugh> that the work that I'm doing is somehow gonna connect with other people. But whether it does or, or doesn't, I have to keep going. And I think that that has been such a, like, transition and I'm still working on it because I'm, I, I feel like I'm a masculine soul and I wanna do and make and happen and, and push. Um, and the art is really about, you know, allowing that inspiration to come through me. It's about shutting out the, the positive response and the negative response response and just doing the thing that I'm called to do next. And that's a, that's a line that I haven't lived for most of my life. Um, I may not have said I didn't come to this career until I was 40. And so at that point, I knew, I knew what I liked, but at the same time, I had this history of events and, and food that made me feel like there was, uh, I, I don't wanna say aggressive part of having this business, but that I had to hustle and I had to show my work as much as I could and, and all of that, um, doing action. And there's a lot more of it where I need to be resting, where I need to be reflecting. I need to be quiet, and I need to trust that if something is an obsession that I'm following, I'm meant to follow it into the end and then I'll find the next step there. So that's not easy, but there it is. Yeah,
Speaker 1:That's, well, and it's interesting cause I follow a bit of numerology and we've just mm-hmm.<affirmative> come from a six year into a seven year. It's 2023. So that math is doing service. Others, you know, family relationships, figuring stuff out that way in one mindset. And this seven year is about self reflection, recharge, reorient, revisit quiet, you know, getting creative, getting Yeah. More aligned with that feminine side. So we come from like that masculine into the feminine, like in 20, from 2022 to 2023. And here you are actually living it in your life. I totally resonate with that dodoo hustle thing. And somebody put that on my radar screen that that can be a desire and need to be independent. So we constantly have to be doing to create sustainability in a sense. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> and yeah, it's such a shift cuz you know how many people have said, you know, the universe has your back, God has your back. Like, we're always looked after, you know, trust, all those things. But to actually shift the gear into that and receive when you're used to doing is like, okay, alright. Live with your hand open. Oh, right. I thought it was supposed to be grabbing at something<laugh>.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. Or, yeah, I think there's, there's also just this history or or conditioning or, you know, cooling that we've had all of our lives that if things aren't working, then you're supposed to do something more to make them work. And that I think is the thing that I'm, I'm really working on now, is I'm doing enough, right. And believing that and, you know, looking for the evidence of being supported and being stable in various parts of my existence. So yeah, I think that there's this, you know, active shift, intentional change that I have to make on a regular basis of I'm allowed to rest, I need that rest. And the quiet is where the creativity starts to come to the surface. And if I don't respect that, then, you know, this isn't a long term experience and I love doing it so<laugh>, I would like it to go on as long as I can, I can do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, and I think it's cool that you've accomplished and dabbled in the other creative aspects, cuz I think those actually can be like, we don't have to just be creative in one way, that diversity can actually wire the brain in a way that helps you see and be diff like different things. Right. Interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that, that I felt like was my failure through my first 40 years with that. I couldn't pick a hobby and stick to it<laugh>. Like, I would just do all of these different things for a little bit. And I didn't have time to have a real hobby as a, as a professional chef. So I, you know, a couple weeks at a time, a month or two at a time, I would paint or sew or write poetry or whatever. But it never was something that went anywhere. So once the cooking was out of the way, that was the capital A in the artist was, I'm allowed to do any of those things. And all of those things will further my practice in a way. And sometimes, you know, I felt when I was doing the photography, I just didn't have the painting in me in that time, and I really needed to get out the words. And so the, the poetry and the photography were like, hand in hand, this is how I'm expressing now and this is what's coming out of me now and I have to let it flow until it's done. And then when I came back to the painting, it was like, okay, now I'm ready for it again. But there was never a fear of, oh my God, if I stopped painting, am I a photographer now? Do I like need to take classes on this? It was really a note. This is just another step. This is just what it is for this six months, for this year, for whatever timeframe it is. And where wherever I'm going will make sense when I turn around and look back at the past. Ah, yeah. But I'm not gonna see the next step. Like I, I'm just not going to, and so I have to stop looking for what am I meant to be doing next? It will just come up. And I think that that's part of where I've been able to trust, trust my intuition, um, and trust those kind of raindrops, those inspiration that come moment to moment and say, okay, I'm gonna try it. Okay. That didn't work. Shifting to this,
Speaker 1:So when you were a kid, were you whimsical? Like was this how you were, when, when you were a kid and then you got into the, you know, the grooming stage,<laugh> of school and whatever else, what would you, like, how did intuition show up when you were a kid? Or was it only when you hit your middle age after cooking that the intuition was able to flourish? What, what kind of was your path with intuition?
Speaker 3:I would say, like, growing up that I was curious. So I wanted to know about a lot of things, but I don't think, I never felt like I was artistic in a traditional sense. I wasn't, you know, drawing or doodling or, I, I barely remember an art class from my youth, but I was always curious about learning something. And then in university I felt really lost. Like I could do all of these things cause I was a good student, but nothing was calling to me. Um, I remember being like mid thirties and it's New Year's and I'm kind of lying on the ground saying, what did I do with my life?<laugh>. So like, I don't understand. And I did, I wasn't chef because people enjoyed my food and I could do it well. And so I was like, okay, well let's do this then. But I really didn't, I don't think I really tapped into that intuition until after the burnout when mm-hmm.<affirmative>, It was the sort of whisper of, you know, you always wanted to learn calligraphy, maybe you should take a course, right? Oh yeah, that would be fun. And then I started following the fun<laugh> and then suddenly people wanted to buy. But no, the rest of the time I, I was trying to kind of figure out what I was meant to be doing and pushing to get to that thing, to do it the best and like all of that energy. But I wasn't listening and it may have shown up, but it was like incidental. It was nothing that I was like aware of or trusting in or looking for.
Speaker 1:So it's, it's like going from the outside versus coming in from the inside.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> like you were following the feedback given to you by others. Like, oh, you're really good at this. Do this. Oh, I'd love to eat your food. Do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which intuition can come from others for sure. But yeah, it wasn't resonating like it. I just think that's really neat that when the burnout happened, your space opened up because you had to stop and then you could hear what was fun or Yeah, absolutely. Really
Speaker 3:Neat. Yeah. That, that year was definitely a gift of slow down and just quiet. Like, I wasn't looking for anything. I was just like healing. And I think in those healing years, whether it's after a burnout or it's realizing, you know, I I'm just not as happy as I could be. That there is this opportunity to be really quiet and go inward. And it's easy, especially in, in social media now to or in this world we live in, to look to other people to guide you or think they have the answers or you know, they'll, they can sell it to you for a 30 day program or whatever it is. Yeah. And it's really not as effective as just sitting quietly. I think last year for me was all about like feeling my feelings and not putting stories to it and just sitting in emotions. And those moments I think are where we really do grow and we connect more deeply with our intuition and ourselves in a beautiful way. Yeah. But we have to give ourselves that space.
Speaker 1:I think feeling the feelings actually create space. Cause I had the same year, it's funny<laugh>, it's like, okay,
Speaker 3:Say we got you last year,<laugh>.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah. It was like, all right, let's do this. Really? Yeah. Let's do this. Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Here we go. We're making space for our new adventures. So I'm gonna shift gears a little bit. Like, this has been so insightful. Thank you for sharing all of this with everybody because I think that that is true. We can look outside instead of inside or get the gratification from outside and think that that's the way. And you know, I, that happens a lot like mm-hmm.<affirmative> and that time and space, hopefully in this seven year<laugh> happens for a lot of people. So I'm really excited about the timing of your podcast.<laugh>,<laugh>, nothing, none of those little idiosyncrasies are lost on me. Those little whimsical like, oh, that aligns nito.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm gonna shift gears and ask how does intuition come to you?
Speaker 3:Um, I find it comes in a couple of different ways. I, I decided I was gonna study human design last year, familiar with that modality, but my intuit intuition center is open. So it comes in different ways, in different moments, but I would say for the most part, it's kind of this knowing that connects with almost a whisper. So there's an idea that happens that I realize is not part of my regular train of thought<laugh>. And then I'm like, wait, who said that? So I said it? Okay, let's listen to that and like go a little bit deeper into that. And in the art, I think that it really comes in that flow state. Um, so for the, for the first year and a half, I really had to video myself cuz I wasn't aware of what I was doing while I was painting. But it comes in the movements that I decide to do and the colors that I pick up in how long I'm going to be doing a certain series, like all of that is based on this understanding that I, I receive. Does that make sense,
Speaker 1:<laugh>? Yeah. So it flows through your body. How, yeah. Oh, I got goosebumps on that one. I don't, yeah. I have to think about all my podcast. If somebody's actually I have doers, but that's like a flow thing that's not even really doing.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like, that's not picking up.
Speaker 3:I feel like I, I'm after the human designer, I realized that I'm a very emotional person and I've known this my whole life. But<laugh> I've avoided those emotions. So that's why last year was really about feeling my feelings. And I think that that's another thing is that my emotions are kind of a compassed towards where I am on the path or if I'm veering away or not. It, you know, the more frustrated I feel, the less I'm following or the less I'm in alignment with the things that I'm supposed to do. So I think that that plays into it as well. But that's a very like subtle<laugh>, very difficult to sort of crack kind of way of understanding my intuition. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, but I'm getting closer to it. The more that I'm like, okay, how do I feel in this moment is said. Am I excited to do this thing or am I really like avoiding it? If I'm avoiding it, what, what could I be doing instead? It feels a bit better. No, it's all traveling.
Speaker 1:It's, well, we're similar in<laugh>.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And the human design has come up a few times and lately, cuz I got into it last year too, in that busy feely feel world. And it is a very insightful tool to help you tune into, like you say, that frustration piece. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I have the same word in my design. Yeah. And that links to that masculine to me. Yeah. That, oh, look at that I'm doing and I'm frustrated cuz it's not happening.<laugh> like mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And so I encourage people to go tip their, like, it's a deep pool, but put your toe in and, and see what, see what insights you get there. Cause
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I felt like it, it gave me a lot of permission to be the way that I am without judging it. Right. Oh. So like, you know, that dabbler in me that just wanted to try all these things like it totally in that design. And so it was like, okay, so lean into that. Stop fighting the, the desire to like learn about this and learn about that. And when you're finished, stop learning about it and go back to something else. And that's okay. You're building towards this place, but if you don't, if I don't collect those little spots of information or techniques or like insights, then I'm not gonna get there. So it was like, thank you for saying that. Cause that's what I wanna do.<laugh>.
Speaker 1:Right. Oh, how beautiful. And how often do we step into judgment of something that's natural and intuitive for us?
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1:And that's like, yeah. The stop. Like that's the frigging cork in the bottle. It's like, oh, judgment gets in the way of intuition. Hmm
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. Judgment in comparison for sure. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> even to the point where like, you know, if if my, if my first husband was busy doing this and doing that, I was like, why am I not busy? Oh. Because that's not the life I live<laugh>, you know, that's not how I do my work. And you know, it's fine that he's busy and it's fine that I'm not busy and it's fine that, you know, that artist is doing 10 different shows a year and I'm only doing two. It's fine that, you know, I'm putting out a ton of work and other people put out two pacings a year. Like none of that any difference in my own practice. But, you know, it's putting those blinders on, on occasion to really accept what your life is and what, especially for me, what my practice is and not look at how everybody else is operating because it's that that's noise, that's just distraction.
Speaker 1:Well, and that you bring up a good point, judgment of self, but comparison is a, is a judgment of self in a way as well. And that's that looking outside again, so love mm-hmm.<affirmative> blinder thing because it, especially in the world of social media or YouTube or what have you, that programmable addiction<laugh> thing that, that takes us away from feeling and from being and from sitting in joy. Cuz we're doing something that we love.
Speaker 3:Really Cool. Well, and even social media, I've been, cause that's been like, uh, how do I make this work for me again,<laugh> kinda thing. I've been on Instagram for like nine years or whatever and I realized that I, I turned into a content maker and when I started it was this sort of, oh my god guys, look what I made. This is so amazing. Right? There was this level of enthusiasm to it that completely got lost when I fell into the, this is how you should be doing it, how often you should be posting and the things that you should be posting and the things you need to think about. Like, you know, putting, uh, making sure that you're in the photos, making sure that you're all of those things. I was like, that's made me not enjoy this experience for when I was just like, you know, 12 posts a day of the same thing.<laugh> excited about it, it was fun.
Speaker 1:<laugh>, right.
Speaker 3:Oh, so there's a bit of that sort of like, I, you know, I'm starting to understand I have permission to use it however I want. It is a tool. It's not meant to be, you know, this thing that woo, how I show up in my world or how I present my work or how I talk about my work. It's really meant to do what I wanted to do and that like<inaudible>, which has been fun
Speaker 1:And that can map back. Cuz it's funny, I you just put the word delight in my head, which is my way to market. And I'm sure it sounds like it's your way to market too, in the human design. Cause if you're joyful and happy about what you're sharing, people wanna look.
Speaker 3:Yeah. There has to be enthusiasm for me. Like if, if so, and even so now, I, I I, I schedule things ahead of time, but I sit on a day when I'm feeling, you know, the love for my collectors, the wanting to connect with people. And I, I use those days to really say the things that I wanna say. And then on the days when I'm like, you know, lower my emotional wave, I'm like, okay, today's not the day we're gonna do something else. We'll make a batch of spaghetti for the kids and stay outta the creative realm. Cause that's where I need to be. Yeah. So.
Speaker 1:Well, and that's listening to your flow too. That's listening to your intuition too. If we all have the ability to create the freedom in our lives to be able to listen to that flow, that would just make my frigging day like wouldn't it, wouldn't that be a delightful world?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Like, and I think that I, I've been like, are you just allowed to be happy all the time in this flow? Like, is that a place that we could actually reap for and decide, no, I'm not gonna settle for so many bad days that I'm really gonna go for finding that place that feels good more often. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I think that, that that's the place that we need to be driving for not, you know, the vacation home or, or all of that other material stuff. It's like, how can I feel good more often? How can I feel like I'm contributing and connecting and you know, being more of my full self who I don't even fully know yet. Like how do I get there and oh, it's a lifelong process but it feels like a much more exciting place to go. Yes. You're cooking<laugh>.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness. On that note people Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Margaret<laugh>. I didn't know where we were going today, but it would be good. So thank you. Thank you so much. We need to do this again.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'd love to. It's a lot of fun. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:Yeah. If we could inspire somebody to try and be happy every day, like that'd be freaking awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Go big or stay home.
Speaker 3:Yeah.<laugh> and dream bigger. Cause there's like so many things with are wonderful to come. Yeah. Like you have to ask for them. Like, I think that that too. Sorry, we're done. But I think that's a wonder thing.
Speaker 1:You got one more thing here, girl, go. Awesome.
Speaker 3:Just enough is not the way to live. Like ask for those huge things that seem outside of the reality and then, you know, wait and see what happens. Like that's, that's so much magic that, you know, it's just waiting for us to ask for it. Mm-hmm. And do it anyway.<laugh>
Speaker 1:Yeah. Scared and do it anyway. And that's different than the law of attraction.
Speaker 3:Mm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> right? Yeah. Because we, we grew up in the nineties or whatever with the law of attraction. And this is different. What you're saying is different. And I wanna clarify that for people. Like, you're asking for magic. You're not asking for something straight up specific or whatever you're asking for magic.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And there's a different energy to that.
Speaker 3:There is. And it, but it's so available that I, my first year was magic. The first year that I was selling my paintings was magic. So I know like things will just come, even this podcast, like we didn't know each other.<laugh>. No,
Speaker 1:I
Speaker 3:Know. So it was like one post that's magical that we, we were able to connect and both say yes. Yeah. And then have this conversation. I know like those moments are everywhere, but we've gotta like, okay, I believe in magic, you know, I still believe in Claus. Cause it's fun. Right? Like, go there and let it be true and see what happens
Speaker 1:And let it be true. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, that's the piece. That's the piece. Pay attention, people let it be true. Oh, wonderful Margaret, I'm so glad you added this. Like, this is like the PS at the end of a letter. I love it.
Speaker 3:<laugh>. Oh good.<laugh>. Cool. Thank you
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Thank you so much. This is awesome. Until next time, thank you so much for giving us your time today. We truly appreciate our guests for sharing their stories and insights about how intuition has impacted their lives. And I'm so grateful for Peter Trainor for his time in giving me this original music. It's now your turn. It's your turn to listen and act on your own intuition and help make the world a better place. Until next time, keep seeing, being, knowing, and doing. If you like this podcast, please share it. If you want to find others like it, go to www.healingvitality.ca or wherever you would find your podcasts. We would love to have you join us on this journey. Come be a crow sitting in the tree. Be part of our community.