Failure at Fifteen

Stuck Energy from Teen Angst Blocks Our Success, Until We Clear It

One of the hardest exercises for me to master in my high school art class was drawing an egg. Every aspect of the still life was meant to be developed through the subtle art of shading. EFT Helps Mother Slim Down It was an excruciating experience for me. You see, I had my preferred way of drawing and I relied on that technique heavily for all my pieces. My teacher pushed me to “explore other techniques” but I resisted in every way possible. It wasn’t that I was a rebellious or difficult kid. In fact I hardly ever got in trouble in school. It was my stuck energy that was the problem.

Meant to develop the ability to create a drawing by building tones and shadows, instead this one exercise heralded my complete failure as a human being before I even graduated. Hey, what can I say, we artists are pretty emotional creatures. But as overly dramatic as this sounds it’s exactly what I felt. And sadly, for a really long time that’s exactly what I experienced.

What I didn’t know then was that I was afraid of failing, a pretty common fear. My fear kept me from reaching my potential as it kept me from trying, reaching, doing. Energetically this fear of failure actually aligned me with failing as a final outcome! Over and over again I just kept failing and believing that was the end point. But failure is only an endpoint if you allow it to stop you.

My teachers and parents were never able to convey just how important failure is not only in terms of our development but more important to the artist in me,
failure is an essential component of creating genius.

As a kid it never dawned on me that the masters started just as I was. Sure we saw their sketches and preliminary drawings for some of their masterpieces, but even those roughs were masterful. What we didn’t see, because they don’t exist, are the many sketches and paintings the masters attempted and hated, scribbled over or torn apart in a fit of frustration.

My real challenge was – as many kids of all ages experience – not understanding the process of learning until you embody something new. Each new technique attempted that didn’t come naturally, left me feeling like a failure and assuming I just would never master it. So creating a drawing of an egg sitting on a piece of velvet using only shading techniques – a method I had not yet mastered – was agonizing.

My productions were horrid. I know this because my teacher told me, in those exact words. She may or may not have meant well. She used to tell me she was “only trying to spur me on”. Instead of helping me actually learn helpful art and life lessons, her harassing simply confirmed I was incapable of honing this talent with which I’d been “blessed.” She needn’t have bothered though, I knew they weren’t any good because I’d already decided…I wasn’t any good.

Every time I attempted this piece and I “couldn’t get it” I was angry, confused, frustrated and worried. It didn’t matter that even at this early age I was an award-winning artist, I was a failure each time I couldn’t make the pen, pencil or brush do what I needed it to do. The many awards I’d earned meant nothing. Actually, sometimes they actually mocked me as I struggled and suffered.

My teacher, parents and even friends would comment on how incredibly talented I was. But every compliment seemed to contain a bit of disappointment. If I could do “this” then why hadn’t I done “that”, they seemed to say. And I wondered along with them all. If indeed I was so astoundingly talented then why, why, why couldn’t I do a simple sketch or make clay form to the shape I wanted? And don’t even get me started on watercolors! The truth was – is – that I am a talented artist. But talent doesn’t mean one can execute with adept skill or refined artistry.

It’s said that practice makes perfect. But practice while suffering with stuck energy generally makes for more suffering!

For a long time I attempted practicing under the bulk of all my stuck energy. As I grew into adulthood, I knew that even Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci practiced. I longed to create a sketchbook filled with gorgeous drawings, rough and completed, just as they had. My sketchpads revealed how stuck and blocked I was.

Determined to practice until perfect, a few years after high school I produced the version of the egg exercise you see here. For a young child it would be a good effort. For a talented artist with over a decade of practical art education, it is lacking in execution as well as heart. Expert shading would have no discernible pencil strokes, a few areas are too light while others are heavy-handed. Still, it was a small bit of progress so I tucked it away. Perhaps someday…

Pinecone Pencil Drawing by Cathleen Campbell Stone Sitting in those hot classes in I longed to return up north, so I frequently drew images that reminded me of my happy childhood. And then I would be sad some more because I couldn’t be there for the snow and the colorful fall leaves. I dreamed of moving back to New York, giddily enjoying a spectacular life of art and fashion. This is one of my favorite sketches from that time. Without having mastered shading it’s a pretty piece. Of course I wasn’t satisfied. No matter how big my dreams there were just a few glitches –

– I couldn’t draw (so my pain and stuck energy told me – obviously these drawings tell a different story)

– I wasn’t “good enough” (so my unhelpful art teacher told me over and over again)

and I’d just never be happy (the worry resulting from all this stuck energy.)

What happened to this sad, talented, confused girl
and her dreams of glamour and fashion?

I used all my willpower – that’s the physical force and gritty determination we westerners prize so much – to get to New York and get into the fashion industry. But no matter how hard I tried, all that stuck energy kept me from realizing my real dreams.

Without the correct perspective for my art skills – and life in general for that matter – I spent decades lamenting what I couldn’t be, do or have and settling for working for other people making their dreams their reality. To the outside world I was busily making my mark in fashion. But no matter what my accomplishments or how exciting my life was, inside I felt like the failure I’d been since high school.

If I’d had EFT and some other energy tools available to me in high school…

I’d have simply released those painful and blocking feelings as they arose to allow my neural pathways to easily absorb instruction. In a calm way, I would have simply practiced my new skills until mastery was the only possible conclusion. With each release my perceptions would have shifted more and more to a supportive position. And from that different perspective, I’d have been able to take that skill with me wherever my artist tools and creative soul wanted to go – with my art, my career and my life.

Instead, it took me many painful decades before I would learn powerful tools to help me release pains, past and present. From my now clear, calm, happy, and yes adult perspective I easily see what all these lessons were helping me learn. And in this clear state I’ve learned these lessons and so much more!

With my clear heart and open mind, now
I love the entire process of creation!

From the giddy excitement when an idea first hits to the exasperating frustration as execution isn’t Pencil Sketch Water Drop by Cathleen Campbell Stone quite right to the spectacular moment when everything magically comes together. Of course it looks and feels like magic, but just as in conscious manifesting when an art creation comes together it is the fullness of our focused skills and energy. When we know how creation is no longer something that happens sometimes, it’s the natural outcome of the competent use of all our powers and we can trust this process, because we are trusting ourselves.

Finally it’s a pleasure to just practice my skills. Often I’ll just prop myself up with pillows while watching tv or a movie and sketch, whatever. It doesn’t matter if I’m working on a larger piece or a small exercise like this one, single drop of water that I sketched entirely with shading. And I can take pride and pleasure in my outcomes even while assessing for things I need to refine or learn.

How grateful I am now that I have energy tools to help me not only release painful blocks…but to support my enjoyment of all my talents fully and artfully. My parents wished they had these tools to help their talented but sadly blocked daughter. Thankfully they got to witness me heal myself and create beautiful works. I’m grateful to experience my artistry just for myself and to share with others, equally.

Whether you are a parent of an artistic student or an artist yourself, the truth is art is all about energy. It might be time for you to learn how to master your artistic energies too…in Living Harmony.

A few months into high school our bright, clever, well-liked daughter became someone else. She shifted so fast I feared the worst, drugs or clinical depression. We tried everything including giving her space, letting her have her way, the more we tried the more sullen she got. One day cleaning her room I realized she’d not done any crafts lately. I guess I assumed she was trying to grow up, but I realized in that moment something was very wrong. I sat her down and asked Julie why she wasn’t drawing, painting, sewing or any of the other things she used to love to do. She smirked and said it was stupid. Pressing further I discovered that one of the popular kids had made fun of her binder, the one she’d spent a few weeks decorating with flowers and paints before starting school. That one comment had belittled her in such deep ways my heart ached for her. A friend suggested we work with Cathleen and I’m so very grateful, we all are. In our very first session my daughter’s face lit up! We left with a tool that we used that night, together, as a family. Within a few weeks Julie was herself both in and out of school, and her teachers commented on how she’d blossomed. She also won an art competition! It’s been two years and Julie is a confident, happy student well-liked by teachers and classmates. She’s not best friends with that student who hurt her, but they get along just fine. Nobody makes fun of her but she says that if someone does make a nasty comment she can tap it out. Every parent hopes they give their children what they need to be successful in life. What a relief and blessing to know we have given our beautiful daughter tools and wisdom she’ll carry with her, always.

Cathy L.

Thank you for sharing this post

✨🎶Before I studied energy work, understood my painful feelings, or moved out of my childhood bedroom, I began finding my answers in music. #BarryManilow was one of the artists who understood what I was going through. His lyrics pointed the way for me to heal.💖

Just a little girl when I heard these lyrics for the first time —

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯’ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯’, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴
𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯' 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰, 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵rue..."

…something about the power of his voice made it through the pain. Beautiful Music was the first time I learned emotions could be healed! That believing in yourself — even when the world didn’t — meant someday I could be happy.🎤🌟

✨ In a world where nobody talked about “beautiful feelings,” Barry sang about them out loud! Suddenly my heartache had a melody, my hopes a chorus, and my soul had a mission: to learn HOW to Let GO of pain so I could live this beautiful life.

Decades later, a few miles from my childhood home, I got chills as Barry sang another life-changing song of his: All the Time. Transported back to my old bedroom I remembered the pain of just how alone and confused I felt. A moment later I was filled with more love than I ever dreamed back then. This…this is my REAL life! The one I created by healing: An adoring husband, luxurious home, beautiful animals, cherished clients, amazing friends, wonderful
family. 

And Music…Beautiful Music!🎶💖

🎧Barry’s music planted the seed that led me on the journey I’m still walking today — teaching
people how to heal, release, and rise through the energy of emotions.

There’s a reason you landed here today. Your soul knows it’s time to heal — And if you like, I
can help you learn HOW.💫

🎶 Music inspires, but to heal – and create our dreams - we need to learn HOW. When we learn
how to release our stuck energy we not only hear the beautiful music but we can learn how to
live our beautiful lives…#inLivingHarmony.💓

#BeautifulMusic #TapWithCat
Healing Grief: A Way Back to Love

Today marks the 12th year since the awful day my big brother died. When he passed, I wasn’t just grieving him—I grieved the loss of my family and the future I trusted would be ours. At first, people were caring, kind and supportive. Inevitably, while they still cared people turned their attention back to their own lives as they should. They stop saying your loved-one’s name, they don’t ask how you’re doing.

When all the “doing” is over, we find ourselves alone with the weight and enormity of our pain. The deafening silence of it is unbearable. Most of us try to ignore it and press on often feeling wrong because we’re still hurting so much.

The truth is:

💔 Grief doesn't go away because we don’t talk about it.

💫 Unprocessed pain gets stuck.

🕰 Time heals all wounds is a LIE. In fact, unprocessed pain grows and hurts more as time
goes by.

I’ve met so many beautiful souls still carrying unbearable pain for a brother or sister, mother,
father, friends…the fur family they lost years ago. I’ve been there. I was there.

Thankfully energy modalities like #EFTTapping have helped me process ALL the pain from
losing my hilarious, sweet, super cool big brother. Now when I think about him it’s with a smile or
a laugh on my lips. There are tiny moments with a sort of “wish you were here” sort of feeling,
but no agonizing pain.

The gratitude I have for our profoundly loving, nurturing and mutually admiring relationship is so
big there’s no room for any pain!

So if you are seeing this today, I hope you can hear the real reason I’m posting.

Healing IS possible. 💞

You don't have to carry the weight alone.

Releasing your grief doesn’t mean you love them any less. It just means… you’re ready to process the pain to let love flow in again.

If this speaks to your heart, DM me. I’m here to help.
Let’s talk about your loved-one. Say their name. Feel the love again.

🌊 Let the waves come, and I’ll teach you how to let them pass.
❤️ You can live, laugh, and love again—in Living Harmony.

#GriefRelease #HealingGrief #SiblingLoss #EmotionalFreedomTechniques #inLivingHarmony
#GriefAndLove #EnergyHealing
Weekends are meant to be a time for relaxation, joy, and recharging. Often stress from the week lingers, leaving us unable to fully unwind. Or worse it grows creating even more anxiety. (EFT) Tapping, or Emotional Freedom Techniques, offer simple and effective ways to release everyday tensions and create space for peace and restoration.

For general stress, we don’t need to make things complicated. Our energetic systems are robust
and fully capable of releasing the week’s buildup of strains and tensions with a simplified version
of the “Touch and Breathe” EFT method. 

EFT, often referred to as "tapping," not only involves gently tapping on specific acupuncture points while acknowledging your thoughts and emotions it’s actually a comprehensive series of methods which are designed to offer agility in our healing efforts so we can be both gentle and effective in our release clearings. 

These practices help calm the nervous system, release negative energy, and restore emotional balance. In just a few minutes, you can shift your mood, clear your mind, and set the tone for a happy, stress-free weekend.

With this simplified EFT Tapping Touch and Breathe routine, you could shift out of stress mode and enter your weekend with a calm heart and mind ready to enjoy and restore! Whether you're planning a quiet evening at home or an adventure-filled weekend, tapping to release tension helps you feel content, secure and present.

✨ Want more tips and techniques like this? Visit my website to explore free resources, learn
about upcoming classes, and sign up for personalized coaching sessions. You’ll learn how to
release stress, clear blocks, and create a life you love…in Living Harmony.

LINK IN BIO to get started

#tapwithcat #EFTTapping #healingatyourfingertips #stressless #happyweekend
#inlivingharmony
As we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. contemplating on his vision, many feel burdened with anger, fear and sadness. How, we ask, do we transmute pain into peace and hatred into love? Within that question is the very answer we seek: 

We must learn to let go to #heal ourselves. For in healing ourselves, so too, we heal our world. 

#EFTTapping, or Emotional Freedom Techniques, offers a gentle yet transformative way forward. Releasing our stuck energies feels like magic, but actually it’s a modality helping us #release blocks tethering us to negativity. It’s not slapping a coat of positivity over a foundation of pain. It’s honoring ourselves, allowing emotions to move through and out of us so they don’t define us. Clearing away the layers of pain, we uncover our true nature: our capacity for love, compassion, and even forgiveness.

Picture holding a tightly closed fist grasping all your negative emotions: anger at a friend who betrayed your trust, resentment for a coworker who undermined you, hatred for someone whose actions have caused deep harm. Your #feelings are valid and deserve to be acknowledged. But the act of clenching that fist is exhausting. It takes your energy, your joy, and your peace. EFT Tapping gently helps us open that fist by creating a safe space to acknowledge, feel, learn, and release to heal.

#Imagine a world where more people commit to this kind of inner healing. What might shift if, instead of reacting to hate with more hate, we paused, and tapped through our own emotions? This isn’t to say that we ignore injustice or turn a blind eye to wrongdoing. #Love is actually and action verb that requires us to stand firmly in our values, advocating for what’s right, and seeking solutions that uplift rather than destroy. 

So today, ask what might shift if you allowed yourself to release? You have the power to choose #light, to choose love. And when you do you not only transform your own life—you become a beacon of hope and healing for others. When we commit to our own healing, when we use tools like EFT to shift our energy from fear to love—we create ripples of healing that spread far beyond ourselves healing our world…in Living Harmony.
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