I have been a photographer without a fixed location for much of my career here in Chicago. A permanent location never seemed in the cards for me.
As years went by, the vision of this passion would flare briefly when I displayed my photos in local coffeeshops, bakeries, libraries and other unconventional spaces.
I once had a charming space in a vintage building at a prime location in the Wicker Park area. As everything I earned was consumed by rent, I quickly learned the grown-up lesson about pricing my services appropriately!
Back to home base again, not only for financial reasons, but to do a deep dive into the inner self that kept sabotaging me, saying I did not deserve to be successful.
Seeking independence, going my own way, creating something different: the miasma of all these rejections seemed to hang in the air, clouding my picture of myself with my dream.
I did not know I had to keep seeing the dream in detail, no matter what my current situation said, no matter what painful memories I remembered, to eventually hear the clear quiet that guides my actions now.
This included honest, updated assessment of that relationship as well. Five years after publishing this post, I have left this relationship.
But…using the emotional energy contained in memory that is able to be recalled and returned fully back to me, the enjoyment of life returned full force,
and a spectacular dream came true during the summer of 2024.
I love to share what opens energy around me, and am posting an original affirmation that also addresses the concerns around making increasing amounts of money.
There are different ways to use this gem:
Record it in your own voice and listen to it as the start to each morning.
Gently sit with each sentence and let the images and emotions and experiential memories well up, allowing the emotion to move through without resistance.
You can choose one sentence and use it as the inspiration to consider through the day.
Say it out loud during your morning walk in the park in the strongest, most positive voice you have.
I choose now to heal my relationship with money and my finances. So it is.
I release all resistance to where I am right now financially.
I release being angry with or hating my current position now with money. I let this go now.
I open myself to know that where I am now is only temporary, and I choose to fully embrace and accept where I am now with complete love so that I can create more money and wealth. So it is.
I release all resistance to being broke, or not having enough money. I allow myself to just be with it now.
I open myself to know that if I embrace this now, and stop looking at my situation as bad, the energy will transmute and things can change. I allow myself to accept it now. So it is.
I release making being broke or without money wrong.
I release the feeling that where I am right now is bad.
I release all beliefs that I am a failure if I don’t have enough money. I let that go and open myself to know that life is full of contrasting experiences just so that I can get clear on what I want to create.
I open myself to know that “good” or “bad,” is just “desired,” and “undesired.” So it is.
I release any repeated focusing on how much I don’t have.
I release all decisions to see, hear, focus and speak from scarcity, and I choose now to focus on all the abundance in my life.
I open myself to remember that scarcity and limitation doesn’t really exist anywhere but in my mind. I release it from my mind and focus and in every situation I choose abundance. So it is.
I completely and fully forgive myself for creating this current situation.
I open myself to correct myself without blame, shame, or invalidation. So it is.
I release all beliefs, agreements and programming from my parents and 5 generations back that making money is wrong for an artist, troublesome, and dangerous, and that I am disloyal for wanting to be rich.
I release all programming that money is scarce, limited, and hard to make.
I release all memories from this lifetime and all other lifetimes of issues of and around money.
I let this go now, and I transmute all memories and unwanted energies into pure light… so it is.
I release my association of earning and having money and finances with emotional, mental or physical pain.
I open myself to see that money was never capable of hurting me or those I love. I let this go and see money and prosperity and creativity with new eyes. So it is.
I release all decisions, agreements and programming from this life, energy, and experiences that having lots of money is limited, difficult, hard, dangerous, and troublesome to have.
I let this go and open myself to remember that I am a powerful creator capable of creating and manifesting anything I choose.
I choose to remember that all it takes is a simple shift in my focus. I remember this now and shift my focus accordingly. So it is.
I open myself to fully experience having more and more than enough money in my life.
I open myself to experience being rich and wealthy, and I allow myself to have it now. So it is.
I choose to put myself in the space of already having that which I want, so that I call it into my experience metaphysically first.
And I open myself to have fun with this, and to enjoy the journey. So it is.
I now rest in abundance, I rest in having enough. I find my stillness in the space of well-being and in being, doing and having more. So it is.
After the affirmation, ’embody’ it –
Wiggle a ‘happy dance’ like a kid! Smile! Clap, jump and shake out your body!
BE thanks for the abundance you have now and what you already have experienced! Spread the good energy ‘sparkle’ around in your world!
May this aid circumstances seen and unseen to bring abundance into your life.
Let’s connect through my Contact Page to talk about envisioning yours.
This is my solo exhibition of artwork displayed in a beautiful Chicago church.
100% an artist’s dream until I added imaginating: the art of visualizing in 360 degree detail.
I walked the hallways, looked at my pictures like a visitor, touching the frames, greeting guests.
I said (and felt) the emotion of thanks and gratitude while I was doing it.
How long? Sometimes it takes a bit. You must be specific. Down to the smallest details, yet not have to have it in stone. I don’t know how else to describe it.
When you begin to have experience and success with smaller goals, it can appear in shorter amounts of time.
When I deliberately concentrated on it was when my partner was working on exhibiting. We spoke of details, frames, deadlines.
Then out of the blue, the thought formed in this exact sentence,
“I would like to have a show, too.”
And my thoughts were set in motion in this manner.
Within two months, I learned one of my photographs was included in a show of female blues artists in Evanston.
I enjoyed the reception experience and happiness of seeing my art on the wall.
Months later came a request to see if I was interested in exhibiting here.
My own show.
And I was able to display artwork from a personal project
that had given me a lot of happiness in making it.
Thinking in the way of imaginating begins by deciding what you want
and then creating a clear mental picture of it.
Then, you must keep that image in mind continually,
like a port toward which you are sailing a ship.
SEE IT in detail, and add your emotions: happiness, contentment, excitement.
FEEL the weight, shape, or heat.
BREATHE IN the scent of what you are touching, and
HEAR the clink or creaks of materials or background noise.
Gently add one by one until ALL senses are participating.
Our minds can do it with our eyes open. No rituals, chants, or changes in breathing are needed.
Each time you imaginate the picture, let the feeling linger.
Pay attention to the directions and choices in your daily life that come your way.
These ‘random’ things direct the next steps towards your goal.
Advance your dream with preparation and confidence (get passport updated, check out class tuition, go see the house)
and feelings of gratitude for what you have.
Interestingly enough, the solutions that come will have the unique circumstances that you need. This is also something that you can request.
We all can do this, but we have been taught many patterns of behavior that suppress our natural inclinations in creativity, curiosity, and play.
This manner helps create a personality who has tenacity, faith, persistence and focus on their goals.
You can make some of your dreams and desires come true. May you have God’s blessings of abundance over your life.
Chicago personal photographer Dorothy Perry creates portraits and art with the distinctive signature of energy. Contact her for commissions or exhibitions here.
Over the years I have lived as a photographer, I have realized that being a creative artist has, over time, has enabled me to be a creative ‘see-er’, too!
I treasure and cultivate my ability to see things differently by actively listening, day-dreaming, and using counterintuitive ideas to access an ability to look at your questions in a fresh new way.
This discernment allows me to: ‘connect the dots’, find new ideas / markets for your niche, see new directions, enhance and improve offerings, and refine messages to reflect more accuracy.
It’s a great feeling when I hear: “That’s a very good idea!” “I haven’t thought about it but that’s a good idea!” “I love this!!! I’m totally going to share it with my group tomorrow!”
Reach out here or via my website Contact Page, and I am happy to ‘take a look’ at a topic of interest for your business – or for you.
I feel that this way of envisioning will bring you an original idea or concept you have never heard before. And it’s my desire that it will benefit your life immensely!
I have always had an affinity for quirky, unconventional heroes in cartoons, books and movies.
It has taken me years to understand why these heroes attract me so. The skill of using this type of attention and focus is the result of a system called reticular activation.
Imagine thinking of a special color, then slowly but surely starting to see that special color around you, and in many things you see throughout the day. The reticular activator filters and curates the pictures, patterns, and connections you are subconsciously thinking about.
Now I know that ‘as within, so without’, I use it now to help me notice what I am noticing – as a way to confirm if I am indeed moving towards the goals I seek.
My interest in cartoons and paladin-type heroes are that they embody a creative mindset, a never-give-up attitude, and ability to adjust with zen immediacy to whatever comes their way, all the while maintaining their autonomy and personal inner values.
My ‘mentors’ walk out on clouds without falling, stretch like rubber, find clothes and wigs wherever they are needed, and never give up, even if at first they seem to lose!
The reticular activator is also the visible language of the inner spirit. I enclose an inspirational piece from another mentor, Napoleon Hill.
A most beneficial use of time is silent meditation, while searching for guidance from within.
We all experience rare moments when a blinding revelation comes to us, when we suddenly see things differently than ever before. Usually, however, we learn the truth about ourselves gradually, over long periods of time, from quiet introspection.
We are all spiritual, but some of us have learned to tap more effectively into the great strength that resides in the spiritual portion of ourselves.
The spirit is not boisterous and noisy. Getting in touch with your spiritual self demands tranquility and solitude.
Make sure you dedicate a portion of every day to thought and study, to think and reflect upon your life. Choose a time and place that best allow you to relax your mind and devote your thoughts to reflection.
It is my hope that these thoughts and methods will help assist you in your search for purpose in your life.
This is a little story of the application of abundant thought to creating a new auto. In short, this is how I made my new car happen!
I am a fan of the Volvo 240GL car – it is a very unique and beautiful car to me, and I have already owned four!
My current 240 was classic and beautiful, had deep sentimental value, and ran like a champ. But 3 years ago, a motorcycle hit and run damaged its side, and my energetic pleasure for this car decreased when I looked at it. The quotes for body work alone were more than it cost!
I was reading a new book for creating abundant situations in daily life, and chose to test their ideas with my car situation.
In meditation, I felt how I looked and thought about it in a continual state of dissatisfaction.
I did not want to feel this way about this car, which was great in every other way.
So I began to really love the heck out of this car just the way it was,
seeing memories of its dependability and protection in my mind,
memories of washing and cleaning it,
happy moments driving in the beauty of nature, and talking with loved ones,
saying that it would resolve itself in an even better way than I can imagine,
and most importantly, leaving it alone, and not dwelling in doubt that my desire would be granted in its own Divine order.
I blessed the situation with this confidence and abundance mindset for four months to see a change in the situation. It happened quickly and happily.
The Fourth of July saw a rash of gunfire in the area where I was visiting, and my car window was shot out by a stray bullet. No auto glass places, even the ones famous for older models, could find a window for it.
A terrific car for me – and now her new owner!
I lost my mind a little in the energy of ‘fixing it’ – activity that often makes things more expensive or worse! – searching want ads, frustrated at the communications with strangers, while dealing with the realities of errands without a car.
I forgot I had to speak what I desired into effect.
Now with sanity restored, I looked at the photographs of my car and thanked it for its’ years of dependable, safe operation, the memories driving loved ones, and its dependability, and wished its next owner years of pleasure and safety in driving it.
I then began to describe a beautiful auto of the same style that had been well cared for, and would be a stable, good running vehicle for myself and my family.
The change in the situation happened the next day. My searches led to a new auto website, and the details of a car lovingly cared for came on the market four days ago! Within a week this lovely gold 240 was mine!
The first night at home!
From stating my desire to seeing it in the energetic presence of a new car took about four months. It is exactly what I desired, and I enjoy owning it even more, knowing it came about in this manner.
I believe to send those you know and don’t know uplifted thoughts of love, acceptance, and abundance is a shift in mindset that assists that bringing about the good you desire.
Now the car is here, I have changed the statement that everyone who saw, heard, touched, or even briefly heard of my car and story would be blessed, enriched, and have doors opened for opportunity and abundance in their lives!
See you around Chicago!
Dorothy Perry is a Chicago portrait photographer specializing in custom family portraits, modern headshots, & personal branding for women and executives at home and on location.
