time goes by…

Months and months have passed since I last put anything here. The year started out to be difficult for our household – literally, January 1st brought a challenging time – and then shifts seemed to come to the whole world as life in 2020 became something I often think of as surreal.

I’ve been spending time painting. I paint pretty much every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes, and even if it’s simply playing with putting colors on the page. Painting calms me and grounds me, and connects me with joy, so it’s continued to be an important part of my life…

And although I haven’t done many, I’ve sketched a few more of my “long-necked” faces…

I’ve reconnected with a few interests from earlier in my life. Many years had passed since using a sewing machine – and long ago, I got rid of my regular-sized machine due to lack of use and minimal space around here – but now I have this little mini one…

There have been some drives and neighborhood walks with my husband…

And lots of sweet times with our cute Chloe, who brings so much joy and light and love to our home…

I’ve been diving deep into Bible study and prayer time…

And then there’s fiction –

After quite a lengthy period of not being able to focus on reading fiction – or writing it – I’m back to doing both. It feels good to be able to lose myself in a novel… whether reading one or writing one.

I hope to soon be able to report that I’m finally finished with the current novel-in-progress. The revisions are done, and now I’m proofreading and line editing and getting the format in place for the book’s introduction into the world. No major launch – this novel has been a work-of-the-heart for me, something I’ve felt I needed to do, even if only for myself… but I do plan to have it “out there” for others who might want to read it.

So that’s a bit of my 2020. A year unlike what I expected, or wanted.

Prayer, creativity, music, dancing in the kitchen with my husband, laughing at funny shows, talking on the phone with loved ones, finding nourishing routines, deliberately connecting to joy when I can, holding onto Jesus, spending time with my husband and our cat…

These are the things helping me get through the days.

♥

 

do what makes you feel alive {printable}…

Over the weekend, I was tackling a tiny bit of much-needed decluttering, and I came across a couple of printouts I had totally forgotten about making. Both were printables I made a few years ago, one from one of my watercolor paintings, the other from part of one of my acrylic paintings.

Both paintings are abstract, intuitive paintings, not paintings of anything in particular (“paint play” is what I often call what I’m doing)… and I took photos of the paintings, digitally added words, and turned them into printables.

Tracking down the digital files took some time, but track them down I did. Turns out I made the printables back in 2017. I think (but I’m not positive) I shared them on my old blog but they got lost in the shuffle somewhere along the way.

The first of these printables-from-original-paintings is below. I’ll be putting up a post with the other one in a few days.

This one is from one of my watercolor paintings, with the words: do what makes you feel alive

I think we often need that reminder. As long as it’s not something that hurts someone else, it’s a good thing to keep in mind: do what makes you feel alive.

Do you know what that is? If not, take some time to get quiet and feel into the question. What lights you up? What sparks your inner fire and stirs your soul? What makes you feel alive?

This reminder – and putting it into practice – is something that helps us connect with joy. And, I believe, helps us connect with our purpose.

The printable is yours if you’d like to print it out. As with the other printables on the blog (you can find those here – be sure to go back to all the “older posts” to see them all) there’s no charge, nothing to sign up for, no strings attached. Just download and print as you wish. The file is in .pdf format, and you should be able to resize the image to suit your needs.

The link to get it is here.

Or just click on the printable’s photo below to get the file.

Do what makes you feel alive.

♥

 

grace, again – and still…

My 2020 word-of-the year is grace.

Since 2012, I’ve had a guiding word for each year, a word that sort of “comes” to me, not something I choose logically or analytically. My words have included nourish, clarity, integration, replenish, sovereign, joy… and in 2017 instead of a single word, I was given a phrase-for-the-year of “embrace grace.”  Then the next year, 2018, I was guided to keep on with that same phrase.

Two years in a row of embrace grace – a phrase that continues to be hugely important in my life.

So sometime in November, when I started sensing that grace was to be my guiding word for 2020, I hesitated at first. Shouldn’t I have a different word, something new I hadn’t had before as part of my word-of-the-year journeys?

But the prompting for this word stayed and strengthened, and I stopped resisting.

Grace it is.

Already, less than a week into this new year, I’m being challenged by this word. Hard, difficult stuff is already coming up for me and my husband, and I’ve been struggling to approach it all with grace.

At the same time, though, I’m finding strength because of grace. Grace is helping me through, moment by moment.

That’s how these words-of-the-year seem to go for me (and for many others I know). They present the positive aspects of the word, as well as the challenging bits. Almost as though the word is saying: You really want me in your life, you really want to KNOW me and experience me this year? Well, here you go, I’ll SHOW you life with me, the light and the dark of me, I’ll help you learn every side of me, so hold on for the ride!

So – grace.

Again. And still.

♥