Tag: joy

music and distraction and joy…

I love music. Lots of different kinds of music.

I love music just for the music itself, but when I’m feeling stressed or anxious music can provide even more than enjoyment. It can be a way to shift my mood and offer distraction (at least somewhat) from the difficult stuff.

In our home, we have a local radio station playing in the kitchen literally all day long. This station plays music from the 70s through the current time, and we love how much air play the DJs give to our favorite music decades of the 70s and 80s. We also really enjoy the special interviews and features they do at regularly scheduled times. (And yes, there are actual, human, real-life in real-time DJs on the air.) It provides background sound for the day, it keeps me company when I’m in the kitchen cooking or painting or washing dishes, and it generally brings joy to our lives.

Although the kitchen radio provides most of the music in our house, I’ll also turn to the CDs we still have in our collection, as well as music online. Sometimes when I’m feeling anxious or stressed I’ll go to youtube and find a long video or playlist containing lots of 70s or 80s songs, and I’ll listen to the music while I do nothing else other than relax and breathe. Almost always, it will help.

Are there songs or genres/periods of music that help you feel more uplifted? That help you feel calmer if you’re feeling stressed or anxious? That help you feel more capable of making it through a hard day?

Music can reflect mood, definitely. But music can also impact mood and shift mood. It can be useful for calming and de-stressing.

It can be an important tool in an anxiety-reducing, stress-reducing toolkit.

❤

gelli plate play…

Almost a decade ago, I got three gelli plates of different sizes, used them a few times during the first few weeks of having them…and then didn’t touch them again for years.

Last summer I put them into one of the boxes of items we were donating to the local animal shelter’s thrift store, thinking I probably wouldn’t do anything with them anymore. After all, if I hadn’t used them in so long, why keep them around? I’ve been in a lengthy and ongoing process of trying to declutter and downsize (a process which is a big challenge for me) and I count it as a win any time I make any progress, no matter how small. But right before my husband carried that particular box to the car, I pulled out the smallest gelli plate to keep. Just in case I changed my mind and wanted to use a gelli plate again.

And I’m so glad I kept it.

During this time of my personal at-home summer art retreat, I was encouraged by a friend and a few videos to get out my little gelli plate and give it a go. I let myself play. And I had fun.

I made prints on papers I plan to tear and cut to use on journal pages. I started decorating some unused tags I’ve had stored away for years that maybe I’ll (finally!) start using in mixed media projects. I didn’t worry about how any of it turned out, I simply enjoyed experimenting and playing.

Do you have an art supply you haven’t used in a while – and thought you might not ever use again? Or maybe a supply you put away but haven’t tried out?

It could be that one day you end up surprising yourself the way I did…and discover it brings you a sense of play and joy you didn’t expect.

♥

personal at-home summer art retreat…

Back in 2019, during a time when I needed something to help me get through a difficult period, I decided to have what I called my personal at-home summer art retreat…a summer when I spent more time than usual with painting and doing art-related activities, and connecting to the joy and the calming those things bring to me.

This year, in late May, I decided to do the same this summer – and on June 1st I began this year’s personal at-home summer art retreat.

Although I’ve had a daily painting practice for several years now, for the past month I’ve been painting even more. And I’ve spent more time doodling. And mark making. And doing mixed media.

I’ve been using some of my art supplies I’ve barely picked up in years, like stamps and stencils. I’ve even come across supplies I forgot I had.

Most days I’ve been watching at least one painting or art journaling or mixed media video – not only for techniques and ideas,, but also because watching those kinds of videos will usually spark my own creative juices and get my fingers moving to create something (even if it’s not creating what the video is demonstrating).

And I’ve been trying new things…like making my own journal from torn watercolor paper, using pieces of one of my acrylic-on-canvas paintings for the front and back covers, and binding it using tools from a small book-binding kit I purchased half a dozen years ago but had never used until now.

With the painting, the doodling, the mark-making, the journal creating, the “arting” in general…it’s not about how it ends up looking, it’s about the process, the doing of it.

And the doing of it is having so many benefits for me.

All of this has been fun. Playful. Calming. Relaxing. Joyful.

It’s helping me get through hot days and stressful periods.

Creativity joy is a real thing, and my personal at-home summer art retreat is helping me stay connected to creativity and to joy.

I hope you have something in your life that does the same for you.

❤