Tag: soul nourishment

it’s still the little things…

I’ve written before about how it’s often the little things that can brighten a day and bring a bit of joy. Little things that can help with continuing to go on, moment by moment, through the difficult days.

It’s the times of taking a walk – whether by myself, or with my husband, or with a friend and her dog. Enjoying the view, the fresh air, the moving of the body, the taking a deep breath and feeling more ease.

It’s the times spent in front of an easel or a journal, playing with paint and being in the moment. Not thinking or worrying, just moving the brush and the paint.

 

It’s the times enjoying the spring blooms. Seeing the beauty of nature. Appreciating the colors.

It’s the times of unexpected delights, like a new bloom on a potted plant that had seemed almost beyond hope until my husband did some sort of green-thumb renewal to bring it back to life.

There are other little things too, filling my days this spring in between my husband’s doctor visits and medical tests. Lots and lots of porch-sittin’ time, enjoying so many absolutely gorgeous days with feel-good temps we’ve had these past weeks. Slowly reading and savoring a good novel. Watching comfort TV shows while cozy in bed. Phone calls and voxes and texts with friends and family. Kitchen-dancing to 70s and 80s music coming from our favorite real-life radio station.

Little things. But big helpers.

What little things come into your days to help you get through? Look for those joy connections. Do those things, even if they seem little or small, that help you.

Sometimes the little things can make all the difference.

❤

 

creativity begets creativity…

Something I’ve noticed over the years is that the more I create, the more I create.

It’s true that there are cycles of creativity, and sometimes it seems to flow abundantly and sometimes it slows to a point that makes me wonder if it’ll turn back on. But all the same, it seems to be true that the more often and more consistently I write or paint, the more likely it is that I will continue to write or paint, and the more of it I’ll do. Even with the ebbs and flows, and the stalls and starts, the overall trajectory is that creating leads to more creating.

For me, this is the case with writing as I continue to slowly and gradually work on the sequel to New Life in New Melody.

And it is the case with painting and doodling and art journaling as I continue with my personal at-home summer art retreat.

Big blocks of time aren’t necessary to engage in some creativity – even brief bits of time work really, really well.

The thing is to do it. To create for its own sake…and for our own sake.

And if your experience is similar to mine, you might find that the more you create, the more you create.

♥

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.

❤