the100dayproject – Ginger Simpson White

A couple of times in the past, I started to participate in #The100DayProject only to stop after a few days. This year, though, has been different. I began on the “official” start date of April 2 and I’m writing this on day 71… and I’m still going, doing a creative project every day for these one hundred days.

I’m not sure why it’s different for me this year. Maybe part of it is because I chose a daily project that’s something I absolutely love – playing around with watercolor paints.

And maybe another part of it (and maybe even the biggest part) is because I truly am letting myself simply play.

It doesn’t matter what the end results look like.

It doesn’t matter how much – or how little – time I spend on a single painting.

It doesn’t matter if I use many colors or only one. Or whether I use a small journal or a large journal or even no journal at all.

The point, for me, is to play with watercolors every single day.

And that’s what I’m doing.

For me, it’s relaxing. Calming. Meditative. Soothing. Happy-feeling.

For me, it helps with anxiety and stress. (So much.)

It’s part of my healing journey, it helps distract me when I’m not feeling well, and it helps me connect with joy.

That’s my why for this. And because those particular things – those things that make up my why – are so very important for my life right now, and because I let myself simply enjoy the process and play, I haven’t needed to “make” myself sit down every day to do this.

I come to the practice eagerly and joyfully. I look forward to it. And I have fun with it.

Do you let yourself simply play with a creative practice? Do you relax about it, and do it for the joy it brings?

I hope so. It helps with life, it really does.

(I share my 100-days-project posts on instagram with the hashtag #100daysofwatercolorplaying – come connect with me there!)

♥

It’s been a minute since I’ve written here. I keep thinking about blogging, with ideas for posts coming to me… and then those musings pass without being written, and the blog remains dusty and without new thoughts.

It’s been a time of few words.

Oh, I’ve had words, of course. Talks and texts and phone calls with friends. Captions on instagram posts and facebook updates. Brain-and-emotion-dumping in morning pages and messy-raw-art-journaling.

But writing here, as well as fiction writing, hasn’t been flowing.

Creative flow in general, however, has been happening, and I’m so grateful. Creativity helps me (hugely!) in connecting with joy. It helps me get through difficult days when physical symptoms or anxiety flare. It nourishes my soul.

I’ve been painting at the easel regularly – acrylic on canvas.