Doing the best we can

Tags

art journal, collage, doodle, gratitude, gratitude journal

The weather has been bitterly cold so staying inside and playing with my new art supplies has been an easy choice. My son had a wonderful musical performance and his cousin came and stayed with us for the weekend. I have been participating in the Gifts of Imperfection ecourse and this week the idea that really stuck with me is that we are all doing the best we can. Suffering from cabin fever can make all of us crabby so we need to remember to be gentle with ourselves and each other.

I love the way these found phrases come together into something like a poem.

I got some Inktense colored pencils and I am loving playing with them!

Warmth

Tags

art journal, cat, gratitude, gratitude journal, yoga

I live in Wisconsin and it has been very cold here for quite some time. I am so grateful for warm spaces and sharing warmth with friends and family. I am making my own stencils and I don’t quite have the child pose one quite how I want it, but I think it is a good start.

Be Well

Tags

art journal, collage, doodle, gratitude journal

I’m figuring out how to balance effort and ease, and not just in yoga class. I had a week that was full of both uplifting and challenging stresses and I was able to participate quite well. I taught a Doodle Day class and had a blast and went out for most of a day with friends and bought some art and had a blast again. It was also time for my 6 month dental checkup and that went well, too. My migraine got bad one day, but all around it has been a good week. My wish for you is that you find ease in your life, too.

Presenting

Tags

meditation, mindfulness, zentangle

Tonight on NPR I heard someone introduced as a futurist. For almost 20 years I have been married to a historian. I had an epiphany – I am a presenter. I’m not a huge fan of getting up in front of people and talking, but I’m actually getting ready to lead a gratitude journaling retreat. So I am going to be a presenter in the usual sense of the word. However, as a student of yoga, mindfulness, and Zentangle I am working on being present in this moment. My passion for being in the present moment is contagious (I am told) and when I talk about it to people I don’t realize that I am a presenter. Does this make sense to anybody? This tangle was part of yesterday’s post, but I was happy enough with it to give it it’s own post. It also seemed to provide a nice visual for how I live in the present moment.

Courage

Tags

altered art, art, art journal, collage, courage, gratitude, yoga

I am currently participating in the on-line Brene Brown art/journaling class and courage is my intention for this week. It fit in very nicely with the multiple page layout that came with the cut out heart.

Another artist in one of the shows where I have work exhibited had tear sheets with photos of some of her paintings in a series called Slices of Life and part of that sheet is included here. The heart cutout and the Slices of Life idea work very well with my personal metaphors for things I have been grateful for in the last few days. Yoga and my beautiful yoga teacher are a frequent participants in my ongoing gratitude journey and appear across the pages. These have been some difficult days but I have so much to be grateful for. Thank you for supporting my journey.

Intention

Tags

art, art journal, beauty, collage, gratitude, gratitude journal, intention, Peace

Good intentions…
Set your intention…
This is a word that is pregnant with meanings for me. In 2013 I set an intention to explore 3 possible paths and art, including blogging about it, is the one I have chosen to follow. This photo is my intention for 2014. I was starting to get stressed out because here I am thinking about posting about intention and that was all I had and I needed to …
Breathe.
Last year I think I found my path. This year I hope to follow my path to the best of my ability. This blog has become a fabulous source of support as I continue on my path.
May I be at ease.
May we have peace.
May we know beauty.
Living on purpose.
Happy new year.

2013 High Lights

Tags

altered art, art journal, collage, gratitude, love, zentangle

What an amazing year. One of the best parts of this year is having 4 completed gratitude journals to remind me of all the blessings of this past year. For my last journal entry of the year I wrote words and phrases in layers of some of the highlights for me. This photograph of my husband is a fabulous metaphor for our relationship this year. I have also included a photocopy of one of my Zentangle Inspired art pieces that my son added his own unique touch to as well. One of my goals for 2013 was to chose among three paths that seemed to be open to me professionally. It has become increasingly clear that I choose art.