During “The Great Pause”, Self Care became a big buzz term.
With my busy life, I always wished for more hours in the day, more days in the week, yatta yatta yatta. However, when my wish was granted, I admit I didn’t know what to do with myself. I even caught myself saying the phrase that was the biggest punishable offense in our house… “I’m bored.”
My sweet friend, Liz, a Leadership & Well-Being Coach, felt guided to respond to that pull towards “we FINALLY have the time to put ourselves first” and her Self Care Summit was born.
She honored me by asking me to be one of her instructors, so I had a ball creating a short-clip video series, “Easy Peasy Home Spa” with a fairy-tale theme. That inner child in me LOVES to be invited to play!
I then had the opportunity to check out the wide variety of subjects in the Summit and one grabbed my attention, “Water Doodling for Self Care”. In essence, the class was about breaking through the barrier of “I can’t paint” to putting brush to paper.
But “self-care”? Hmmm. Not so sure.
I listened to the soft music, and the instructor’s calming voice as she encouraged us to pick a color that reflected our mood and to paint shapes that were calling to be put on paper. I responded and the artist in me peeked out! I saw her plain as day, like a little girl on the sidewalk hoping to be called into a game of Kick the Can!
And I leaned in. I went on the beloved, life-saving Amazon where every day can be like Christmas, and ordered some supplies. I joined an online paint circle and carved out time to paint purely because it brought me joy.
I started splashing (what we artists call watercoloring) with a plein air group (the French for outdoor painting. Oui, I am turning French.) that meets weekly at a local organic farm.
Think about what painting can do for you:- Develops creativity
- Helps build your problem-solving skills
- Improves memory and concentration
- Helps develop better communication skills
- Relieves stress
- Boosts confidence
In this season of my life, I can often be found freaking out because my phone was literally in my hand a second ago and now it’s like the gnomes around my house came alive and put it in the fridge. (yes, this has ACTUALLY happened… well, at least the fridge part). So, I could use all the mental help I can get!
I will never look at cloud formations against a bluebird sky the same way or how the angle of the sunshine creates a shadow on the grass, transforming the shade of green.
But the very, very best part of the painting is that it brings people together, to splish and splash and chit and chat and lift each other up.
Click here to check out the Self Care Summit:
Do you enjoy watercolor painting?
