Life is pretty busy here at my place. Life is also pretty darn good. Creativity and also being more of myself/ less worried about what people think of me seem to be big issues for me right now. I am pretty excited about my reappearing creativity, it's been dormant for many years! I progressed today from colouring-in other people's pictures to drawing this little cartoon to colour-in myself, hehe. It took less than 5 minutes to draw and it was really fun. I tried to draw some cartoon people afterwards but they definitely need more practice. Do you see yourself as a creative person? Would you like to?
I have some ideas for some future blog posts so stay tuned. You can also 'like' my new facebook page if you wish! http://www.facebook.com/alisonjoy.net xx
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Do you have a word or a phrase that anchors you?
A word or a phrase that guides you? Would you like one? Perhaps you'd prefer a sentence, a longer mission statement, or several singular words? Or perhaps a word that could just guide you for the day, week or the month for starters? Josh Langley writes that perhaps his purpose is to feel and to feel deeply. To live and to live deeply. http://www.finerminds.com/happiness/embrace-emotions/ Steve Pavlina writes that his purpose is to live consciously and courageously, to resonate with love and compassion, to awaken the great spirits within others, and to leave this world in peace. That sounds pretty good to me! Here is his article How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 minutes. http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/01/how-to-discover-your-life-purpose-in-about-20-minutes/ Or what about a numerology way of looking at it? http://www.peacefulwarrior.com/life-purpose-calculator xx PS. Here is a pic of a little gecko who cared to visit us last week. What are you thankful for? What or who makes your life better? What or who makes your life easier? I'll start. I'm grateful for the orange tree that came with our house. I am grateful because (remember the why is the important bit) I have run out of fruit. I will need to go to the supermarket sometime soon but, until then, my plentiful orange tree will provide for us. I am grateful for my orange tree because in the summer the temperature will rise and I think I will move the sandpit under it's shady branches. I am grateful because these oranges are just so delicious and juicy. I am grateful for my fancy pants camera that enables me to take a beautiful photo of an orange. I am grateful for my partner who agreed that we could buy said fancy pants camera if I looked after it. Mmm, oranges. What do you feel grateful for today? Or what do you want to feel better about? Slowly. Slowly. I have progressed from Step 1. Colour in ready-made mandalas on the internet to Step 2. Draw my own. Super simple, minimal artistic skill required. If you haven't created a mandala before and you are at all 'drawn' to these creative, meditative circles, please read on and have a go. This is my first mandala. It's not perfect but it's bright and happy, exactly how I was feeling. The kids were in childcare and my partner was relaxing in another room. My partner is good at relaxing. It is usually two parts annoying, one part inspiring. Last Wednesday I chose to be inspired. Here are my quick tips to enjoy the experience. I can't wait to learn more so I can share more. 1. Play some relaxing music. 2. Clear the table and have your piece of paper and coloured pencils at hand. 3. Trace a circle around a plate. 4. Perhaps plot a couple of dots/lines to help you stay symmetrical. The above mandala is a bit wonky and using a compass would be even better. I'll work myself up to that stage. I want to keep it super-simple for starters. 5. Relax and create! Start in the middle and work your way out with colours, shapes and symbols. 6. If you have a problem or an issue that you are worried about, why not let the mandala help your unconscious mind work it out? If you're feeling good, just enjoy the experience. If you're in need of quality relaxation, really take your time and breathe. 7. After you have finished, spend some time reflecting on your creation. What colours did you use? What symbols came up for you? Are the colours predominantly light or dark? Does your mandala reflect your feelings, either how you felt at the beginning or as you went along? Or perhaps how you would like to feel? I'm really quite excited to do some more. I enjoyed doodling as a kid and this feels like doodling but with a satisfying and symmetrical end result. Below is my second attempt, although incomplete at the moment. This time I was creating with Miss 1 who was also drawing at the table while Master 5 was playing in another room. Miss 1 was dressed in her favourite fairy wings and girly bracelets on the day we began and I think the pink and purple were her influence. I added the blue hearts today and I noticed afterwards that she was wearing predominantly blue. Below is Miss 1's attempt. She enjoys sitting at the table with her basic art supplies as much as her mama. Woweee, I love her so much! Why don't you have a try?
Love and joy until next time xxx I need more self care.
I need to look after myself. I know that I need to do this more often or just plain BETTER, especially because I am taking care of others. How do you take care of yourself? I want to hear from mums or carers who, unless they carve it out for themselves, really don't get much time off at all. I have managed to give myself a morning off weekly, which is new and as lovely as it is, it's still not quite what I'm after. I'm a fierce introvert who gets energy away from people, as opposed to when I'm in the company of others, and I think it is actually small blocks of time to myself that I'm longing for, alone, without the PC or phone, and perhaps one morning a week with no children in addition to the small blocks. How do you take care of yourself? What things do you do that nurture you? I would love to hear them. Have you ever meditated?
I'd dabbled a little here and there, having read about the health benefits and stress busting powers, but I'd never really got into it. I didn't think it was for me. I thought it sounded like something someone else did. But guided meditation? Oh yeh, this I can do. No, more than that, this I love! I first started listening to guided meditation CD's when I was pregnant with Miss 1. It was primarily to guide my focus onto birthing my beautiful baby and meeting her for the first time, as opposed to focusing on the pain. It worked a treat. There are lots of guided meditation/hypnobirth CD's for pregnancy and birth. I will write about that another day, my experience was wonderful. I dabbled in meditation a little when my daughter was small but I kept 'hitting a snag,' as my partner would say. I would fall asleep. I had read a magazine article a few years before quoting spiritual leader, Deepak Chopra. He said not to worry if you fell asleep while meditating, it was just your body doing what it needed to do. He explained that if your body was well-rested, you would be able to stay awake to get all the other health benefits meditation can bring. This certainly made sense in light of my experience. Mothers of young children need more sleep almost as much as they need air. With guided meditation I have found that I am less likely to fall asleep. (But no worries if I do!) Meditation helps me feel good. Strong. Connected. More myself and more accepting of myself. If you are into it, you'll know what I'm on about or you are beginning to. If you're not, perhaps I'm rousing your curiosity Here is a super quick read, 5 reasons why meditation can help, if you need some more convincing! http://www.finerminds.com/meditation/daily-meditation/ I hope you'll try it yourself if you haven't already, let me know what you think. xx |
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