Today is a snow day. It is beautiful outside as the flakes fall in their personal graceful pattern. I have declared that today is a “be kind to yourself” day. So what do I mean by this? Today is a day to take a look at who you are and how you perceive yourself.
Yesterday I went to my book club group. Ten women of different areas of interest and intense intelligence. Our book club is different than most as we don’t have a designated book to read. We come together to share the books that have touched our hearts and minds. Our illustrious leader, Ann, made a suggestion that changed the whole afternoon. Instead of telling about the books we read we would pick out the central idea of the book then tell one or all of the following……did it inspire you, make you think differently, make you think at all, or we could have a discussion about what everyone thought about the central idea. Wow! What an afternoon!!! The conversation was not only stimulating and educational but revealed layers within each person there. We became more transparent, more vulnerable, more accessible. I felt we opened up the gates to a deeper relationship…..all with the purpose of growing ourselves. It is wonderful when you leave a group filled with inspiration, excitement and acceptance.
In order to grow ourselves as individuals we need to love. I know you love others…..your children, your friends but what about yourself? How about yourself as an artist? Do you love being an artist? Do you love to paint and create? Do you believe in your ability to do meaningful work? I ask these questions of you because they are questions I have had to ask myself. The answers are not always pretty but must be addressed. In order to create from within our soul and heart we must love ourselves for who and what we are. We have worked hard to get to where we are. This doesn’t mean we are always pleased and sometimes we wish we had taken a different turn along the way. What it does mean is we took the turn that brought us more information about ourselves and our art.
Take time today to look in the mirror and say out loud….I love myself. In doing this you open yourself up to the juicy part of living and creating.
Enjoy your day.