Save Some Time For You!
As parents we are used to re-arranging our ives around the needs of our children. They need this thing. They need to join this group. They need to be at this practice, game or activity. They need new clothes. They need to go to the Dr or dentist. They need snacks for the team. An on and on it goes.
I remember when my oldest was a senior in high school, it seemed like she needed $100 every week for something. Grad invites, pictures, deposit for this trip, the trip, cap and gown, new dress for the awards banquet, prom, lock-in, as if there was an endless supply of money hiding in my closet.
You want them to have all those things. You want to make their lives wonderful. You want to help them achieve their goals. Often however we are so busy taking care of everyone else, we forget that we might need some time too.
I often say to my students that art is the best therapy. You’re no longer thinking about how to get this done, or knock out that to-do list. You’re just thinking about where do I put that next stroke. How do I mix that color? What am I actually seeing?
Remember the old Calgon commercials? “Calgon take me away” as the lady of the manor soaked in a hot tub of Calgon bubbles. That is what art does. It takes us away. It changes our thought processes. It helps us see things differently.
Don’t deprive yourself of those opportunities to be creative with whatever you love. Spend an hour (or two) chasing your own dream. Some people call it tiger time. Block out some time on your calendar for an hour or more for yourself and something you want to do. Something you want to learn, practice and improve on and then guard that time like a tiger guards her cubs. Hang out that DO NOT DISTURB sign. Put your phone on airplane mode. You have my permission.
Filling your soul with your own creativity will make the rest of the time you’re caring for others better richer time.
What is the one thing you are yearning to do? I’m a creative person and I cannot not create. It’s the way I’m hardwired. Some people love their time to read, to decorate their homes, to sew, to cook. All those are creative outlets. Mine is painting.
I always knew there was an artist inside of me, but I was a busy parent with 4 kids, a full time job and a husband that worked swing shifts. When could I possibly find time to paint? Looking back I realized I deprived myself of something that has brought me so much joy (and frustration) over the las 20+ years.
I found ways to make prom dresses, shop endlessly for clothes and food, do mountains of laundry, sit on bleachers for hours eating dinners of nachos and M & M’s. Why couldn’t I find that one hour a week to learn to paint. I’m sure I could have.
What I’m saying is, regardless of what you want to do for yourself, you owe it to yourself to do the thing. Stop sawing and sharpen the saw. You can’t draw water from an empty well. Any more cliche’ sentiments I can throw at you to value yourself as much as you do all the other people and things in your life that require your time and money.
Love you! Love what you do! Love who you are!
Give yourself grace and some of your time.
I’ve created a FREE printable workbook to change the artist mindset. Creating art is usually a solitary endeavor and it requires motivation to stay at it. I believe this workbook will help you begin to see yourself a little differently and I also don’t believe it is only for the artist.
It could be for that side hustle you’ve been wanting to start. It could be for that degree you’ve been wanting to get or that certification. Mindset usually has to change before you can begin the thing. You have to believe in yourself enough to move forward.
Inside you’ll find motivation, places for you to think and record what you want to do, where you’re getting stuck and a 30 day plan of accountability to record and measure your progress.
As an art teacher of beginning artists, I see the fear and the self doubt in every class I teach. Those feeling are completely normal but then you have to punch through that noise to get to where the fearless thoughts live.
When I was in floral design school we had a saying. “I will not be defeated by a carnation.” Meaning these flowers were not going to defeat me. I was going to conquer this. And with education, practice and time I did conquer the carnations and all the zillions of other flowers I worked with.
Say it after me. “I will not be defeated by a paint brush”. “I will not be defeated by _____________ (add your own thing right there).
So get the workbook and start blocking out your tiger time so you can be the best version of yourself.
Thanks for stopping by today. It means the world to me.
Sharon
P.S. If you’re ready to learn to paint I have the perfect way for you to get started. Click HERE.