Write yourself free!

The end of January and the first part of February have been creatively intense. I have grown to love my local art museum, which has inspired me to write. So, I have been busy working on my writings. When I haven’t been writing, I’ve been reading - both what I’ve written myself and what others have written.

That led me to a revelation: whenever you feel stuck in any area of life, try this. Write down everything you think about the issue, and then start making sense of it. In other words, if you experience a creative block, write "Art is..." and get everything you think and feel out onto the paper. If you’re troubled because of money, write "Money is..." and let your experiences flow into words. If you’re having difficulties with close relationships, write "Women are...," "Men are...," or "A friend is..." and allow your emotions and beliefs to stream freely onto the pages of your journal.

After the writing, you’re ready to read, reflect, and make sense of what you’ve written. Now, you can start looking for the roots of these definitions, especially those that are keeping you stuck. Once you understand the context from which they have grown and taken hold, it becomes much easier to let them go.

If you want to go the extra mile, take each belief you’ve written that is holding you back and replace it with a more inspiring one. You can turn this writing exercise into a little rampage, one that you return to and read aloud daily.

When we are not afraid of what we think and feel, we allow ourselves to change it into beliefs that serve us better and help us progress faster. Life is beautiful when we allow ourselves to bloom.

I wish you a beautiful and inspiring February!

____________________________________________

May peace be with you.

♡  Hele

  

The Magic of Creative Expression

 

I can still remember how I started 2023, because it was so much more fun than I would have expected. I decided to paint daily a little flower motive. It was years or even decades since I had painted and then there I was. I have never seen myself as a painter, but this time I didn’t focus on anything else than just the fun of it. So, I created an A5 motive every day. The more I did it, the easier it became. My body got used to painting – my hands and arms and fingers aligned, my head forgot to think about how ridiculously bad painter I am. I just jumped in and let the practice carry me as a way of expression.

I wish we remembered to do more that sort of things – things that seem fun, but are also not so familiar to us. I wish we dared to jump in more when it comes to things that mean a lot to us, that we know would inspire us. I wish we forgot about how we might look or how uncomfortable we might feel and that would do it anyway. I wish it for you and me, because it is fun and this is what life and being alive is all about.

May this month will birth time for fun, laughter and magical expressions of your creativity!

 

______________________________________________

May peace be with you.

 

♡ Hele   

The Artist's Way

 

This post is my first one under the tag PLANT. This tag will be all about inspiring reads. It might happen that you find something that calls you from here and it might be that you see an old friend here that has inspired you. Either way, your thoughts and shares will be very much appreciated here.  And of course, suggestions to me about brilliant books to read.

I would like to start with the book that has brought lots of fun to me. It is, of course, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. A classic that never gets old. That still serves artists and that still serves well. This book will put you on a journey and it might happen that you will adopt some of the suggestion and start using them frequently…that is, weekly, or even daily.

This book taught me to appreciate me in a new way…as an artist. It turned several little routines that I never prioritised or found time for into my daily or weekly go tos. It explained me my funny and peculiar ways. It taught me that the reason why I can get REALLY nasty, strange and explosive when I haven’t had time to be in my creative bubble is just a part of being a creative and it is perfectly normal, as creating is just as important to me as breathing, sleeping or eating.

All in all, this book taught me to embrace the artist in me and that acceptance and love has made my life so much more peaceful and better. Dear artist, dear creative, if you’re reading this and haven’t journeyed with Julia Cameron’s book just yet, then this here might be your sign that you should.

I hope that’ll be a journey that gives you both a new point of view and wings.

_____________________________________________

May peace be with you.

♡  Hele

P.S. If you live in the UK, then one place to buy the book is at Waterstones.com. The link is below:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-artists-way/julia-cameron/9781788164290

The images used is borrowed from waterstones.com.

Happy 2025!

It is that time of the year when we like to dream  that everything will turn out so much better this upcoming year, because we ourselves will be so much more this year. This is the time of the year when we dive into our dreams and perhaps even write lists and depending on where we are, we will focus a lot on whether what we wish to accomplish or what we wish to avoid. Either way, this tend to be the time of the year when we create ourselves an overambitious plan about what we want to become and achieve by the end of it that over time might be too hard to handle.

This year I would like to suggest an other approach. What if we this time would give up chasing for one year and see what happens? What if we would focus on getting clear about what are the things that REALLY mean something for us and then pick them out and leave the rest? What if we would dedicate this year for the best of the best in ourselves and in others and for the things we love most? What if we would this year really take time to savour, celebrate and honour everything that inspires us? May it be the year of learning to choose the best – the very thing and/or way that calls us! May it be the year when we learn to be happy about who we are and what we have and when we dare to let go of the rest. It might be hard to ignore what bothers us  at first and instead keep our eyes on what inspires, but like everything in life, this too shall pass.

Therefore, for those who dare to choose it, may 2025 be the year of

ü  gratitude journaling 

ü  reading the books that heal and inspire

ü  singing

ü  drawing

ü  writing morning pages 

ü  empowering affirmations

ü  vision board

ü  creativity

ü  the acts of Self-love

ü  listening to your most loved song all over again and finding new favourites

ü  paying it forward, spreading kindness

ü  choosing alone time

ü  dancing

ü  walking barefoot

ü  trusting the gut-feeling

ü  choosing what inspires you

 

May it be the year that teaches you to appreciate and respect everything you are and have already.

May it the year when you learn to see your own divinity, your own perfection and your own awesomeness, so that you can be kind enough to allow others to experience it even more.

May it be the year where you don’t try to achieve flourishment, but instead learn to honour your own blooming that is taking place already, no matter whether you are willing to acknowledge it or not.

May it be the year of allowance, appreciation and awesomeness!

Happy 2025 to you and me and everyone around us!

_______________________________________________

May peace be with you.

♡  Hele