Permission to Choose Positive Thoughts

Today I began an e-course through the Oprah LifeClass series with Brene Brown. I am so grateful for this opportunity to re-visit Brene's amazing book, The Gifts of Imperfection (which I listened to in the car earlier this year after my mom gave me the book CD for Christmas) and express myself and my self-care exploration through art. I have admired art journaling, where the creators mix paint with collage and photos and now I'm finally doing it! I don't know when the last time I used watercolors, but I'm so glad I am doing it now. It's not intimidating at all once I get started, but for some reason, the thought of painting sounded messy to me before. Well, as Brene instructed us, I'm here to give myself the permission to get messy! Here is how I started out, with a blank page:

And here is my first creation on giving myself permission:

Then we were instructed to take a selfie with the following written on our hand, as a pledge to the process of loving our imperfect selves, I'm imperfect and I'm enough!

When I read the instructions to print out the photo, I felt a little push-back because I didn't want to go to the trouble of ordering a print from the store and going to pick it up. But luckily I remembered that we have a printer with some ink and I just printed out the picture I took. Voila!

For the final piece of the class, I wrote the names of people who I can be my imperfect self with and know I'll be loved for being me.

Over the next week, I'm going to think about courage, compassion and connection--the three keys to living wholeheartedly, talked about in Brene's book. I'm going to give myself permission to have fun, dream, try new things, make mistakes, love myself, be goofy, follow my own path, get messy, be my true self, and choose positive thoughts.



I'm going to affirm that I am imperfect and I am enough. That I am an artist by my own definition and on my own terms, and I have fun creating. I enjoy taking time for my self-care and wellness. I love exploring. And I'm lucky to have people in my life who love me no matter what, who love me for all my quirky, goofy, funny, perfect imperfections.

Remembering to Go To My Other Job Too--My Passion Project

I quickly sent an email to myself today and saw the little blurb at the bottom of the email that I created at the beginning of the year to really identify what I do with not only my paid profession but also my passion project, my purpose. I put: Certified Dependable Strengths Instructor, Creative Stress Management Blogger, and then my paid profession as an advisor-pre-college basic skills advisor earlier this year and now a college advisor for parents receiving cash assistance from the government.

Just being reminded of my forward thinking from earlier this year in naming what I really want to be "when I grow up," what I want to do much more of eventually, really helped me begin to detangle the funk I've been feeling over the last few months. I haven't been showing up for my passion jobs. I've been absent and I haven't been paying myself with the gift of balance and peace and inspiration that comes with following your dreams and making them actively happen, whether you get paid yet or not. 

I don't have to wait for some day, I want to lay the groundwork and get started now. And I have. I began doing this last summer when I started writing here regularly. Committing to bringing you a new blog post every week. Well, the past several months I have taken family leave to care for my wonderful and inspiring mom, who has always encouraged me to be creative. I am grateful beyond what words can express for her recovery and healing. 

As she moves forward, so must I. I know what I need and want to do next too. I want to submit some of my blogs to more well-known blogs to see if I can be a guest blogger. I intend to create the curriculum and pilot a workshop combing my love of collaging with the Dependable Strengths identification process. I am signed up for a 100-hour life coach training course to start in January. And I just registered for Brene Brown's e-course on art journaling based on her insightful book, The Gifts of Imperfection.

I used to view these ideas or projects or extracurricular activities of mine as mere hobbies, but now I see that they are part of both my personal AND professional development plan. They help shape me as a person, a writer, a creator, a facilitator, a coach, and someday soon I hope and pray as a mom--the most important profession I'll ever have.

So if you've been toying with an idea for awhile and don't know quite how to get started or take the leap, start by naming it. And identifying yourself with this dream, as if you're already doing it. The universe will respond in incredible ways and before you know it, you'll be already doing more of what you love. And that's what it's all about.