I bought my first cat for 99¢ at Maxwell Street Days when I was six.

 My family knew I wanted a cat. I’d been told that when “so-and-so’s” cat had kittens, I’d get one. I waited — f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

When I saw “Butterball” at the street fair, I  knew she was mine. 

It takes time for cats to have kittens and more time for kittens to be weaned. Time means nothing to a six-year-old.  

Time is Elastic.

Sometimes it “races,” other times, it “drags on.”   

The way you spend your time determines its elasticity. Maybe you experienced both dragging and speeding time this year. 

Life is still shifting, and there’s a lot to consider.

My first “Balancing Act” was painted in 2014 (clearly, this is an on-going quest.)

 While we coped with life under social lockdown, changes took place within and around us.

 As I begin to face the outside world again, I’m not sure I’m ready.

Are you ready?

How do you want to move forward in your life and career?
(Notice, life before career!)

What do you want it to look like? How do you want to feel?

What did you realize this past year that you didn’t know before?

Life is in constant flux. We’re constantly recalibrating and balancing.

Even when we’re standing still, balance keeps the ever-moving molecules of our body working in unison. Fortunately, our body keeps track of that.

It’s up to us to consciously balance the rest of life.

We now have the opportunity to consciously balance ourselves, our interactions with others, and our planet.

I’m not interested in moving in crazy circles just because I can. I’m looking for a better way to live, not a crazier one.

Let’s focus on what it is that we do want to create and move toward that.

Let’s notice results and base next actions upon desired results.

Copy. Paste. Repeat.

The first time it happened, I was painting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

As I lifted a loaded paintbrush to the painting on the easel, my hand suddenly went back to touch the paper towel.  

What?

I hadn’t decided to touch the paper towel, my hand simply did it.

Since that day, my hand often spontaneously releases excess water & paint — apparently, the brush is too full!

This kind of experience is one reason to develop a painting practice.

Another reason is that when your mind is focused on painting, you’re distracted from the daily issues plaguing you.

This level of joyful focus opens you up to receive insight and inspiration for your painting and sometimes even for your life.

My friend, Rebecca calls this phenomenon “epiphany city” — that’s how often it can occur!

Taking a class is a great way to start painting.

Classes both inform and give you permission to set aside time for yourself each week.

 You deserve a “time of your own!”

If you enjoy painting, consider creating a painting practice for yourself.

By deliberately setting aside time to paint once, twice, or more each week, you signal to yourself, and to others, that you deserve a joy-filled life.

By making yourself a priority, you increase self-care, paint more often, and your paintings improve more quickly.

 For best results, schedule your practice ahead of time.
Look at your calendar to decide the best days and times to paint.
If this week is full, look at next week.  

Get started in 15 minutes!

You don’t need a dedicated spot to paint.

Watercolor is easy to set up & fast to clean up.

 Try a few different time slots to see which ones feel best, then commit to this window a few days or weeks in advance.

 Until your practice is a consistent part of life, keep it short, sweet, and regular. 

In the beginning, even if you have the time to paint longer, stick to 15 minutes.

If you increase your painting time too quickly, one day you’ll decide you can’t fit it in. You’ll skip a day and maybe the next. Pretty soon you’ve lost your rhythm and the slippery slope to not painting is paved.

I’ve been there.

The more often you paint, the more rewards you reap.

Sometimes, my hand drifts from the color I’d intended to use to another color on the palette. Imagine my surprise when, instead of blue, I see orange or red show up on my painting.

The first time this happened, I flinched.

Now I figure my painting can benefit from the surprise and I find a way to work with it.

One day, your hand will spontaneously touch the paper towel, or choose a color.

If a hand can receive guidance, and if it can be accepted so easily, maybe you can receive guidance in other areas of life as well.

Maybe the more you trust, the more you can receive.

When you’re focused on painting, you are in a mindful moment.

That’s when inspiration flies in like a breeze, so quickly and lightly that you don’t always realize it’s happened.

In those moments of flow, your batteries are recharged, and your heart & mind are inspired to new levels.

By distracting the thinking part of your brain, you become the observer of all that’s before you and within you. 

In this way, you’re meditating with eyes wide open, allowing the flow of synchronistic happenings to form a new hologram for you to follow.

This is all part of your Inner Wisdom. It’s always here with you, ready to fill you with enthusiasm.

Be playful and light. Wisdom is patient and all-loving. Time is elastic and when you’re ready, your wisdom is here for you. 

While it might seem like a big jump to go from receiving painting inspiration to life inspiration, it’s not.  

Watercolor is a great, patient teacher.

What is needed in a painting can be reflected as what is needed in your daily life.

Does your painting need more dark colors to give it more depth? Or a bright color to add spice?

Does it need to rest before your next painting session?

How about you?

Do you need time for reflection, a rest from all that you’re doing, or maybe a change of pace or of perspective, a little more spice?

Painting is the reason I moved to Hawaii. Painting with Watercolor taught me how to trust the painting process.

I keep learning to trust life.

If watercolor can teach me, it can teach you too!

Whenever we plan to start or try something new, stuff happens — often a natural result of adding one more thing to an already busy life.

Like a seedling pushing the dirt out of the way before it can break through to the sunlight, whenever you embark on a new thing — be it a painting, an exercise routine, a new recipe, a new class — a new way of doing anything in a new way, some part of you rebels.

If you hear yourself think “I don’t want to!” or even “NO!”
you can be sure your inner 2- or 3-year-old has a different opinion.

Some part of you feels uncomfortable.

A new honu (turtle) painting begins. The honu on the left is going down to eat.

Depending upon the change you’re making to your daily routine,
you might feel excitement, trepidation, or anything in between.

Habits and routines are great. They act as on- or off-ramps,
helping to ease you into, through, and out of your days.

Habits help create your comfort zone
— and sometimes they lead to boredom & inactivity.

As a creative, consciously evolving being, you crave change.
You want to mix things up a bit, try something new, certain this
new thing will put some spice or pizzazz into your life.

Then, right before, or at the onset of your adventure, you realize the
ramifications of what adding something new to your routine really means.

OH! The disruption!

You might feel an internal earthquake, or a tsunami
of emotions flood your bloodstream.

When adding something new to your schedule, trade-offs
have to be made. Something has to go!

You’re uncomfortable. What you were thinking when you added “xyz” to your schedule?

The honu are more visible as the painting evolves. The center honu is turning around.

15 years after earning a degree in Art Education, I took classes
in graphic design at the local technical college.

I was SO excited to buy fresh supplies, set up a new drafting table,
figure out which classes would fit into my work schedule, and go to class.

Imagine my horror when toward the end of that first class,
I heard the instructor tell us what our homework would be!

Homework?

I’d completely forgotten about homework
and hadn’t factored it into my schedule!

I ended up dropping one of the two classes out of necessity
and learned a valuable lesson — something’s got to give!

Fortunately, the class I kept led me to my next, better job/career,
which is where I stayed until moving to Honolulu to paint in June 2000.

You are resilient.

Simply remember that “freak-out moments” are transitional phases. They pass.

Lean into your transitions to really FEEL them (emotions only last 60–90 seconds).

Then BREATHE, before reassessing your situation.

Your breath is your doorway to your
calm Inner Wise Self & to your Future!

Breathe — that’s what these honu do … they dive down to eat & rise up to BREATHE

Comfort zones are meant to be stretched,
not snapped into submission.

When you stretch them incrementally each day, you’re more likely to weather
the bigger stretches that circumstances beyond our control require.

Please do something new today — just for a stretch of it.

Then breathe and give yourself a hug for stretching.

2020 showcased the “art of the spin.”
We learned that anywhere, anytime, we can put our own spin
on a situation, shifting our perspective to see things differently.

 I became aware of the power of thought 35 years ago when I read an article
on the impact negative thoughts and words have on our emotions.

I read the book, “You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought,”
and began to do what I call “practicing the flip.” 

When this painting began, it was titled, “Reach for the Stars.”

 “Practicing the Flip” is one of my favorite tricks to keep my sunny attitude.
The idea is that for every “negative perspective,” there’s a correlating “positive perspective.”

For example, instead of saying “don’t forget your sweater,” say “remember your sweater.”

Try saying both phrases out loud.
Did you emphasize “don’t,” “forget,” “remember,” or “sweater?”

That’s the word that sticks in your brain.

To practice the flip, “Please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions,”
becomes, “please email me if you have any questions.”

You’ve successfully removed all hesitation!

 It takes conscious awareness to “practice the flip.”

Good news! With practice, it comes more easily.

At this stage, the painting was known as “Reaching for Possibilities.’

How far away do your dreams feel and how do you feel about that distance?

If they feel near, you might feel eager anticipation.
If they feel far, your feelings might vacillate.

 Which perspective feels better?

How can you flip your perspective to feel even better?

What if it’s a good thing that your dream isn’t about to come true tomorrow?
What would you do if it were? Are you really ready for that possibility?

What can you do today to prepare yourself for that inevitability?

You might not be aware of ALL of the things that need to happen to make your dream real.

How could you? Your dreams aren’t static, they morph and evolve as you do.
No worries, you’re finding and making your way toward your dreams.

Practice living as if your dream is getting closer every day.

Fuel your dream with the joy of anticipation and preparation.
Make room in your heart for the changes your dream will bring about.

Start to make those changes.

You are growing into your dream. It is within your reach.

Remember your ever-present ability to flip your perspective. 

“Within Reach” reminds us that no matter how far out there our dreams may feel, they are within our reach — or we wouldn’t have them!