BlueSkies: January 2016

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Happy Messes

The last two weeks, I have gone from mess to mess to mess....

to mess.

In each mess, I'm learning.

So much so, that I'm having a hard time putting it into words.

Maybe because I'm still in the middle of messes.

One thing that's certain.

Every time I hear the women we work with share their word and what it means to them, I am completely honored to be a part of the process.

In the midst of all the mess, we realize we aren't alone.

We all have messes, we all have words.

When the messes and words and meanings are shared?

That's when the magic happens.

New friendships are formed, laughter is shared, and we learn from each other.

Even in the smallest thoughts shared. Maybe with some timidness, but the when words are said out loud everyone benefits.

Everyone.

For the next couple of weeks, I'll keep prepping, balancing, missing some marks, cleaning, making more messes and learning.

At the end of the night, when I get to look at these faces?

Worth every mess.

Linking to Paint Party Friday

Friday, January 15, 2016

Love Life. Repeat.

the last two weeks, cue crazy music:

word of the year workshop rep.

more prep.

take a small vacation.

play in snow.

get stuck in snow because we manage to go to the local mountains the week they have a storm.

remind myself why i like the beach.

break a chain.

get stuck in snow again.

sit in backseat of car with 50 pound dog for five hours while trying to get home.

don't remind myself the drive home only takes an hour.

more prep for workshop.

quick sketch in art journal.

have workshop.

paint a lot.

have a blast.

sell out two workshops.

more prep.

quick sketch to keep my sanity.

laugh at myself cause it looks like he's getting squished, not embraced.

love live.

repeat.

linking to paint party friday

Friday, January 1, 2016

What The Heck Is Word Of The Year?

Resolutions.

Phooey.

I've never liked them.

Personally, they go out the window in about four days.

Plus, they are too restrictive.

Such as:

January 1st, my New Year's Resolution will be to only eat sugar on the weekend.

January 4th: oops. Do chocolate covered almonds really count as sugar on a Monday?

Stupid resolution anyway. What if my birthday is on a Tuesday this year?

(insert buzzer sound)

FAIL.

Now.

Let's take a look at the Word Of The Year.

My word for 2015 was Gather.

My intention was to GATHER people together.

The whole year, I thought about the word, did art around the word, looked up it's meaning and practiced it when I was able to. I grew as a person when gathering people-large or small groups. It was amazing, and one of my all time favorite words.

There is no shame in failing with a Word Of The Year. (WOTY)

It's more of a process than hard core change.

It's gentle.

When Sue and I do a WOTY workshop, there isn't any "shoulds" "what-ifs" or hard core anything.

In fact, here is what one student says about the work shops:

"Sue and Lynn create an inviting atmosphere where you are able to be real with yourself and reflect on your own identity in relation to the past, present, future. They help guide you in seeking out what you want in the next year of your life by choosing one all-encompassing word that you can hold on to in place of a list of tedious new year’s resolutions that you drop or forget by February. Choosing a word helps you to be specific about what you need while being broad to where it may lead you."