I love new beginnings.
The rush of energy + excitement.
The optimism, the wonder, the unknown of exactly what’s going to play out.
The feeling of readiness to accept the next chapter with all its wild adventures in tow.
When I restarted my creative practice 4 years ago, I was looking for something different. Something fun, light, playful.
A space to be a student and enjoy the journey, instead of the expert I was trying to be in the rest of my life.
The perfect mom. The high performing executive. The kindest friend. You know. All the hats we all wear and try try try to be perfect in all of them all the time.
Exhausting.
I re-started my art practice, by accident. Playing with my daughter’s watercolors one night after putting her to bed.
What I quickly found + craved in these moments was that I loved the play, the experimentation, the not-knowingness of it all. My inner artist loves to make patterns, play with color, to find joy in these smallest of moments.
My return to creativity came in the midst of changing my entire life. A move, the end of a marriage, a toddler at home, rethinking my career + life as I had known it.
It came as a hobby and quickly became a lifeline. A connector to my true, authentic self.
A reminder of the spirit and life I possess and can let flow through my fingers to a canvas (or a rock, a stick or wall.).
And still, to this day, it’s part of my daily creative practice, spurring my creativity and drive as an artist even further.
I genuinely look forward to the time I set aside each day to create. To try something new. To do something bold.
So, for anyone needing a nudge. Permission. A reminder to take a few minutes for YOU.
Say yes.
Trust the magic.
Start something new.
Pick up a paintbrush, an instrument, some flowers in the yard.
Make. Play. Build. Just start.
You never know just where it might lead.
Until Next Time,
Jill Xx
