It’s fall – and I know this not because of the weather (it’s in the high 80s here in Houston). No, I know it’s fall because one of my favorite TV shows is returning this Sunday after a very long break. Doctor Who returns this Sunday and I am beyond excited! I’ve been craving this show for a few weeks now and it’s because of what it stands for: hope, kindness, courage, wonder and love (among many others). This show has been and continues to be a bright light in my life and a beacon of hope to many.
So I’ve chosen Doctor Who as the 13th installment of my Love Series which is serendipitous as this Sunday will be the premiere of the 13th Doctor. She will be the first female version of the Doctor and I can’t wait to see what adventures she’ll take us on. Allons-y!
I was laying in bed having just finished Hannah Gadsby’s riveting special, Nanette, on Netflix – I was in awe as it had been full of vulnerability, courage and wisdom. There were many great moments in her special, but I think my favorite line was “There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself.” I was so moved, I had to post about it on Twitter. A preternatural sense had had me avoiding Twitter all week and that’s when I found out why.
The Brett Kavanaugh hearings and commentary overwhelmed my feed. As I scrolled Twitter, the anger inside of me had hot tears of anger rolling down my face. I remembered all of the me too stories that had recently been shared (and all the shaming and non-believing). I also remembered my own me too story – I’d done my personal healing around it years ago but I’d never dealt with my cultural anger and sorrow. As my daughter slept safe and sound in the room next door, my anger reignited. Not as a survivor of sexual abuse but as a mama who was fiercely determined to not allow anything like that to happen to her daughter. Or any more daughters or sons.
But what power did I have? What could I do? I quietly marched to my office, my anger and sorrow turning to resolve and I opened up my sketch book and began to write the first things that came out. To my surprise, they were not words of anger but words of comfort, understanding, empathy, and hope. They were words to sexual abuse survivors everywhere, including that little girl inside of me.
They came out in a flurry and then started to peter out. It had been so long since I’d been in that place of pain and intense suffering. So I did something I thought I’d never do – I got out my 10 year old journal from when I was healing and I read the fears, pains and sorrow of a young woman touching her deepest childhood pain for the first time. I cried. And the words began to flow again as I wrote to her the things she needed to hear.
This is my #metoo collection. They are reminders, affirmations and messages of connection and hope. If you need to print one out for yourself or a friend, please feel free to do so. They are my offering. They are my hope and my healing.
Here it is – the top dog of positive affirmations. At least, I think it is. After years of reading, soul-searching, witnessing, and listening, I’ve come to see that for so many of us our psychological baggage can be boiled down to one core belief: I am not enough. And when I break down most other affirmations to their essence, what they are really saying is “I am enough.”
Those who feel lovable, who love, and who experience belonging simply believe they are worthy of love and belonging. – Brene Brown, Daring Greatly
It really, truly is as simple as that and that’s why this affirmation is so powerful. If the belief of “I am not enough” is at the core of most of our baggage and it can be changed by simply believing that we are enough, imagine what saying and internalizing “I am enough” could do for someone’s life. I know what it can do for a life because it changed mine and continues to do so.
A while back I wrote about some gentle reminders I created and put on my refrigerator to help me survive toddlerhood (thankfully, they’ve been working). One of those was this one:
This was one of my first forays into watercolor and I had a ton of fun making this one. If you too would like to ‘Get Messy’ (see what I did there?), you can try out some cool watercolor techniques by watching this YouTube video. It’s the one I used when I was learning all about painting with watercolor. Now get messy!
And when I’m feeling particularly down and I feel like the darkness is closing in, I like to remind myself of this quote that I had on my L’Amour Art Car:
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.-Mahatma Gandhi
Welcome to one of my new blog series! It’s called Cat’s Meow and it’s just that – the cat’s meow. 😉 It’s essentially a place for me to gush about all the things I’m loving right now. So let’s jump right in!
I’ve just readAustin Kleon‘s book, Show Your Work, and it was quite excellent. I enjoyed his first book, Steal Like an Artist, but for whatever reason Show Your Work really spoke to me at this point in my life. It is chockablock full of good information and ideas (many of which I’ve stolen, at his suggestion, of course). And while I don’t agree with everything in his book, I definitely agree with the idea that people can’t see what you’re doing if you don’t put your stuff out there for them to see. So I am committing, right here and right now, to sharing my work and showing my work more often. If you haven’t checked out his work, I highly suggest you give it a try. And it’s not just for artists either – it’s for anyone trying to be creative (which is everyone). Plus, he’s a fellow Texan! 😉
And Mr. Kleon was actually the one who turned me onto the other thing I’m loving right now: 10 Ideas a Day. This is apparently a pretty old idea from James Altucher but I’m glad I finally heard about it! When I was a little kid, I was an idea machine. I had ideas flowing out of me all the time and as I grew into adulthood, that waterfall had turned into a small dribble. After only 3 days of writing down 10 new ideas each day, I’ve come up with a multitude of ideas and revived my creativity and excitement for creative expression. It really has turned me into an idea machine and has jump-started so many different projects and gotten me excited about old ones. I’ve been writing and documenting my one-off ideas for years now, but sitting down to focus on coming up with ideas was transformative for me. And I realized that so many times when I was jotting down a one-off idea, I’d end it with a question mark and the idea would sit on that paper and never see the light of day. NOW, with my ’10 Ideas a Day’ Journal, I end all of my ideas with a period. I’m much more likely to make it happen (if it’s a good idea) and take action.
So what about you – what are you reading, listening to or excited about right now?
In today’s art adventure: experimenting with watercolor! I didn’t get ‘grown-up’ watercolors until I was in my late 20s so this is still a very new medium for me. I set up my daughter with her Crayola watercolors and I set up my ‘grown-up’ watercolors and we set to work. This is the result:
The lion was the kiddo’s idea: “Mommy, do a lion.” The jellyfish were my idea – they are my current obsession. I just find them so graceful, beautiful and peaceful.
What about you? Do you enjoy watercolor? Have any tips or tricks for a beginner? Let me know in the comments! And if you’d like to stay up-to-date on all my artistic happenings, pleasesubscribe!
It’s my first post of 2018! Woohoo! How’s your 2018 going? Mine has gotten off to a rocky start. Things always seem to fall apart for us after the holiday rush of Christmas and New Year’s is over. So I decided to revive and revamp some old reminders on my refrigerator. I had put them up sometime last year and then taken them down months later as they seemed like they were no longer needed. Ha! I was incorrect. For me, personally, these reminders are helpful with my daughter who is in the throws of the terrible (or terrific as my mother-in-law likes to say) twos. The first two are to help keep me grounded:
So often problems with my daughter arise when I haven’t been taking my time to meditate and breathe or because I’m trying to move at my adult pace. Granted, sometimes moving at an adult pace is necessary, but often times it is not and it’s important for me to remember to s l o w d o w n. For me, I find that something magical happens when I slow down and move at my daughter’s pace. I’m able to see the world from her eyes and be fully present and connected. And really, what’s the rush?
The second two reminders are mostly in regards to my daughter but are also applicable to me:
I have a strong aversion to mess but life and toddlerhood and art and a myriad of other things can be quite messy! So this is a reminder to myself to allow messes to happen. Throw a tarp down and let the kiddo paint a cardboard box and get covered in paint from head to toe. Let her dig in the mud and pour water in her sandbox. Let her play and be messy. And also, don’t be afraid to get messy yourself – with the kiddo, in your art, in your writing, in your music, in the kitchen, anywhere!
The other reminder is a crucial one. Get outside. Last year, when I had this reminder on fridge and I was having a bad day, it helped me to remember to take the kiddo outside. To a park or just in the backyard. On days when I have very little to give her, going outside always seems to help both of us. I get to recharge (being outside does that to me) and she gets to play happily as she tends to entertain herself very easily outside.
I’m happy and grateful to have these reminders back up on my refrigerator and I can see that they are already helping. What reminders do you have (or want to have) on your fridge? Let me know in the comments. 🙂
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