September 17, 2025 • 19 mins
Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is honor what we need in the moment. In this episode, we share how checking in with ourselves—whether through crochet, watercolor, or just pausing to breathe—creates the foundation for real growth. Gentle progress, not pressure, is what keeps creativity alive.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you know someone who needs this kind of gentle nudge, send it their way. The more kind, creative hearts in this space, the better.
And if something in this episode resonates or makes you smile, come say hi on Instagram @theartpeaceexperiment 🤍
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Before we decided, we wanted to cultivate more
safety, peace, love, alignment,and excitement through our art
and our art practices.
So here we are sharing ourjourney with you, and we're so
excited you're here.
We hope you enjoy ourconversations.
They're honest, raw, just twofriends talking to each other
(00:22):
about the realities of life andcreativity.
We're so excited for you to joinus and be along with us for the
journey.
UNKNOWN (00:29):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
Week 15.
We have...
almost made it to summer breakwe're today is the last day of
school for our kids and yeahwe're there we're here we've got
like an hour left whether we'reready or not oh my gosh were you
able to draw or paint or thinkcreatively this week were there
(00:59):
any thoughts this week that'sthe question um so i didn't
paint but um this week was crazybut i did crochet oh good which
I was thinking about it and itwas like you know some weeks you
just you don't have thebandwidth or the time or
anything um and we talk aboutthis all the time it's okay to
do you know to have other thingsthat you can fall back onto and
(01:22):
anyways yeah so I crocheted Ididn't have like the bandwidth
to create something from nothingand so creating something with
the help of of another materialyou know yeah that was that was
just what I just like followinga rhythm the rhythm yeah Yeah,
that was super helpful.
It was like intentional,calming, like bring me back, you
(01:42):
know, all those good things andhealthy things for your body and
your brain and your creativity.
Yeah.
Like it wasn't fully like methinking up something and then
creating it from nothing, but itwas the act of making something,
right?
Yeah, I love that.
Of building on something.
Yeah, it's interesting becausewhen we started this, we're
like, it's an art challenge.
(02:03):
Yeah, like we're going to makeart every week.
Like that's our but what it'sreally come to is just Letting
ourselves be creative every weekand celebrating that.
(02:40):
Yeah.
Like it's so hard to stop andknow what you need in the
moment.
Right.
Yeah.
A lot of times I remembermyself, I can look back and be
like, oh, I needed that.
You know, like I needed to takea deep breath or I needed a
moment or I needed this or that.
But in the moment, it's reallydifficult.
And so I think that's also partof this, like what we're
(03:02):
learning through this ispracticing being able to check
in in the moment and see what weneed.
Especially when you you grow upor are like how do I say this
like constantly checking otherpeople like what they need and
like caretaking and taking careof others and like making sure
(03:24):
that the people around you areokay which I feel like happens a
lot especially for women yeahcaretaking mentality is yeah can
be really hard to switch out ofyeah and then that leads to you
know burnout and not reallyactually being able to be there
for the people you care aboutYep.
You know, it's, it's, you know,taking the oxygen mask for
(03:45):
yourself first.
It's.
Yeah, exactly.
Like, what do I, what do Iactually need?
How do I support myself?
How do I give myself what I needso that I can show up for other
people?
If that's what you want to do,you know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Part of your life and your goaland what you actually want to
maintain in your life.
I mean, I think somerelationships are, it's hard to
(04:07):
move away from, but.
Yeah.
Well, but we've all gotrelationships that we, you know,
Yeah, exactly.
(04:41):
art challenge has been reallyhelpful in that in the checking
in and seeing what I need andyou know yeah it's like forcing
us to actually yeah do somethingnice for ourselves and but being
like really real about it rightyeah real about like is this
helping what is what is thisaccomplishing yeah I have this
amount of time or this limitedyou know bandwidth brain space
(05:04):
time whatever it is and so howwhat is the thing that would
best serve me in in the momentlike that I need the Yeah.
Oh, I love it.
No, that's so great.
I'm so glad that you letyourself.
check in and actually do whatyou needed this week like I feel
(05:25):
like that is such a win you knowlike that's such a victory and
yeah I don't know I feel likestarting at the beginning of
this we would have um beatourselves up yeah or tried to
force ourselves into doingsomething that may not have been
actually what we needed or oreven beneficial you know it just
caused more stress yeah not thepoint of this right and I love
(05:48):
that like week 15 like stillpretty early into it yeah
already seeing that seeing thatdifference yeah and I love it
yeah I think that's really greatthanks yeah I think so too I
think it's I think it's beensurprisingly so helpful in
different ways than we even wecouldn't have predicted right we
(06:10):
couldn't have we couldn't havewe were not expecting yeah not
expecting that at all but Ithink it's beautiful yeah what
about you how was your week didyou create this week I did so I
actually did something huge ohtell me for me at least yeah um
I love that I know so I it'sgonna sound a little silly if
(06:35):
you haven't listened to any ofour other episodes but I used
the big piece of fancywatercolor paper oh this week
man so what's funny is I Well,okay, it's not funny, but
throughout this experiment...
It's been really cool becauseI've let myself take small steps
(06:59):
that have built on each other tothe point that I could actually
use the expensive, nice, highquality paper because that's
something that I have had lotsof limiting blocks and beliefs
about.
Yeah.
(07:24):
are really frugal like all ofthese things and using the
expensive paper or the paintwhich is interesting because I
had already purchased it it wasjust sitting in my house for
like years I mean the paint I'vehad I had that before my
daughter was born like I've hadit for a long time and my paint
(07:46):
brushes and then just didn't usethem because of this fear of
wasting I won't have enough.
I won't get more.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's so silly.
Like, yeah, it's real.
It is.
I'm not the only person that hasgone through this or is
experiencing this.
No, I feel the same way.
(08:08):
Like I have that same fear everytime I pick up my, my, my pad of
pastel paper, you know, it'sexpensive.
Like it's, it's a thing andsame.
I like, I have, I do watercolor,not currently right now, but I
have the expensive paper too.
And I, It still is a package.
It's just not using it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I find it really funny thatI had like bought watercolors
(08:31):
and I had bought the watercolorpaper, but then my entire life
I've always told myself, you'renot good enough to watercolor.
You can't watercolor.
This is not for you.
Like other painting mediums findwatercolor.
No.
Did I let myself paint withother traditional mediums?
No.
Like watercolor was like toptier.
You can't do it.
So interesting.
Yeah.
(08:51):
And so with this, it's like,okay, I'm going to watercolor
it.
And I'm going to use the fancypaper, but I didn't just jump
in, like didn't dive headfirstin.
Yeah.
You know, I was like, okay.
Dip your toe a little bit.
Dip my toe a little bit.
But what's interesting is Irealized this morning, I was
thinking about it before we gotto record and I realized I kind
(09:12):
of a little bit tricked myselfinto it.
Like I used that scarcitymindset and I was like, how do I
use this to help myself so thatI Whoa, tell me how you did
(09:34):
that, please.
get your movement right yeahlike I didn't have to be all in
(09:57):
one or like or nothing you knowit's just the the image that
came to my mind was you know inMulan when they're um the guys
all come to the lake you know togo take a bath and the big guy
he like dips his toe in it'slike and then he like jumps with
this big tidal wave I love thatsorry keep going um yeah so I um
(10:24):
I had to then print out mysketches.
Yeah.
Right.
And so I was like, okay, youknow what I'm going to do?
I'm going to do four smallsketches so that I'm not just
using one sheet of fancy paper.
I can cut it into four, fourpieces, you know?
And then, but then I had toprint out my sketches.
So that's, I, I used printerpaper.
(10:46):
Okay.
It's not the fancy paper, butit's still part of that like
scarcity mindset.
I use supplies.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I use the supplies and then Itook the fancy paper.
I cut it into four pieces.
So it's not rusty.
It's not new.
It's no longer safely in thepackaging.
It's like, okay, I've alreadytainted it.
I've already used it to someextent.
(11:08):
It's cut.
And then if I don't do all fourof them, I'm wasting the printer
paper.
I'm wasting this paper.
It's like, okay, I'm committed.
I have to use it now becauseotherwise I am wasting it.
So I'm like, okay, I've trickedmy into just getting started.
I love that.
(11:28):
I used my limiting beliefsagainst myself.
That's great.
Brilliant.
I know.
Hilarious.
Mastermind.
But it was in this way of, I'mnot going to let myself stay
stuck in that limiting beliefplace.
It's like, okay, I'm going touse that to start training
myself to be safe and okay withpainting.
Because by the end of it, it'slike, I have four paintings.
(11:50):
And it's like, okay, let's do itagain.
I I love that.
It was just like one reallysmall act, right?
One, like sending this to theprinter, boop, you know, cutting
the paper, boop.
And then it just, it built oneach other and built up to
(12:10):
create that.
That was brilliant.
I love that.
It was a way to go.
Thank you.
I'm so proud of you.
I just like manipulated myself.
It's fine.
It's totally cool.
But then by the end of thosefirst four paintings, it was
like, oh, okay, well now I getto like sketch on my iPad again.
Yeah.
Fun.
Okay, great.
And then, you know, print itout.
(12:30):
It wasn't so scary because I'dalready proven to myself that I–
That wasn't a waste.
You know, I could use it.
And then when it came to cuttingthe paper, you know, it was
again, like there was like,instead of this, okay, I'm using
the fancy paper.
It was like, oh, okay.
I'm excited.
Like we're going to do thisagain.
Like I've already proven tomyself that I could do four
(12:51):
paintings that I liked and thatwere, and not even that the end
result was good, but just howmuch fun I had doing it, which I
don't know that I would havepaid attention to that if we
weren't doing this.
Yep.
You know, it would have all beenthe end product, but because we
were doing this, it was like,no, pay attention to how you
(13:12):
feel while you're painting.
Pay attention to quality of lifethat that brain, you know, like
the full picture.
Yeah.
Intentionally paying attention.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so then when it came timeto, you know, yesterday was my,
it's my last painting day beforemy daughter's home for summer
break.
(13:32):
And, you know, I, I'd alreadygotten the, I'd gotten the
sketch ready the day before,like transferred onto my fancy
paper, sat down to paint, gotthrough, like my alarm went off
to go, go to school and pick herup.
And, and I came home and I, andI just, you know, walked back
into my office and looked at itand was like, oh my gosh, I used
(13:55):
the full sheet of paper.
Yeah.
I didn't cut it.
And I had no anxiety over it.
Wow.
It was just like, it just, ithappened.
And I was like, I did it.
Oh, and it wasn't scary.
And like, it was okay.
I love that.
(14:15):
And I feel like, but if youhadn't done those small steps,
it would have held that anxiety.
It would have held that like,yeah, what have I done?
You know?
Oh my gosh.
Right.
But because you took thoselittle, little baby tiny steps
leading into, into it andcreating those small pockets of
safety, you know, it wasn't likethis big, huge thing that you
(14:36):
jumped.
You didn't do the full on tidalwave jump.
Right.
You know, you dipped your toeagain and again and again.
Yep.
And like did went a little bitfarther.
It was just so gradual that bythe time you actually got to
this point, then you had alreadybuilt that foundation of safety
and excitement and joy andintentional paying attention of,
(14:59):
you know, the quality of lifeand how it's affecting you.
And so you, you knew that.
And so it was already tied tothat by the time you even even
even worked on the full page youknow right it was it was cool
and and it was cool too becauseum in you know going back to
that first page that I cut intofour um the first two paintings
(15:20):
I did I didn't like them theyweren't great but then because
I'd already cut it into four Ihad to keep going gotta keep
yeah gotta use them and then Itold myself okay any paintings
that I don't like that paper isthen used for gouache oh nice so
it's not wasted yeah it's justgo over it okay great now I have
gouache paper like it'swatercolor paper until it
(15:41):
becomes gouache paper rightperfect another layer of safety
another layer of comfortingyourself you know like tricking
myself into like this is okay Ilove it so that I can take the
next step forward but then thatyou know it's never with that
mindset of okay I'm going totrick myself to be okay with
this so I can stay stuck thereyeah it's with that moving
(16:05):
forward no I I really like thatbecause I like the mindset that
you had with it because itwasn't you beating yourself up
like, well, I just got to use itbecause I just got to get out of
that mindset.
Yeah.
But you really held yourselfwhere you were at.
Yeah.
And worked with that and youwere gentle with yourself and
you didn't try to force yourselfout of your limiting beliefs all
(16:30):
at once or, you know, or judgeyourself for it, you know, and
be like, I'm so bad because thisis, you know, holding me back or
whatever.
Um, it wasn't negative.
It was, it was a very positive,like, okay, I have this thing,
this fear.
And so I'm going to, how can I,how can I help it just a little
(16:51):
bit?
Yeah.
How can I help myself just alittle bit?
Cause I really want to moveforward.
So how can I do that in a waythat's, that's safe and
comfortable for me where I'm atright now?
Yeah.
And it's sustainable.
Yeah.
If I had just been like, Nope,I'm getting out that full piece
of paper and I'm going to paintall on it and then I did it and
if it had turned out the waythat my first painting had
turned out yeah I would havebeen like I can't do that again
(17:15):
yeah I can't do that again Iwasted it yep and it would have
just fed that limiting belief itwould have just fed that fear
and that block greater bigger itmade it stronger ooh this is so
good this is so good I knowanyways I'm feeling very proud
of myself you should I did thebig piece of paper but even more
than like actually painting onthe big piece of paper is I had
(17:38):
taken those steps that it wasn'tscary anymore.
Yeah, the process is what you'reto be proud of because that's
huge.
That's the mark of real growth.
It's the growth.
You grew so much.
Oh, so good.
I'm so proud of you.
I'm so excited for you.
Thank you.
And I like how this painting isturning out, so that's also fun.
(17:59):
Yes, bonus cherry on top.
Exactly.
It's not the point, but it doesfeel nice.
Yeah, for sure.
well I'm super excited to see Ihaven't seen it yet so I'm
really excited to see it and seewhere it's see the product I'm
sure it's just gorgeous becauseyour paintings always are so
thank you aside from those firsttwo I still think they're
(18:21):
gorgeous thank you yeah I'llshow you I'll show you after
this it's like halfway done niceneeds a few more hours but it's
fun so fun well this was asuccessful week I I agree.
Good job.
Way to go.
So if you're needing thereminder that you don't have to
(18:44):
jump all in with the big tidalwave, this is your reminder.
Just one little step at a time.
Look at where you're at withgentleness and love and
acceptance and know that it'sokay.
It's okay to be where you're atand you can do those little
steps that will help you in yourjourney of growth.
Just take it one day, one momentat a time.
That's right.
And we'll be here next week.
(19:06):
See you then.
that's it for today friendthanks for spending this time
with us we hope you're leavingwith a little more light a
little more peace and maybe evena nudge to go be creative just
because it brings a little morejoy to your life if anything in
this episode spoke to your heartsparked a thought or made you
smile we'd love it if you'dfollow the show leave a quick
(19:28):
five-star review or share itwith someone who might need a
little creative encouragementtoo and remember your creativity
matters your voice matters Youmatter.
We're cheering you on always.
Until next time, keep making,keep softening, and keep showing
up as your whole beautiful self.
Before we decided, we wanted to cultivate more
safety, peace, love, alignment,and excitement through our art
and our art practices.
So here we are sharing ourjourney with you, and we're so
excited you're here.
We hope you enjoy ourconversations.
They're honest, raw, just twofriends talking to each other
(00:22):
about the realities of life andcreativity.
We're so excited for you to joinus and be along with us for the
journey.
UNKNOWN (00:29):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
Week 15.
We have...
almost made it to summer breakwe're today is the last day of
school for our kids and yeahwe're there we're here we've got
like an hour left whether we'reready or not oh my gosh were you
able to draw or paint or thinkcreatively this week were there
(00:59):
any thoughts this week that'sthe question um so i didn't
paint but um this week was crazybut i did crochet oh good which
I was thinking about it and itwas like you know some weeks you
just you don't have thebandwidth or the time or
anything um and we talk aboutthis all the time it's okay to
do you know to have other thingsthat you can fall back onto and
(01:22):
anyways yeah so I crocheted Ididn't have like the bandwidth
to create something from nothingand so creating something with
the help of of another materialyou know yeah that was that was
just what I just like followinga rhythm the rhythm yeah Yeah,
that was super helpful.
It was like intentional,calming, like bring me back, you
(01:42):
know, all those good things andhealthy things for your body and
your brain and your creativity.
Yeah.
Like it wasn't fully like methinking up something and then
creating it from nothing, but itwas the act of making something,
right?
Yeah, I love that.
Of building on something.
Yeah, it's interesting becausewhen we started this, we're
like, it's an art challenge.
(02:03):
Yeah, like we're going to makeart every week.
Like that's our but what it'sreally come to is just Letting
ourselves be creative every weekand celebrating that.
(02:40):
Yeah.
Like it's so hard to stop andknow what you need in the
moment.
Right.
Yeah.
A lot of times I remembermyself, I can look back and be
like, oh, I needed that.
You know, like I needed to takea deep breath or I needed a
moment or I needed this or that.
But in the moment, it's reallydifficult.
And so I think that's also partof this, like what we're
(03:02):
learning through this ispracticing being able to check
in in the moment and see what weneed.
Especially when you you grow upor are like how do I say this
like constantly checking otherpeople like what they need and
like caretaking and taking careof others and like making sure
(03:24):
that the people around you areokay which I feel like happens a
lot especially for women yeahcaretaking mentality is yeah can
be really hard to switch out ofyeah and then that leads to you
know burnout and not reallyactually being able to be there
for the people you care aboutYep.
You know, it's, it's, you know,taking the oxygen mask for
(03:45):
yourself first.
It's.
Yeah, exactly.
Like, what do I, what do Iactually need?
How do I support myself?
How do I give myself what I needso that I can show up for other
people?
If that's what you want to do,you know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Part of your life and your goaland what you actually want to
maintain in your life.
I mean, I think somerelationships are, it's hard to
(04:07):
move away from, but.
Yeah.
Well, but we've all gotrelationships that we, you know,
Yeah, exactly.
(04:41):
art challenge has been reallyhelpful in that in the checking
in and seeing what I need andyou know yeah it's like forcing
us to actually yeah do somethingnice for ourselves and but being
like really real about it rightyeah real about like is this
helping what is what is thisaccomplishing yeah I have this
amount of time or this limitedyou know bandwidth brain space
(05:04):
time whatever it is and so howwhat is the thing that would
best serve me in in the momentlike that I need the Yeah.
Oh, I love it.
No, that's so great.
I'm so glad that you letyourself.
check in and actually do whatyou needed this week like I feel
(05:25):
like that is such a win you knowlike that's such a victory and
yeah I don't know I feel likestarting at the beginning of
this we would have um beatourselves up yeah or tried to
force ourselves into doingsomething that may not have been
actually what we needed or oreven beneficial you know it just
caused more stress yeah not thepoint of this right and I love
(05:48):
that like week 15 like stillpretty early into it yeah
already seeing that seeing thatdifference yeah and I love it
yeah I think that's really greatthanks yeah I think so too I
think it's I think it's beensurprisingly so helpful in
different ways than we even wecouldn't have predicted right we
(06:10):
couldn't have we couldn't havewe were not expecting yeah not
expecting that at all but Ithink it's beautiful yeah what
about you how was your week didyou create this week I did so I
actually did something huge ohtell me for me at least yeah um
I love that I know so I it'sgonna sound a little silly if
(06:35):
you haven't listened to any ofour other episodes but I used
the big piece of fancywatercolor paper oh this week
man so what's funny is I Well,okay, it's not funny, but
throughout this experiment...
It's been really cool becauseI've let myself take small steps
(06:59):
that have built on each other tothe point that I could actually
use the expensive, nice, highquality paper because that's
something that I have had lotsof limiting blocks and beliefs
about.
Yeah.
(07:24):
are really frugal like all ofthese things and using the
expensive paper or the paintwhich is interesting because I
had already purchased it it wasjust sitting in my house for
like years I mean the paint I'vehad I had that before my
daughter was born like I've hadit for a long time and my paint
(07:46):
brushes and then just didn't usethem because of this fear of
wasting I won't have enough.
I won't get more.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's so silly.
Like, yeah, it's real.
It is.
I'm not the only person that hasgone through this or is
experiencing this.
No, I feel the same way.
(08:08):
Like I have that same fear everytime I pick up my, my, my pad of
pastel paper, you know, it'sexpensive.
Like it's, it's a thing andsame.
I like, I have, I do watercolor,not currently right now, but I
have the expensive paper too.
And I, It still is a package.
It's just not using it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I find it really funny thatI had like bought watercolors
(08:31):
and I had bought the watercolorpaper, but then my entire life
I've always told myself, you'renot good enough to watercolor.
You can't watercolor.
This is not for you.
Like other painting mediums findwatercolor.
No.
Did I let myself paint withother traditional mediums?
No.
Like watercolor was like toptier.
You can't do it.
So interesting.
Yeah.
(08:51):
And so with this, it's like,okay, I'm going to watercolor
it.
And I'm going to use the fancypaper, but I didn't just jump
in, like didn't dive headfirstin.
Yeah.
You know, I was like, okay.
Dip your toe a little bit.
Dip my toe a little bit.
But what's interesting is Irealized this morning, I was
thinking about it before we gotto record and I realized I kind
(09:12):
of a little bit tricked myselfinto it.
Like I used that scarcitymindset and I was like, how do I
use this to help myself so thatI Whoa, tell me how you did
(09:34):
that, please.
get your movement right yeahlike I didn't have to be all in
(09:57):
one or like or nothing you knowit's just the the image that
came to my mind was you know inMulan when they're um the guys
all come to the lake you know togo take a bath and the big guy
he like dips his toe in it'slike and then he like jumps with
this big tidal wave I love thatsorry keep going um yeah so I um
(10:24):
I had to then print out mysketches.
Yeah.
Right.
And so I was like, okay, youknow what I'm going to do?
I'm going to do four smallsketches so that I'm not just
using one sheet of fancy paper.
I can cut it into four, fourpieces, you know?
And then, but then I had toprint out my sketches.
So that's, I, I used printerpaper.
(10:46):
Okay.
It's not the fancy paper, butit's still part of that like
scarcity mindset.
I use supplies.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I use the supplies and then Itook the fancy paper.
I cut it into four pieces.
So it's not rusty.
It's not new.
It's no longer safely in thepackaging.
It's like, okay, I've alreadytainted it.
I've already used it to someextent.
(11:08):
It's cut.
And then if I don't do all fourof them, I'm wasting the printer
paper.
I'm wasting this paper.
It's like, okay, I'm committed.
I have to use it now becauseotherwise I am wasting it.
So I'm like, okay, I've trickedmy into just getting started.
I love that.
(11:28):
I used my limiting beliefsagainst myself.
That's great.
Brilliant.
I know.
Hilarious.
Mastermind.
But it was in this way of, I'mnot going to let myself stay
stuck in that limiting beliefplace.
It's like, okay, I'm going touse that to start training
myself to be safe and okay withpainting.
Because by the end of it, it'slike, I have four paintings.
(11:50):
And it's like, okay, let's do itagain.
I I love that.
It was just like one reallysmall act, right?
One, like sending this to theprinter, boop, you know, cutting
the paper, boop.
And then it just, it built oneach other and built up to
(12:10):
create that.
That was brilliant.
I love that.
It was a way to go.
Thank you.
I'm so proud of you.
I just like manipulated myself.
It's fine.
It's totally cool.
But then by the end of thosefirst four paintings, it was
like, oh, okay, well now I getto like sketch on my iPad again.
Yeah.
Fun.
Okay, great.
And then, you know, print itout.
(12:30):
It wasn't so scary because I'dalready proven to myself that I–
That wasn't a waste.
You know, I could use it.
And then when it came to cuttingthe paper, you know, it was
again, like there was like,instead of this, okay, I'm using
the fancy paper.
It was like, oh, okay.
I'm excited.
Like we're going to do thisagain.
Like I've already proven tomyself that I could do four
(12:51):
paintings that I liked and thatwere, and not even that the end
result was good, but just howmuch fun I had doing it, which I
don't know that I would havepaid attention to that if we
weren't doing this.
Yep.
You know, it would have all beenthe end product, but because we
were doing this, it was like,no, pay attention to how you
(13:12):
feel while you're painting.
Pay attention to quality of lifethat that brain, you know, like
the full picture.
Yeah.
Intentionally paying attention.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so then when it came timeto, you know, yesterday was my,
it's my last painting day beforemy daughter's home for summer
break.
(13:32):
And, you know, I, I'd alreadygotten the, I'd gotten the
sketch ready the day before,like transferred onto my fancy
paper, sat down to paint, gotthrough, like my alarm went off
to go, go to school and pick herup.
And, and I came home and I, andI just, you know, walked back
into my office and looked at itand was like, oh my gosh, I used
(13:55):
the full sheet of paper.
Yeah.
I didn't cut it.
And I had no anxiety over it.
Wow.
It was just like, it just, ithappened.
And I was like, I did it.
Oh, and it wasn't scary.
And like, it was okay.
I love that.
(14:15):
And I feel like, but if youhadn't done those small steps,
it would have held that anxiety.
It would have held that like,yeah, what have I done?
You know?
Oh my gosh.
Right.
But because you took thoselittle, little baby tiny steps
leading into, into it andcreating those small pockets of
safety, you know, it wasn't likethis big, huge thing that you
(14:36):
jumped.
You didn't do the full on tidalwave jump.
Right.
You know, you dipped your toeagain and again and again.
Yep.
And like did went a little bitfarther.
It was just so gradual that bythe time you actually got to
this point, then you had alreadybuilt that foundation of safety
and excitement and joy andintentional paying attention of,
(14:59):
you know, the quality of lifeand how it's affecting you.
And so you, you knew that.
And so it was already tied tothat by the time you even even
even worked on the full page youknow right it was it was cool
and and it was cool too becauseum in you know going back to
that first page that I cut intofour um the first two paintings
(15:20):
I did I didn't like them theyweren't great but then because
I'd already cut it into four Ihad to keep going gotta keep
yeah gotta use them and then Itold myself okay any paintings
that I don't like that paper isthen used for gouache oh nice so
it's not wasted yeah it's justgo over it okay great now I have
gouache paper like it'swatercolor paper until it
(15:41):
becomes gouache paper rightperfect another layer of safety
another layer of comfortingyourself you know like tricking
myself into like this is okay Ilove it so that I can take the
next step forward but then thatyou know it's never with that
mindset of okay I'm going totrick myself to be okay with
this so I can stay stuck thereyeah it's with that moving
(16:05):
forward no I I really like thatbecause I like the mindset that
you had with it because itwasn't you beating yourself up
like, well, I just got to use itbecause I just got to get out of
that mindset.
Yeah.
But you really held yourselfwhere you were at.
Yeah.
And worked with that and youwere gentle with yourself and
you didn't try to force yourselfout of your limiting beliefs all
(16:30):
at once or, you know, or judgeyourself for it, you know, and
be like, I'm so bad because thisis, you know, holding me back or
whatever.
Um, it wasn't negative.
It was, it was a very positive,like, okay, I have this thing,
this fear.
And so I'm going to, how can I,how can I help it just a little
(16:51):
bit?
Yeah.
How can I help myself just alittle bit?
Cause I really want to moveforward.
So how can I do that in a waythat's, that's safe and
comfortable for me where I'm atright now?
Yeah.
And it's sustainable.
Yeah.
If I had just been like, Nope,I'm getting out that full piece
of paper and I'm going to paintall on it and then I did it and
if it had turned out the waythat my first painting had
turned out yeah I would havebeen like I can't do that again
(17:15):
yeah I can't do that again Iwasted it yep and it would have
just fed that limiting belief itwould have just fed that fear
and that block greater bigger itmade it stronger ooh this is so
good this is so good I knowanyways I'm feeling very proud
of myself you should I did thebig piece of paper but even more
than like actually painting onthe big piece of paper is I had
(17:38):
taken those steps that it wasn'tscary anymore.
Yeah, the process is what you'reto be proud of because that's
huge.
That's the mark of real growth.
It's the growth.
You grew so much.
Oh, so good.
I'm so proud of you.
I'm so excited for you.
Thank you.
And I like how this painting isturning out, so that's also fun.
(17:59):
Yes, bonus cherry on top.
Exactly.
It's not the point, but it doesfeel nice.
Yeah, for sure.
well I'm super excited to see Ihaven't seen it yet so I'm
really excited to see it and seewhere it's see the product I'm
sure it's just gorgeous becauseyour paintings always are so
thank you aside from those firsttwo I still think they're
(18:21):
gorgeous thank you yeah I'llshow you I'll show you after
this it's like halfway done niceneeds a few more hours but it's
fun so fun well this was asuccessful week I I agree.
Good job.
Way to go.
So if you're needing thereminder that you don't have to
(18:44):
jump all in with the big tidalwave, this is your reminder.
Just one little step at a time.
Look at where you're at withgentleness and love and
acceptance and know that it'sokay.
It's okay to be where you're atand you can do those little
steps that will help you in yourjourney of growth.
Just take it one day, one momentat a time.
That's right.
And we'll be here next week.
(19:06):
See you then.
that's it for today friendthanks for spending this time
with us we hope you're leavingwith a little more light a
little more peace and maybe evena nudge to go be creative just
because it brings a little morejoy to your life if anything in
this episode spoke to your heartsparked a thought or made you
smile we'd love it if you'dfollow the show leave a quick
(19:28):
five-star review or share itwith someone who might need a
little creative encouragementtoo and remember your creativity
matters your voice matters Youmatter.
We're cheering you on always.
Until next time, keep making,keep softening, and keep showing
up as your whole beautiful self.
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