Atiliay noun, a play off the French word “atelier”; a workshop/studio, esp of an artist or designer; my creative space

Notes plural noun, a brief record of facts, topics, thoughts written down as an aid to memory; a short informal letter

 

I know there are SO many things I do that make my life harder: worrying, stressing about things that have not happened yet (that might never happen!), getting too attached, overthinking, being resistant, self criticism, the list goes on! Life IS full of challenges and we all face truly tough times and difficult situations. This is not to invalidate that or dismiss our emotions. This month's mantra is a reminder that we can control our own actions and reactions and to try and let go of the things we may be doing that could be making our lives a little harder than it needs to be.

What if we let go of the things that no longer serve us? What if we physically relax--exhale, drop our shoulders, unclench our jaws--and move a little easier? What if we choose to love with ease and to trust again? To not let past heartaches and decisions harden us and make us weary? What if we always gave generously, with no second thoughts or judgements? What if we easily and freely accepted the positive things that come our way, because we truly believe we deserve good things?

 

For the artwork I decided to go with something that felt easy and stress-free to match the mantra. Just making this decision took the pressure off and this idea immediately came to mind (whereas sometimes it can take me a long time / feels difficult to come up with a concept for the mantra artwork!)

 

I started off by taping a border on my sketchbook page as well as 5 horizontal lines across the page. I added watercolor to the exposed parts of the page--choosing random colors and letting them move around and mix--and let it dry. Then I removed all the tape and in the white spaces, added in each line from the mantra in pencil. (I'll be sharing a short process video soon on TikTok & IG.) If you have these supplies, I highly recommend trying this process! Feel free to write the mantra above or whatever words you feel connected to. 

 

While creating this piece, I realized that “easy” has a negative connotation for me--like doing less is bad or lazy, that I should be more aspirational. But you know what? There's nothing wrong with doing less--it makes room for what we want to do more of!

 

 

IF BEING HARD ON YOURSELF WORKED, IT WOULD HAVE WORKED BY NOW! Read more from Lindsay over on the #The100DayProject Newsletter --I really enjoyed this post!

 

What is meant for you will always find you. Even in hard times, I truly believe this.

 

From Ali Abdaal's LifeNotes newsletter about living in “Difficult World” or “Easy World”: A Simple Phrase That's Changing How I Think About Life 

 

Which line in the mantra resonates with you the most?

Wishing you some ease and space as we begin a new week. 

For those of you who signed up for the free Abstract Postcard Workshop, see you Sunday (tomorrow, 4/13) at 12:30PM! (If you'd like to sign up, you can do so until an hour before it begins.) I was inspired to do this workshop by one of this month's Creative Spark Challenge prompts: fun! I am excited to get together to create in a stress free and no pressure way! I think it'll be a lot of fun and can't wait.

 

Talk to you soon and see some of you soon :)

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