Remember these candy Conversation Hearts at Valentine’s Day? I looked forward to these all year…not because they tasted good but because of their message. I was always hoping the boy I had a crush on would give me one that said “I love you”!
This month is all about LOVING YOURSELF. It’s soooo important for living a happy and healthy life!
Our Lesson
This week I want you to give yourself a “heart attack”. When my kids were little I would tape construction paper hearts all over their door with messages of love written on each one. I gave them a “heart attack”! They loved it!!!! In your journal pages this week give yourself a “heart attack”. Write down Beautiful messages and words to YOU! Encourage and lift yourself up, girls!!!
Nearly ten years ago I was introduced to a wildly different idea…writing Love Notes to Myself. I had never even thought of that much less done it. But leave it to Brave Girl Melody Ross to plant a seed of self-love in my Heart!
So, per her suggestion I took a stack of sticky notes and wrote a different note to myself on each one.
“Dear Leslie, Wear something Beautiful today and feel AMAZING!”
“Dear Leslie, It’s ok if you are not perfect. Do it anyway!”
Soon I was sticking those love notes everywhere, including places I may not find them in awhile…(under clothes in a drawer or inside a cabinet door). Those were my favorites!!
Your assignment for “I Say Yes” this week is to write yourself Love Notes and put them wherever you feel inspired to. I PROMISE these Beautiful notes you write yourself will show up JUST when you need their message the MOST!
Please join us for a year long FREE art journaling class. Our facebook page is here….we have quite a community of loving and supportive women!
With a New Year comes a fresh, New Beginning. Start clearing out your studio, corner, box, bag…wherever you create! When we add space to our workplace we THRIVE!!!
I am so excited to be in a NEW Year! There is just something so magical about starting fresh…I can feel the buzz in the air…can you?
I decided to start my 2019 with a fresh, new look and name to my blog, my Facebook group and the workshops I teach. This year I am focusing on helping YOU tell Your Story through prompts, words and Live Facebook events. You see, my friends when we put images and words together….MAGIC HAPPENS.
My Art Journaling Adventure began ten years ago during one of the darkest times of my life. After my first page I realized I hadn’t felt so good, so much at PEACE as when I was in my journal. It was at that moment I promised myself Art Journaling would become a regular part of my life…
And it has.
This year, friends is all about YOU and me and sharing our Stories. When we “Tell our Stories…it Heals our Hearts”. I invite you to join me in our Facebook Group…My Story Matters Art Journaling.
I absolutely LOVE this quote…and so true! Our thoughts make up our world. They really, really do! Think about your own thoughts. How many times have you become overwhelmed about something simply because you let your mind wander? I know I have PLENTY!
With the New Year upon us it’s important we start out our year right by CULTIVATING positive, uplifting thoughts. There are ALWAYS two ways of looking at things…let’s take this first week of January to be POSITIVE!
Our Assignment
This week’s assignment is to create a page of flowers and a page of weeds. You can use images, words, drawings, doodles, stickers, whatever you are inspired to!
Have you heard about my Year long art journaling class? I Say Yes can be found here.
This is sooo simple and will help you SEE what your Heart Whispers truly are!! Here’s what you do….
Decide what kind of 100 List you are going to make. It could be goals, Bucket List items, ways to control your clutter, stuff just running around in your brain, etc.
Take a piece of paper or your journal and number 1-100.
Now start writing and don’t stop. Not even once time! Keep on listing.
Once you have filled in ALL 100 lines read through them.
You should start seeing a pattern of what your Heart is truly saying. It’s possible you will list “Have an art retreat” over 20 times on your list (like me!!!). That’s a sign to YOU of what it is your Heart is longing for!!!
By creating a list without thinking about it long and hard we are only writing down those things that truly matter to us!
I first learned about Mind-Mapping fifteen years ago from a magazine article I read on journaling ideas. What intrigued me the most was instead of having a list of things to do, ideas, goals, etc. you had a visual of everything. And the more I wrote in my Mind Map the more ideas just flowed out of me!
Our lesson this week is to create a Mind Map of Ideas. Your topic can be anything! Whether it’s a list of what you want to accomplish in 2019 to your creative endeavors…try your hand at this highly effective journaling technique!
There are so many reasons I love journaling…but this quote sums it up perfectly!
My Writing Journey
I began keeping a journal back in 1978.
Grease was the Word…
Mork had just landed on Earth from Ork…
And Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing” topped the charts.
My grandma gifted me a tiny gold pocket journal for my Birthday. I absolutely LOVED it and began keeping it that day. I still have that little journal filled with all the important stuff a fifth grader has on their mind…boys I liked, sleepovers with friends and the weather.:)
The older I got the bigger my journals got. My book of choice was a spiral bound notebook with images like these on them…
I filled each book with problems, my love of Donnie Beger and all my Dreams for the future. Looking back those journals helped me have a place to process all the yuck in my life and allowed me to stay sane.
Your Assignment
Your assignment this week is to either purchase a journal or find one you already have and start writing in it…DAILY.
Yes, DAILY.
Even if all you write is the weather…just do it. Over time you find that journal writing is one habit you won’t want to do without!
To help you get started be sure and print off my FREE “What to Journal” page!!
My Story Matters 