There is a song called "We Live" by Superchick.  Part of the lyrics say,

There’s a man who waits for the tests to
See if the cancer had spread yet
And now he asks why did I wait to live ’til it was time to die
If I could have the time back, how I’d live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well, this is your story and it all depends
So don’t let it become true
Get out and do what we were meant to do

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

The message is similar to many essays, email forwards and motivation speeches we often hear.  It’s a wonderful message, but there is a problem in it that I see.  If you are not dying, and you don’t feel that your time is limited, it is unlikely that you are going to have the courage to live that way.

The thing that impending death gives people is the courage to throw caution to the wind.  Think for a moment how you’d answer the question "what are three things you’d love to do if you knew you were dying?"  Now, imagine getting up tomorrow and announcing to your spouse, sister, mother or other significant person that you intend to do those things right now!  Imagine doing this if you are not going to die.

I guess it depends on what three things you are thinking of, but if your things are like mine, that person would think you’d lost your mind.  The end of our life is when we regret playing it safe and holding back.  That’s when we’re going to go for it with all we’ve got.

And there’s a reason people don’t live like that all the time.  Let me give an example.  Someone does something mean to me.  If I just immediately tell them I forgive them, I am teaching them that it’s okay to treat me mean.  I have a future with this person.  So, I need to think about how to handle this so that our future relations are good.  Right?  But, if I’m dying, I don’t have to worry about the future.  I can say I forgive you because I do and I love them and the future doesn’t matter.

So, my point is that it is great to think about what we’d do if our time were limited.  It’s a motivator to get off our rears and really appreciate our life and the people in it.  But, if everyone lived as if they were dying, I think things would be pretty chaotic.

My newest ebook is a fun childlike book to inspire you to return to innocent, unafraid way you created art when you were a child.  Here are a couple of pages from the book.  Feel free to right click on the images and download them for your own use – print them out and have fun with them!

How cool are these?!  I found them here

I have a crush on colored pencils anyway, but in these awesome cardboard tubes, aren’t they just the best?

I know nothing about this company, but I’d order them just to find out.  And I don’t know exactly what the exchange rate is for the British pound but they don’t look terribly expensive.  Of course, shipping might be a deterant.

But it’s still fun to see new supplies, isn’t it?

The Twelve Rules for Journaling

I can make mistakes

I can question the rules

I can take my time

I can do it my way

I can express my anger

I can risk looking foolish

I can wait until I feel ready

I can write down my secrets

I can experiment safely in the pages of my journal

I can make a mess

I can draw, write, color and even scream my words

There are no rules!  So any that pop into your mind must be thrown out.

When I talk about "art journaling" a lot of people think I"m talking about doing beautiful artwork in a journal.  For many years my journal has been my saving grace.  It is where I dump the waste of my life.

You know that good feeling you get when you go through a room in your house and clear out everything?  You take boxes of things to donate and you have bags of trash to throw out?  You get it all cleared away and what is left is only what you need and enjoy. 

That’s what journaling can do for your insides.  You can write all the crap into your journal and get rid of it. Otherwise you are carrying it around in your head, on your shoulders and maybe even in your heart.

Using colors, images and art just makes the process of journaling more pleasant.  That’s why I call it an art journal.  I use art to express myself, or sometimes just to make the page more inviting to actually write on.  If I am full of thoughts or worries, and I open my journal it is more motivating for me to put pen to paper if the page is decorated in some way.  A blank, white page seems to be wanting something from me.  Where a colored page with designs, boxes or images  seems to be providing  me something.  A place to dump my waste.

I challenge you, my readers, to make at least one journal entry this coming week that is a "waste dump" entry. 

My art is often inspired by what is going on in my life.  When my life is boring and not much is happening it seems that I don’t find the inspiration to create art from my soul.  I can think of ideas and make things, but always the true art comes from within inside me when I am moved by my emotions.

Today I was inspired by  a romance that entered my life. Thus, this sketch which is better than any sketch I’ve made for months. 

I’ve read a lot of things that artists have said in interviews, trying to put into words how they are inspired.   Sometimes I relate to what they say, but I suspect that we all have a hard time expressing what creating really is for us.  It is something deep inside me that comes out not in a mechanical way, but a spiritual one.  I had the same tools and skills a month ago that I have today. But suddenly now I can draw something that I couldn’t draw a month ago.

Does emotion inspire you?

I learned of this guy’s site from Eliza.

He is a prolific sketcher! It really inspired me to spend some time looking at all his sketchbooks, drawings and doodles. Check out his blog, too.

Moonshadow at KSBorn tagged me for this meme.   Here are the instructions:

Step one is to take the first book you lay eyes on that fits the rules. Not your favorite book, but the closest at hand:

The rules are as follows…
1. The book must be over 123 pages.
2. Find page 123 in the book.
3. Find the first 5 sentences.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag other people

So, the first book I saw was “Life, Paint and Passion”  Page 123 only has a couple of sentences, so here they are….

“When you encounter a block, look inside for a rule to break!  Remember:  It’s not the painting that’s important, it’s you.  Once the painting is finished, it’s just a piece of paper with paint on it – and there will be hundreds more! ”

I tag:

Holly
Nici
Luna
Pattie

Purpose serves as a principle around which to organize our lives.
Anonymous

Since I quit working I have had a feeling of loss and am finding it hard to get things done that I want to do.  I think that work gave me a central focus around which I organized everything else.

The weekends were separate from work, so I planned things for then.  When I got up in the morning I knew that the first thing I had to do was work.

But now, I feel sort of lost.  I have two great art projects started.  Normally I would have finished them by now, but I keep just sort of wandering around and never really get to them.

I don’t think the answer is to get another job where I work 60 hours a week. But I do want to find a focal purpose and not feel so lost.

Does anyone else relate to this?