Ball point pen and Sakura Glaze pen

Our family’s dog, Olivia, likes to take one piece of her dog food and toss it in the air and then chase it down before she eats it. I don’t know where she learned to do this but it cracks me up every time she does it.

And there was the time that I walked into a glass door of a restaurant in San Francisco and banged my head. Okay, it wasn’t funny then, but now it’s hilarious.

In your journal, write down what makes you laugh.

When you get down, look at your page to remind you that there are good days along with the bad. Notice that I said “when” you get down. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have low points in their life. Please tell me where I am wrong, if you are the exception to the rule.

It may not cheer you up at the moment but your page is there as a reminder that life will eventually swing around and you will laugh again.

To create this simple visual journal’s background, I made wavy lines with a ball point pen and then in every other set of lines, I filled in with vertical lines. The writing was done after the background was completed.

Today’s journal prompt is a simple one:

What did you enjoy today?

Write about it in your journal. If you don’t have a journal write about it in a spiral notebook or even on a grocery bag. It doesn’t need to be fancy or formal. The act of writing it down adds power to the words.

My list for today looked like this:

I enjoyed the sun. I took Olivia out for a short walk and she enjoyed being outside as well.

For breakfast I had an apple, orange, carrot, spinach, blueberry, whey powder and cocoa powder smoothie. I started grinding up my vitamins in the smoothie and they don’t upset my stomach anymore so I am grateful for that.

I worked on some art on multimedia paper and found that I didn’t like working on that brand of paper. The process of laying down the paint on the paper was enjoyable.

Creating the journal page border was soothing and rhythmic.

I made plans to listen to go to Union Square to see live music tomorrow with a good friend.

When you realize what made an enjoyable day, the key is to bring more of it to your life when ever possible.

He has been here before and I am sure he will come again.

I am talking about the Inner Critic.

The voice of self-doubt.

The voice that says:

• What’s the point?
• Your art is no good.
• Who do you think you are?
• How can you expect to help other people if you can’t be a good role model?

How the Inner Critic left and some of what I did in the meantime:

• I cleaned my studio.
• I continued my podcast episodes with Kelly Burkhart.
• I went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. While waiting in the lobby to meet my friend, I overheard part of a conversation:

I don’t even know why that piece of work is here. What makes it art?

This made me realize that getting art into SFMOMA, which to me would be fantastic, there still will be people who don’t get it, appreciate it or like it.

In order for the Inner Critic to leave, I waited.

I know that I can not be myself without visual arts and that this lull would eventually end.

I did not force myself to create. I know that art can be treated as work and a job. I have heard that you should not wait for the muse to show up, you just have to get into the studio and DO IT!

I am over “should”s in my life. (If you want to hear how I did that click here.)

I acknowledged the Inner Critic and yesterday I made this in my visual journal:

He's mean and nasty with sharp teeth. Small eyes represent low vision. Arms by his side and a small body represent weakness.

It didn’t matter what it looked like, creating a visual representation of my Inner Critic was going to be my own personal process. I did not create it with the intention to share this with you.

But then I thought it may be helpful for you to know that if you go through creativity blocks, you are not alone.

Today I made this in my visual journal:

I usually don't create faces but since I kicked out the Inner Critic, I gave it a go.

I would love to hear from you.

What happens when the inner critic visits you? How do you keep going? And how do you recover?

Please comment in the box below.

So I rested.

Until recently I would have pushed myself to keep going at my normal speed, to keep up.

On Monday morning, I recorded the podcast, Twenty Minutes to Peace, with fellow Martha Beck Certified Life Coach, Kelly Burkhart because that is something pleasurable. It doesn’t feel like work.

I made some phone calls to find a repair person for a problem we are having at the condo.

And I rested.

I don’t paddle up stream anymore. If I feel a lot of resistance to doing something, I pay attention, especially when I am not feeling 100%.

I started this journal page and stopped because I felt like resting.

This mini book is made from:

• (3) 3″x5″ index cards
• washi tape
• markers

Mini To-Do Booklet made with Washi Tape and index cards

I found the Washi Tape locally. You can find vendors on Etsy.com

Fold three index cards in half. I used 3"x5" cards for my booklet.

Tear a piece of tape and join two cards together at the fold.

Join the third folded card to the first two cards.

Rest the joined cards with the spine facing up toward you.

Tear a piece of Washi Tape and attach it to the spine to hold the text block together.

Add more tape to the top and bottom of the spine as you see fit.

I added a little more Washi Tape to the free edge of the cover and used markers to decorate it a little bit.

We are our own worst critics.

Being critical stops us from moving forward.

“When people believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.” ~Norman Vincent Peale

Take these five steps today to be-friend yourself and gain self-worth:

1. Take out a blank page
2. Write: “I am good at:” across the top of the page
3. Create a squiggle border (optional, but fun)
4. Write your list as quickly as you can. Fill the whole page and use more paper if you have to. Don’t edit as you are doing this step.
5. Read the list to yourself. If you find negative statements along the lines of “I am good at messing things up… or I am good at being a no-good, such-and-such” cross those off the list. We are looking for positive, self-worth statements only; things that you would tell a best friend.

Is this a hard thing to do or is it easy for you?

Did anything surprise you as you were writing your list?

Does this feel like a dumb exercise?

Are you resisting doing this? Why?

I would love to hear about your experience in recognizing your self-worth in the comments section below.

A spiral can mean a downward turn or it can be the way up and out.

We are always in motion whether we want to be or not.

Even when we feel stuck we are in motion. At those stuck moments we are just in slow motion, as if we are on a treadmill, not changing location. Time marches on and takes us along for the ride so there is motion but maybe not in the way we see as productive.

We may find our way out only to find our way back in again. Then it is our job to get back up on our feet and find our way to an upward spiral, like a spiral stair case leading up, up, up.

We may get dizzy and have a hard time finding our way.

If you find yourself spinning, know it will not last.

A few weeks ago I showed you this page where I created a tree trunk as a journal page background, created without much fore-thought. It just flowed from my hand.

My willow tree is opposite, it is created with fore-thought – although not much effort went into it as it only took about 10 minutes to create.

The branches of the willow tree make spaces for journal writing when the book is turned sideways.

Music by: “Bouchon (with Les Gauchers Quintet)” by Lee Maddeford (www.leemaddeford.ch)

Where do you find your inspiration? Please comment below.

These messages make excellent journal prompts for writing and because they are statements rather than questions, they have a feeling of being true or close to true.

The question then becomes, “how is this true?’ or “how will this come to be?”

So for “Your present plans are going to succeed.” the thought is then switched to: How? How are my present plans going to succeed?

Another fortune cookie slip from my jar reads, “To reach distant places, you have to take the first step.”  So what will be your first step? If you have already taken your first step, what are the next steps?

Sometimes I just like to reread the little messages and feel fortunate.

At least part of the time.

When I set up the camera, journal, and watercolor pencils (Derwent Inktense) I didn’t have a plan other than I knew I wanted to create some kind of background for a journal page to write on top of later on.

With my first stroke finished I knew where I was going but before that, I had absolutely no idea. If I had waited for inspiration to find me I would have sat at my kitchen countertop and then got up in frustration to make a cup of tea. When I would have come back, a blank page would be there to greet me and mock me.

With no expectations of outcome there is no disappointment or the little voice (or big voice, depending on the day) that says, “That’s crap! That looks nothing like …(the thing you meant to make)”.

Creating journal backgrounds in this way builds trust in intuition. It builds confidence in your creative ability.

Where can you let your intuition lead you to today?