Beds, Symbols, & Books You MUST, MUST Own

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I’m feeling a bit sad and even nostalgic (already!) because 21 SECRETS LIVE! comes to a final end this Wednesday.

Since January we have been meeting every Wednesday for a live class with one of an amazing line-up of teachers.  I’ll be sharing some of the tid-bits of wisdom I gained from this beautiful experience in the upcoming weeks.

For today I wanted to share with you my experience being a host–but most of all a student to the 21 SECRETS LIVE! workshop with Rachel Awes (and if you jump on over to her blog today you’ll see what she has to say too!)

The sketchbook spread I share above and below was created under Rachel’s loving guidance.  Her theme for us was “attending to the ordinary”.

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  This couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

Rachel asked us to pick something in our repertoire of self-care that was being neglected and make art around it.  For me, it wasn’t a mystery—it’s  sleep and rest, without a doubt!

Interestingly, after awhile of doodling along, I started to realize that this wasn’t the first time that I made art around a bed!

Actually the first time I ever did so was way back in art school.  I remember receiving some kind of exercise from a professor that involved pulling a phrase or a word out of a hat and then illustrating that.

I got bed.

Then decades later and Hansel and I finally purchased our first “real” bed…no longer were we sleeping on some cheapy futon (or a mattress on the floor even).  I was so excited about this big purchase and step into “adulthood” for us  that I made a painting of our bed that still hangs in our living room!

Though, after this big realization I also picked up some other juicy tid-bits too…

 

1.  Our lives are absolutely OVERFLOWING with inspiration for art making!!!!

I mean c’mon–what’s the chance that I’d make not once, not twice, but three times art work around a bed?!  Think of all the possibilities of stuff you cherish and are significant to you in your life that can fuel your art work.  You will never have to look at another Pinterest board for inspiration again!!!

2.  Our personal symbols gotta magical way of creeping back to us again & again!!!!

This one is huge.  HUGE!  Without even thinking about it the symbol of a bed has appeared in my life three times in my art–that I can recall!  After I received this last visitation of this symbol during Rachel’s 21 SECRETS LIVE! show, I sat down and did a little journaling around what the bed could possibly mean.  I took an internal look at the times it showed up before and reflected on why it was showing up now.  What I learned is that the bed is really more than just a bed.

But I intend to leave the meaning behind it for myself, thank you!

With that said, I wanted to share with you as well Rachel’s two amazing books:  All I Did Was Listen and Diving In.  

All I Did Was Listen, as you can see in the photo above, is quite well loved in my home.  This book has meant so much to me and arrived in my hands (and heart) during a time in my life where it was much needed.  This book will lift you up and inspire you with each page.  I can not recommend it enough–everyone should own a copy!!

And second, Diving In is Rachel’s latest release and it is a bit different than All I Did Was Listen but just as powerful and inspirational.  What I love about this book is that I was able to digest it literally in one sitting and since then it sits next to my bed (no pun intended) where I love to read it before going to sleep.

Last, here’s the cute diddy Miss Rachel created during our 21 SECRETS LIVE! class!  You can read more about her experience by visiting her blog HERE!

Happy art journaling everyone!

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