I want to be able to show up in life for my kids and family, and in order to do that I need to take care of my mental health.
Do you know what it looks like when your mental health declines? Fatigue, relationships suffer, isolation, memory loss, confusion, self-harm, prolonged grief, and the list goes on.
Art is my therapy. It does not have to be pretty or understood or look like anything special. It just helps put feelings and emotions that there are no words for, and expessed in color, shapes, and lines where maybe it can help you find the words or the insight to a feeling to help your healing and health journey.
I am doing a FREE virtual/online class doing and inviting you to join in the journey. You do not need any art skills. You just need to show up for an hour or so, with some random paper, colors, colored pencils, watercolors, markers, or whatever is handy for this class.
Interested in using easy art techniques to help you through your journey of those hard feelings, or maybe grief, depression, or struggles in daily life? Leave a comment, or send a DM, sign for email at https://designbydayle.com/classes/
The change of seasons to Spring is like my creative brain. Renewal, growth, care, and color are all showing up again after a cold winter. And my creative brain is doing the same. The S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) is lifting, the longer days are GOOD for me, and that blue sky with the big ball of yellow heat is even better. It is all leading to growth.
I have ideas, so many ideas growing. I know I might not be able to do them all, but here is the current list:
Start offering in-person kids and adult paint parties again in The Barn during warm weather months; then on-location during cold weather months
6-week Art 101 in-person class for ages 5-10 and 11-18
Themed adult paint/craft events in The Barn on Custer Avenue during warm weather months
Online healing, intuitive Art Journaling 6-week course and monthly membership
DIY, maybe: “Doin’ It with Dayle” membership group, featuring DIY projects, painting cabinets, furniture rehab, fixing items, tool time/introduction to tools, contractor interviews, and a community for your questions for fixing and DIY projects in your life
Private, individual in-person or virtual weekly art lessons (already taking appointments)
Online, virtual paint parties
Art and craft take and make kits
6-week Art 101 online or virtual classes for adults, so you know how to do the basics and we can move into more complex techniques
1:1 Family Story Canvas painting (1 family creates a abstract painting reflecting their stories)
Finishing www.designbydayle.com “Shop” section offering some of the above ideas. Please check it out this new site, and sign up to receive email from me to “stay in the know” with all my creative ideas and what comes up. I always love hearing from you on what you need and want to know!
“Just trust me.” We have heard it one time or another. It might have been from a teenager talking back after you have said they cannot do something, or maybe it is jokingly said by your bestie about daring you to do something silly! It signals to our brain to move towards: towards an action, a person, an experience, a financial deal, a product, or whatever it may be. We want to be trusted, we want to trust, and we need the trust to have the connections with everything.
As a business, you need trust to earn a customers’ investment in your product or service. As an individual, in any type of relationship, you need trust to earn your investment in the person and the future of the relationship. And earning it is just like having a savings account earning interest, the more money you put into that savings account, the more the interest grows it. The more time you put into a relationship, the more it grows. Or not. Put a penny in a savings account at .01% interest and see how long it takes to grow to $100. The more you bank, the better the return.
When the bank account is empty, sitting there with a penny in it, you need to make a daily deposit to make a difference. In “trust” terms, that looks like work, just like a 9 to 5 job where you need to put in your time, show up early, stay late, build teamwork, invest in communication skills, being curious by constantly learning and always improving your performance. And just like a 9 to 5, trust is built with intent, motive, your abilities, showing up for the others to complete the job, your track record, and mostly by your character.
Five factors create trust and when a few are missing or slipping, so does that trust. They are understanding, intentions (are they in it to serve an honorable purpose), abilities (do they have the skills, willingness, and knowledge to move forward), character (traits like honesty, integrity, courage, etc.), and accountability (do they show up, keep their word, follow through?). These factors also need to always be in motion, continually be nurtured with actions that go the extra mile so you can move forward.
So, trust me! You need to add pennies to that account. The next time you see a penny laying on the ground it may be “a penny from heaven” reminding you to make an investment in the time, effort, and move toward someone needing a connection.
Ever feel like you have lost your mind, or you are sinking fast? It seems every cold January I go dark and hibernate, but instead of giving into the dark places this year, I am taking time to focus on the quiet. Enjoying creative brainstorming time reflecting on my work, myself, healing a broken foot & setting new goals. And I am not being a sleeping bear this winter. I am finding my soul, instead of letting it slip away and having to crawl out of winter hibernation! (Can you tell as I’m getting older, I am liking cold weather even less?)
My dining table has taken place of my desk. I am redesigning my website, listening to podcasts, reworking my business plans, taking marketing classes from LATI, creating new content for the blog, reading e-books, streaming You-Tube, and writing business goals. My studio had a big change this past year as it changed to a short-term rental, and The Barn on Custer Avenue is quiet at the moment, and that is okay because by the time this hibernation is over, I will have a game plan.
I listened to a podcast where they were discussing “creatives” like myself and how sometimes doing nothing for a bit is just as important as those who work a regular 7am to 6pm job (give or take a few hours depending on your career). As if I was not getting the message from above clearly enough with a broken foot, I was on a long drive listening to an interview on the radio; they were talking about a slow movement, (now being over 50, I’m thinking they are talking about health and bathroom use), but I was wrong! It is also referred to as slow living, focusing on quality of life instead of quantity.
The Slow Movement is a cultural shift to slow our crazy, busy, overworked, hoarding, shopping, overeating, social media addicts’ selves down. I would add a link for if you, but just search “Slow Movement”. Surprisingly, nothing with pooping showed up in my search results! But as we all learned, 2020 proved to be its own “Slow Movement”. Too slow.
All this babbling is leading into what I am learning this month about technology, social media, e-commerce, and blogging. I am learning those of us born before 1975, know how to market, make sales calls, show, and sell product and close the sale IN PERSON. It is the same as today’s marketing culture, yet much different. (Thus=Lose your mind part). Today it is all about finding your story, following your passion, and calling, being vulnerable, branding, collaborating, network marketing online, catch phrases like side-gig, girlboss, DM, and so many more things I am attempting to learn and remember.
My favorite necklace for the past year says Lose Your Mind, Find Your Soul, and that is just what I am doing. I lost my mind when our reality changed about a year ago; I am finding my story. I already know my calling is art and creativity. My art has always been about mental health and starting uncomfortable conversations but figuring out how to do it all in today’s e-commerce world and what is coming, well that may take a few months of cold February’s to figure out!! I am working on the “FIND YOUR SOUL” part, because I’ve got the Lose Your Mind part down.
Now if you want to see how far I have made it in this e-commerce venture, don’t look for this necklace on my website or my retail store any longer, because I am going back to what I was meant to do. ART. BUT the win for the week is that I did get this blog set up. I think. Give the link a try to follow, check my social media pages @daylesundbergart and leave me a comment on something, or “DM” (Is that the right way to say that?)
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