Nourish your Soul!

When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life. Jean Shinoda Bolen

Ah! My girlfriends and my art come to mind. Many of the girls I graduated high school with have recently reconnected thru Facebook and dinners and movies. What a joy! Though many years have passed and many events have taken place that molded and made us the women we are now, the laughter and personalities are still intact! We all lead busy, productive lives yet we make the time to get together as often as we can to catch up and encourage one another thru current happenings. Now, instead of crushes, sleepovers, and lunchtime gossip, it's marriage, divorce, children, grandchildren, aches and pains of aging, and ... still, sleepovers and dinnertime gossip!! LOL! Though, I must say, the gossip part has changed to a more "What's so-and-so up to these days" along with concern and joy and encouraging advice or words of wisdom and planning the next get-together! What a fun group of women to share popcorn, oh! and Butterfingers with! I can't end this paragraph without mentioning the many girlfriends I have in my neighborhood and otherwise. Sharing birthday lunches monthly and getting together at one another's homes to break bread, share a bottle of wine and giggle the night away! Also, the girls and friendships I've made on Facebook as well. I haven't met many of them personally, but we have bonded nonetheless. I think a FB Reunion is in the cards! It would be a "re" union cause we did afterall first "meet" on FB!! What a party it would be if we all converged in one place!

Another area I've made room for is my artwork. After being gently nudged...no, prodded! by my family to step out into the public eye three years ago, I have grown in so many ways. I'm not as shy as I used to be! I have a lot more courage than I used to have. I finally get it.....your friends aren't gonna dis-own you if you paint something they don't like. They may not hit the "like" button but they are still there to encourage you! And, wow! When they do hit the "like" button and say you blew their mind with that piece....well, just.... Wow! I've only recently come to realize how much I coveted responses from fellow artists too. I suppose that is my own personal measure of success. Though it shouldn't be the yardstick I gauge my work by. Perhaps that is the way in every profession ... approval/ acceptance/ recognition by those in the same field. I so need to get over that! After all, it is the purchase of a piece that ultimately brings personal rewards and recognition in my book! Not just the sales....but the joy that a piece of art brings into someones life. That probably sounds sappy, but I don't know how else to put it. I love interacting with my customers whether at art shows or on Facebook. To hear and read feedback and see a face light up along with a "I want this" and the piece finding a new home, makes it all so much more rewarding than a local write up in the paper would.

I'm glad I was nudged out of my comfort zone and have taken chances. I have already achieved a lot in a short period of time and still have a lot to learn. And, except for the aches and pains of aging, I'm lovin every minute of it! It truly does nourish my soul and bring joy to my life!