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How Not to Turn Crazy This Holiday Season

This time of year, I am particularly prone to “hamster wheel brain” and “chicken with my head cut off syndrome”.  I mean, let’s be honest here, I’m prone to it all year long.  So, add in multiple deadlines, revenue goals, holiday cards (both personal and professional), Christmas gift shopping, all the events and parties, and the one enjoyable task on my holiday to do list, pie baking, and I am ripe for anxiety overload. Self-care is important this time of year and I mustn’t let that go slack, that’s for damn sure.

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art, art therapy, contemporary art, creative, exercise, faith, fear and art, fear of failure, forward momentum, Gratitude, love yourself, meditation, mindfulness, negative thinking, Ocean, ocean art, pacific northwest, surf art, surf paintings, surfboard, surfergirl, surfing, west coast artist

Warding Off Holiday Stress by Creating Joyful Art

Love, laughs, and joy is all I want to surround myself with right now.  I want reminders of the light.  I need to be nurtured by positivity.  My art for the holidays is all about that nurturing, especially heading into the new year.

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art, art therapy, contemporary art, creative, fear and art, forward momentum, Gratitude, surf art, surf paintings, surfboard, surfergirl, surfing

Four Reasons to Speak Your Truth, No Matter What Others Think

I wish I had learned this lesson when I was in my teens, or twenties, or earlier in my thirties for that matter.  The fact is the damage that I inflicted upon myself by not speaking my truths, was FAR WORSE than the damage that anyone else’s opinion ever inflicted upon me.  I was my own bully.  I allowed the infinite “what if” scenarios to be the decision makers. 

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Tags: a letter, abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art, art therapy, contemporary art, depression, Expectations, faith, fear, fear and art, fear of failure, forward momentum, Gratitude, I was a promiscuous teen, inspiration, loneliness, love yourself, negative thinking, reclaimed hearts, speak your truth, tortured artist, truth bombs, west coast artist

Thank God for This Particular Anxiety Symptom

Anxiety often tells me that I don’t do enough and I don’t do good enough. In turn, I am extremely detail oriented and so paranoid about doing right by myself and others, that I will work myself to the bone to make sure that I am giving one million percent of myself at all times. It’s an excellent way to burn out.  But it also makes me strong in a crisis situation.

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art, art therapy, be of service, Community, community service, contemporary art, Control Freak, creative, faith, Family, fear, fear and art, fear of failure, forward momentum, getting organized, Gratitude, love yourself, mindfulness, negative thinking, reclaimed hearts, west coast artist

Three Steps to Move Through Overwhelm and Gain Clarity and Strength

I have figured out three steps that I take when anxiety and overwhelm strike, that help me break everything down into manageable actions.  Oddly, these steps have nothing to do with organizing or making lists.  Those are procedures that come out of clarity. The three steps that I am referring to help me gain that clarity and in turn, strength and confidence to deal with the various shit shows that arrive unexpectedly.

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art therapy, contemporary art, depression, exercise, Expectations, faith, fear, fear and art, forward momentum, getting organized, Gratitude, hearts, inner critic, loneliness, love yourself, meditation, mindfulness, negative thinking, ocean art, pacific northwest, reclaimed hearts, rest and relaxation, routine, surfergirl, tortured artist, west coast artist

How Speaking My Truth Reduced My Anxiety Level by Half

I was talking to my friend, and I told her about how feeling better is great and my temptation during these high times is to announce, “ALL FIXED!” to the world and move on with my life in a permanent state of bliss and peace.  But in the back of my head, I know it’s a cycle.  I know there will be another down swing at some point.  Then I thought…does there have to be? 

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art, art therapy, artist, contemporary art, creative, depression, fear, fear and art, fear of failure, forward momentum, Gratitude, hearts, I was a promiscuous teen, inspiration, love yourself, metoo, negative thinking, reclaimed hearts, tortured artist, west coast artist

How My Anxiety Strategies Are Saving Me Both Reactively and Proactively

I know that my feelings are my feelings, and they come from me.  At the same time, I know that not all of my feelings are the truth, and I can call them out as false if I just engage in a little conversation with them.  Sometimes, I find both truth and false in the feeling, but then I can decide what to do based on that distinction, rather than based on an overblown and sometimes imaginary feeling. Cool, huh?

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Tags: a letter, abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art therapy, contemporary art, depression, faith, fear, fear and art, Feminist, forward momentum, Gratitude, hearts, I was a promiscuous teen, inner critic, love yourself, meditation, mindfulness, negative thinking, ocean art, reclaimed hearts, surf art, whale art

Two Effective Anxiety Strategies That I Found on a Roadmap

I just finished 25 pieces of art for my recent Love Club series (see photo above), creating an online shop, and I’m in the middle of launching a sale that I have been marketing for a month.  The Love Clubs took twice as long to finish as I thought they would and so I’ve been working nine to 14 hour days for the past nine days straight to get all of this completed.

And I had to do all of this on the tail end of one of the worst and longest anxiety rages that I have experienced in a long time.  One that ended me up in my Dr’s office. I’m tired…but I have to say, I feel pretty great, and I wanted to report in with you regarding my newly adopted strategies in self-care. 

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art therapy, artist, contemporary art, depression, faith, fear, fear and art, fear of failure, Feminist, Gratitude, hearts, love club, love yourself, mindfulness, negative thinking, NOLA Girl, SSDGM, Visual Deterrent, west coast artist

Saying “Hello,” to My Anxiety Instead of Wishing It Away

“Are you God?” The stare she was giving was one of the most intense looks I have ever seen on a person.  “You think you can control how you feel?  You think you can just make yourself not angry, sad, or unsure?” With those four questions, she blew me open, and I had an entirely different view of how I perceived myself.  

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art, art therapy, artist, contemporary art, Control Freak, creative, depression, exercise, Expectations, faith, fear, fear and art, fear of failure, Feminist, forward momentum, love club, love yourself, meditation, mindfulness, negative thinking, tortured artist, west coast artist

Allowing the Ebb and Flow of Anxiety and Growth

This past week, I slipped into old patterns, and ended up in my doctor’s office due to out of control anxiety.  I was pretty sure that what I was experiencing was anxiety, but when you feel like you’re having a heart attack, it helps to have a professional tell you that you aren’t actually dying. 

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Tags: abstract art, abstract expressionism, abstract painting, anxiety, art therapy, contemporary art, Control Freak, creative, depression, exercise, faith, fear, fear and art, fear of failure, Feminist, forward momentum, Gratitude, hearts, inner critic, loneliness, love club, love yourself, meditation, mixed media, negative thinking, Ocean, ocean art, outdoors, pacific northwest, process, reclaimed hearts, rest and relaxation, sobriety, surf art, surfergirl, tortured artist, west coast artist