DAY 15: YOUR HAPPY PLACE

Welcome to Day 15 of the Painting Challenge!

Today we’re doing our third and last word prompt of this Painting Challenge and we’re focusing on your happy place.

There’s a mindfulness to a painting practice that involves the setting and the actual doing. In the blog post 7 ways to get unstuck I share that walking into my studio and adjusting my easel and gathering the supplies I need lets my mind know it’s time to paint with intention and ease. Before I had a studio, I set up my space in my bedroom or at the dining table. The intention and mindfulness behind the practice are what matters most.

I recently did a meditation that walked me to my happy place that looked similar to my vegetable and flower garden in the middle of summer. That time when the cosmos and the purple beans are overflowing, when the bees are singing with joy and I dance with the humming birds. It’s magical and truly a happy place while even more enhanced during the guided meditation I did.

Think of a time and place where you felt really happy and relaxed. Take a pause and allow it to show itself to you. Did you feel peaceful and calm? Warm and cozy? Maybe safe? Or quiet? In your mind, you can visit this place whenever you like. What does it smell like? What sounds can you hear in your happy place? Are you in the mountains surrounded by beautiful vistas, by the ocean or on a field? What are you wearing? What colors do you see? Are there any birds? Is it sunny? Focus on that calm, safe and joyful feeling you have in your happy place.

The purpose of today’s challenge isn’t to create a gorgeous painting of what you’re seeing in your mind’s eye. It’s to capture the essence of this wonderful happy place on your canvas and spend time with that feeling of joy while you paint.

If this is a day where you don’t feel like painting or don’t like today’s challenge… paint anyway. Pick another subject from a previous day or continue working on a challenge. The days you don’t feel like painting is probably the days you need to paint the most. Allow yourself to just be in your creative space as you are in that moment.

The Painting Practice

Remember to turn off your phone notifications before you start.

  1. Now picture your happy, relaxed place. Think about the things you saw in your Happy Place.
  2. Sketch out the bare bones of what you saw in your Happy Place. Remember the goal is to create something that means something to you, to spend more time in what the essence of your happy place feels like to you. Leave any expectations of creating something pretty or perfect behind. It would take me weeks to recreate my happy place. I would imagine how son would do this when he was 5-year old. That gets me into the playful mode.
  3. Choose your colors and be curious about what will come out of this practice.
  4. Now, set a gentle timer and paint for 20 minutes for some meditative joy and playful painting. We’re going for fun and not perfection.
  5. Sign your painting.

SHARE YOUR CREATION:

Take a photo of today’s painting and share it with your community. I’d love to celebrate what you created with you.

As you share, I’d love to hear:

  • Where is your happy place?
  • How did it feel to paint the essence of a place rather than trying to recreate it perfectly?
  • Were you able to connect with some of the joy, peace, or comfort you feel there?

If you feel inspired to continue painting beyond 20 minutes, please do. I’d love to hear about that, too.