makes me happy

Flowers by my front step

I love seeing these return every year.

A close up photo of the blooms on a lilac tree.
Technically, this is a tree (or a bush) but still, it *is* flowering and I like it. image description: a close-up photo of one set of blooms on a lilac tree. The flowers are light purple and the leaves are lush green.
Bright orange flowers surrounded by leaves.
I think these are some variety of poppy. They have been growing every spring ever since we moved in over 20 years ago. Image description – bright orange flowers with 5 rounded petals blooming amidst greenery.

Decisions, decisions – a good problem to have ;)

This is the kind of evening I dream of when I feel tense or when it feels like the winter will never end.

I’m sitting on my patio on a warm summer night, deciding whether to draw or to read while I drink my (non-alcoholic!) beer.

A photo of a table with a bottle, an ereader and a sketchbook and markers on it.
Image description: a angled-down view of a small red patio table with a bottle of Corona Sunbrew non-alcoholic beer (which is covered in condensation), an e-reader in a blue and gold patterned case, and an open sketchbook with six markers on top of it. In the background there’s another patio chair, the bottom of the railing, and the end of a string of warm white lights.

Just one but no sorrow

Yesterday, a crow kept me company for a while one my walk.

She was unfazed by me and by the dog as she sat on this branch by the sidewalk.

A crow sitting on an evergreen branch.
I’m zoomed in a bit here but this feels more like how close she was that the photo that isn’t zoomed in. Image description: some evergreen tree trunks with grass beneath on a sunny day. A black crow is sitting on one of the closest branches.

I’m not exactly afraid of the blank page…

I have heard a lot of writers and artists talk about the terror or intimidation they feel when facing the blank page.

I get what they mean but my challenges with getting started don’t really manifest that way.

A blank page is full of possibilities, I could put anything on there!

I get stuck in pre-draft mode though, imagining that I need to do a lot more thinking than I actually do before beginning a project.

I’ve learned that there is no point in my thinking process when I’ll say ‘Time to get this down on paper!’ Instead, I have to pick a time and get started, even if I fill my paper with doodles or my screen with rambly text.

Sooner or later (usually sooner) something will click and I’ll have a place to start.

Then I start (literally or metaphorically) moving that idea closer or further from the other ideas I have and the action of moving that idea around helps the others fall into place.

But getting myself to that point where I will commit something to paper or to screen can be a challenge so I have started ‘ruining’ my page* to help me get started.

On the screen, I’ll type (or dictate) the question I’m trying to address or I’ll copy a quote or I’ll type what I *don’t* want to say about this topic an why I don’t want to say it.

On the page, I’ll make some weird headings or if it is a drawing, I’ll add a line that has nothing to do with what I’m trying to create. (The line below is in ink because I am just playing, I might do it in pencil for a drawing for a public purpose.)

a top-down view of a notebook, a silver-coloured teapot, a cup of tea, and a spoon on a wooden table.?
Image description: a top-down photo of a notebook, a silver-coloured teapot, a cup of tea, and a spoon on a wooden table. The cup is decorated with tentacles on the outside, and small drawings of people clinging to the edge on the inside. The notebook has a thin, curvy black line drawn from side to side on the open page. The line looks like a very sloppy W.

Once I have ‘ruined’ my page, I find it a lot easier to break out of thinking mode and into doing mode.

And my friends and coaching clients who are intimidated by the blank page find the same thing.

Something about getting those first marks out of the way helps me (and them) get to the next steps.

I highly recommend ruining your work.

*I teach a workshop called ‘start by ruining it’ – it’s big fun!

Finally, the day I’ve been waiting for!

Khalee is somehow both vigilant and relaxed in the yard.

A light haired dog sitting in the grass and sniffing the air on a sunny day.
Image description: a sunshine-y photo of Khalee, my light-haired medium-sized dog, is wearing a fun purple cooling scarf while she sits in the grass (a low kind of sitting, with her belly on the ground and her back paws under her) while she sniffs the air and looks to the left of the photo.

And I am sitting on my patio mat about to do some yoga.

It’s warm, I drank my tea outdoors, and I feel relaxed.

It’s finally summer!