For me, painting has always been a great escape. I generally find it calming but sometimes heading out to a studio when you have a goal in mind can be daunting and not as relaxing as you want it to be. I’ve recently realised I need to expand my toolkit for finding these moments of peace in my day.
Here are three things I did this morning instead of painting...
1. Journaling.
This one’s new to me and I still feel a bit silly doing it, if I’m honest. It’s the perfectionist in me - even though I know no one else is going to read it, I feel like somehow I’m not doing it right. But having been building this practice for a couple of months, I genuinely can notice when I skip r a few days, suddenly my mind gets over busy and I find it hard to enjoy the moment.
2. Meditation.
I’ve dabbled with this in the past but recently found it to be one of the best ways I can spend my time if I’m feeling overwhelmed creeping in. I don’t manage to still my mind completely yet but definitely feel so much more rested afterwards.
3. Picking one thing to focus on.
For me today, this was something that I had been putting off for weeks. Having journaled and meditated, I realised that although a big part of me wanted to go out to the studio and paint, actually I would feel better overall if I got this job done.
And when I finished these three things there was hardly any time to paint! I very nearly didn’t try, but another thing I’ve realised is that even just taking a few minutes to do a little bit of painting (or any of these practices) can feel like an achievement and make a difference to my day. The small steps add up afterall.
Do you suffer from overwhelm? Drop your top tips in the comments - I'd love to hear them
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