7 Steps to Art Happiness

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I believe art is a great healer, mediator, teacher, and self-care strategy on so many levels. Living in urban areas, I’ve seen and participated in revitalizing neighborhoods with art (unfortunately, sometimes with gentrification consequences). I’ve also seen how art revitalizes individual’s hearts and souls and in some cases led to wonderful livelihoods. So you can see I’m a big fan of art. These are my 7 steps for art happiness:


1. Do a small line drawing first thing and without judgment when you wake up and see where it takes you (write about it afterwards if you like). Try just starting with that line and don’t lift your pen till it’s finished.
2. Make a balancing radiating mandala with everything balanced and repeated on each side so that there is no one right side (they’re all the same). These are very calming and a form of meditation to both make and look at.
3. Make your own affirmation or inspiration cards on 5”x8” card stock or matt board with magazine collage, meaningful words or quotes, and glitter glue. Make one every week so that at the end of the year you have a deck of cards to draw from and inspire you each day with exactly what you need to hear.
4. Create your own guardian angel in whatever medium you like and when you’re tired or having a hard time, imagine her coming down and embracing and comforting you in her wings.
5. If you’re angry, either make yourself a “rage and anger” box where you can write or draw about whatever is upsetting you and put it in the box rather than acting upon it; or, make big angry black ink drawings to get that anger out and away from you. Burn these or store them in your rage and anger box. You can easily make these out of old wooden boxes from the thrift store or cigar boxes from the smoke shop.
6. Make yourself a wish box, and a gratitude box, and every day make a list or drawing for each of these
7. Do each of these things and then come up with some more.

 
If you do them with an open heart and a self-loving uncritical mind (these are process pieces for yourself), I can almost guarantee that you will experience art happiness : )