This week, I finished this...

Oh, man. It was SO.MUCH.FUN!!

It took me some time to do, because lately, my time has been SO limited when it comes to getting my doodle painting calm on.

And, let me tell ya, I've been CRAVING some nourishing doodle painting ME time like crazy!!

Because D works long hours, and when he is home, he's ALWAYS on duty calls, which means, for non-military folk, that he has his work phone on him so he can be available for any calls that come in. No matter what we're doing; out on the town, hanging out together as a family in the living room, eating dinner...whatever, he has to stop and leave us to attend to the call.

Not always fun, especially when your 4-year-old doesn't understand he has to leave us to be on "work" calls all the time. She gets sad a lot when this happens. :(

Sometimes these calls can be short and sweet and sometimes these calls can last hours or even the entire day.

So, yeah, my ME time is VERY VERY limited. Yep!!

Because I'm CRAVING more painting time, we've finally come up with a plan that will allow me to paint more. Even though it's not a set-in-stone plan, because we never know what'll come up, it's definitely one that can work.

I LOVE to paint after my kiddos go to bed at night. I get SO much more nourishment from doodling when the house is quiet and I have no distractions or anyone needing me.

Because I lay in bed with C every night so she can fall asleep (she's still in her scared of the dark/monster phase) I usually come out of her room around 8:30 or so and I'm SO SO tired! My brain is mush and my eyes are blurry and I just hit the bed.

If I do paint when I feel like this, it's just not the same. My body and mind just want to sleep...so it's better that I leave the paints for another time.

But, because I can feel my insides yelling at me to paint more, because it's CRAVING those AMAZING benefits, D and I finally figured out that some time on the weekend, either during the day or in the evening, while he plays with the kiddos, I can sneak away into our room and paint for a little bit. (with ear plugs in and my headphones one...I'm not even kidding!! lol)

He always tells me that I can go out on the town to get a break, but I ALWAYS tell him, I only need 3 things, which all have me being ALONE: sleep, stillness (meaning I'm either inside, on my comfy couch or bed, outside, in nature, with my feet up and not moving for hours!!) and doodling!!

I've got the sleep part some what in place (going to bed early, but C comes in every night and wakes us up...ha!)...still working at that stillness...but now, doodling seems to be working out more.

I've doodle painted twice since we've discussed our little plan and it's seems to be working well! Hip hip HOORAY!!

The first day I started with my flowers that I always do. Again, my time is SO limited, so I choose something I know is not going to have me think much and something I know that'll easily get my calm on.

When my time is limited I must choose wisely! :)

Yep! Flowers...that I always doodled in high school and still do to this day are always the winner. (Whatever you paint doesn't have to be hard...just choose something you LOVE to doodle while you're waiting on hold on the phone or what you doodled in your high school history notebook).

I need to get better at taking more of the "painting in process" pictures because you've gotta see all the changes that a painting go through because of connecting more and more with my inner, creative sparks and fun ideas begin to flow....but, after two weeks of getting some time to play with these flowers, here's how they came out in the end.

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I just LOVE it!! I'm BEAMING with BIG BIG SMILES over here because I'm SO SO excited to share it here with you!! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE IT!!! WOOHOO!!! :):)

But, check this out...

BEFORE starting this painting I felt...

❀ exhausted.
❀ depleted of energy.
❀ stressed from all the mommy demands that were coming my way.
❀ stuck on what I wanted to paint.
❀ nowhere near creative.
❀ my mind was spinning in overwhelmed thoughts.

while, GETTING MY PAINTING ON, I started FEEL...

❀ happier
❀ more creative because I was starting to connect with colors that FELT good to me and ideas on how I wanted to painted to flowers started to flow through me...like, "Yes! I'll paint the flowers purple and pink and then I'll add pink and purple to the white outline" ....something I never do...I usually leave the outline all white.
❀ a little less tight and constricted...shoulders didn't feel as heavy as they did when I first started and my neck not as stiff...my body started to ease up and my breathing was slow and deep and feeling more calm.
❀ like my thoughts were calming and I was starting to have "THIS IS SO FUN" thoughts!
❀ a smile on my face.

then, when I was DONE, I felt...

❀ oh, so happy!!!
❀ I wanted to run and find my husband and give him a BIG hug and kiss and thank him for giving me this time to myself.
❀ and BIG smile on my face and I couldn't remember what I was SO stuck in a funk about...uh, what was I stressed about again?
❀ at ease and so much more calm.
❀ naturally energized!
❀ more creatively confident!!

Getting your doodle painting on is SO SO powerful.

At first, your mind will tell you all the reasons why this isn't something you should be doing because in adult life, there's SO much more better things to do, right???

You'll also look at your painting and think, "OH!! This sucks!! I can't paint!" (Oh, and just so you know, one of the most WONDERFUL things about painting is, if you don't like it, paint over it!! Oh yeah!! Who knew!! ;) )

Then, all of a sudden, after about 10 minutes or so, or however deep your mental funk gunk is, a shift happens and you start FEELING GOOD and you start having FUN and you begin to LOVE what you're creating (and this shift will happen sooner than 10 minutes or so the more you get your doodle on!!).

And in the end, not only have you've created something AWESOME, but you've...

❀ calmed yourself.
❀ easily melted away your stress so you can focus on all the good that fills your life.
❀ ignited your inner, creative sparks that help you connect to what brings you JOY and what you're truly PASSIONate about in life.
❀ energized yourself.
❀ naturally put a huge smile on your face that is beaming with JOY and you can't seem to make go away.
❀ reconnected to your inner child and you're feeling oh-so giddy again!!
❀ ignited your positive thoughts and you SEE more of the beauty that surrounds you each and every day.
❀ become more of the calm, happy + present you're SO meant to be!

The more you get your doodle, calm on, the easier these awesome feelings come to you and the easier they stay with out all throughout the day, way beyond your time with the "doodle."

We're never gonna be 100% stress free, but boy, when we add fun creative play like this, we sure can handle the stress in a much more calm way. Now, this I know for sure, because I'm someone who gets easily stressed and can focus on the overwhelm for hours on end.

So yeah, getting your calm on really can be that easy!! Promise!!

Here's to getting your doodle calm on....Cheers!

OH, and one more thing. Your work doesn't have to be perfect. Just look back up at my flower painting again. Do you see on the pink flower where I used a darker shade of pink for the dots??? Yep! I didn't even notice that I did this until right before I took the picture of it.

LOL! I had NO idea while I was painting. I was SO focused on the FUN!! It doesn't matter, because the only thing that matters is that I calmed my mind, melted my stress away, that I was smiling BIG and that I became a much happier and present mama to my kids, my hubs and myself! NO rules! NO grades! Just colorful, calming, FUN! :)

Until next time... Life IS creatively, awesome...SAVOR it up!