Nurture Oneself

For those of you that have spent any time on an airplane, the following statement will sound very familiar.

“In the event of an emergency, an oxygen mask will drop down. Passengers are instructed to make sure their masks are on first before assisting other passengers or children."

Last week I was lucky enough to travel down to the National Art Educators Association Conference in Forth Worth, Texas. It was such a wonderful trip. So informative and inspiring. We met awesome people and made some really great connections as well as squeezing in some time to catch up with some old friends.

Anyway ... back to the statement form the plane. As I heard the stewardess going through the normal pre-flight routine, the phrase seemed to get stuck in my head.

Of course that makes sense to assist yourself first ... so that you are properly able to help those in need. You would of course would want a strong, healthy person caring for others. But why just in the case of oxygen masks? Why not always? If we take time to take care of ourselves and nurture ourselves in both mind and body then we will all be stronger, healthier, and ultimately have more to give to others. Right? But of course this is something that many of us so easily loose sight of. It somehow became looked at as selfish when in reality the act of nurturing oneself is bold, courageous, smart, and quite the opposite of selfish.

The trip continued on and this theme of taking care of oneself and nurturing oneself again came up. At this point I am thinking, this has gotta be a sign for me to to listen. So this time, it is my Mom speaking while her and Rick are giving a workshop at the conference. This conference is attended mostly by art teachers. People you would assume love to create art, but when they asked, "how many of them were currently creating art?" the response was slim to none. What? Is this really true? But yes the reality is ... you give give give and then all of a sudden you forget what it was that brought you to this very place. Your love for art ... the power of creativity ... the rush of it all.

It is so true. It is so easy to get out of the routine, to put things on the shelf, to whip out excuses  why you are not creating ... and then before you know it ... it is gone.

I am so guilty of all of this. Zentangle has become my tool for me to keep my hand in it. It gives me a chance to be all about me ... even if it is for only 15 minutes. It gives me somewhere to start. It reminds my hand, my body, and my soul what it feels like to create and get lost in my unique marks. And it shows me that it was worth taking a little time for me ... and ultimately makes me a stronger, happier and more confident person with more passion and energy for all the people I love.

Below are two tiles done at different times during the trip to Texas without referencing the other. I was so amazed when I later looked at them together to see how they fit:

Nurture thyself ... tap back into it. Be creative, be awesome, beautiful ... whatever it is that art makes you ... and ultimately that passion and artistry will illuminate on to others.

Smiles,
Molly 

PS ... Just loved Forth Worth ... a very sweet little city deep in the heart ..... of Texas.