Over the last couple years or so, I have realized how much stillness and quiet I need in my life. Sometimes I feel it is so much more than most people need. And I have come to be okay with that. When other people still have the energy to visit with friends, to host dinner for family, to attend one more social engagement, I am often ready to find a quiet spot and disconnect, leaving the noise behind me. I am an introvert by nature and this is what happens. I have limited energy for certain things. So I have to take time away to reset, to nourish myself, and to rebuild my energy levels for the next time.

One way I nourish myself is to create. This is a fairly new discovery for me. At least the part of knowing how much creativity nourishes me. I have been artistic for a long time, although only recently found that part of myself again, but I never connected it to nourishment. I began making the connection on days when I would feel overwhelmed by everything I was trying to get done on my “to do” list. I would go into what has now become a sort of “art studio” in my house and pull out my art journal. Sometimes I would start by writing a few words about how I was feeling that day. Sometimes I would just pick a color that expressed how I felt and begin to just make random marks on a page. Before I knew it, expressive images, often abstract, would begin to take over. Suddenly, there was sense of relief, of a more calm and relaxed mind and body. It was in that moment that I made the connection…I needed to create to nourish myself. To bring myself back into a space of calm mind and body. An outward expression that created an inward stillness. Beautiful.