What do you need to do?

Photo Credit: My awesome dad.

I haven’t been in school for awhile, but I feel I’ve just crash-landed after finals weeks.  It might be sympathy stress because my husband just finished his finals after weeks of long days and late nights of homework, but most of it is my own stress.

I learned something about stress this week: If I’m stressed, and if that stress has anything to do with my art, I’m not connected to my passion. I’ve stopped listening to my spirit. If art is stressful to me, that means I am trying to create from a place of fear, not love.

All week long, I’ve been juggling to-do lists and stressing over things I won’t go into here. I haven’t gotten much painting done. I rarely felt that pull to the canvas. No itch.

When I realized this today, I pulled out my notebook and asked myself what I need to do. What does my soul want me to do? The answer came immediately: Back off. Stop attaching to-do lists to my art. Give myself the space to think. Stop worrying about self-imposed deadlines.  Trust my creativity, because when I let myself off the hook and get into a mindset of passion and joy for creating, everything just flows.

So I’m letting go of the expectations I had for this weekend. I can paint all day if I want, but I can take some time to read or go  for a long walk or watch some Christmas movies if I want. The art will come when I’m taken care of.

Now, what about you?

The holidays can be stressful, and sometimes we neglect ourselves because we “have” to do so much. We feel that we have to fulfill our own or someone else’s expectations and that it’s unacceptable to relax and even do nothing if we need to.

Give yourself the gift of peace, and let yourself relax so you can feel like “you” again. Whatever gets you centered and clear, do that. Take some time off from parties and shopping this weekend and give yourself some completely unstructured time. Ask yourself what you really want to do, deep down, and you’ll always find an answer. This works with bigger decisions as well. We all have an internal compass that tries to direct us, even though we forget about it sometimes. Make a habit of noticing when you’re tense or otherwise not in a good place, and ask yourself why. Ask yourself what you need to do.

Then listen.