The stencil talked to me. It had a very important message that I needed to be reminded of at just the right time.

Too much leftover paint on the palette led me to some very fast and somewhat sloppy stenciling with the  Use Your Words stencil. Notice all the paint that ran under it.  I adore that because it every time I use a stencil it is unique – never exactly same.

Next I grabbed a variety markers and loosely colored in each word.  I forgot to grab a camera so you’re going to have to imagine that step….

The words needed something more so I outlined them with a dark blue paint and a very fine brush.

And then it happened.  The brush was over loaded with paint and the Oops happened right on the L in “listen”.

Well, an Oops is just an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly so I went with it and added more paint to the other letters.

The painting was talking to me.  Reminding me to listen, to be present.  But it had more to say.

As I photographed the canvas for this post I found a word that was never outlined.  I have looked at this many times and never noticed that little word was without an outline.

Reminding me with an artistic whisper to become.  Become what?  Who knows but I will keep moving forward just as the painting moves forward.

This painting is a work in  progress, it has yet to become everything it will be.  Not sure where it is going, but that isn’t important as long as I listen to the painting and let it guide me.  What messages has your muse been sending you lately?

Have you ever felt frozen by fear when you are trying to be creative?  I  have.  I fought the fear.  Battled it.  I thought fear was the enemy.   It wasn’t.  It was how I was dealing with the fear that was the problem.

Fighting the fear didn’t work for me so I tried acknowledging it- dare I say embracing it. Those fears just wanted to be heard. Once they were, then I was free to create.

I decided I needed a special place for those fears.  I used Eileen Hull’s 3D Cubes die to build a box to hold these fears.  A place to remind me that FEAR is just Feelings Expressed Allows Relief.  The video shows how this box came together.

Watch How to handle the fear when being creative on YouTube.

Some days I have a whole lot fears to write down.  Other days just one or two.  Some fears only show up once and others seem to appear ever day.  It doesn’t matter how many I have to write down because there is no magic number or limit.  It is whatever I need.

Next time you feel any fear think of it as a reminder that Feelings Expressed Allows Relief!

Supplies Used:

• 3D Cube Die
• Mini Blade 01
• Acrylic Paint
• Sharpie Poster-Paint Markers
• Scotch colored masking tape
• Xyron Double Sided Tape, 1/4-Inch
• Xyron Double Sided Tape, 1/2-Inch Width by 29-Feet