Dear Friends,

Today is the most important of all the days in this series.  It is about enjoying and appreciating every moment that is given to us.  It is our final day in the series and I am throwing colorful virtual confetti!  Thank you so much for being with me this week.  If you missed a day, you can find it here.  Day 1     Day 2     Day 3     Day 4     Day 5

I’ve written on the previous days about scheduling and planning what we need to create, so before I get started with today’s blog post, I want to just mention that I ran across a list of free calendars that you can print off which are absolutely beautiful.  If you run across this post at a later time, I don’t know if this list will still be available, but for now, you can get to it HERE.

Let’s briefly revisit day 1 for a moment.  We wrote down what did and didn’t work for us during 2016.  If you found your list of things that didn’t work well for you to be longer than you like, or if you are looking for ways to improve those situations so they are not repeated, I have a list of suggestions that may be of help.

1. Begin each day with a statement of gratitude. “Thank you God for this beautiful day.”  “Today is going to be a great day.”  What we place in our minds first thing sets the tone for how our day will be.  It may be cold and raining outside but if we wake up and say, “this is a beautiful day,” our mind will find things throughout the day that are beautiful.
2. Write 3 things down each day that you appreciate.  Of course you appreciate your family and your home, but look for the little things in life like seeing that perfect six pointed snowflake, the creaminess and sweetness of your morning coffee, or the crisp look of your freshly made bed.  This little exercise takes only a minute and will train your brain to see beauty even in our darkest days.
3. Keep your creative calendar that we have been making handy and schedule in specific creative time for yourself.  During this time the focus is only on you and enjoying the creative moment.
4. Look for little 15 to 20 minute pockets of time in which you can be creative.  Take along some knitting or hand embroidery to the doctor’s office to work on while you are in the waiting room.  Those little pockets of time really add up and it is surprising how many projects can be completed by just working on them in short chunks.
5. Limit the negative thoughts that come into your head.  Turn off the doom and gloom news.  You can get all the important information just be scanning the headlines of news on your computer.  You can do that in 2 minutes vs 30 minutes of news on the TV.
6. Learn to focus and not multi-task.  Learn to really give your attention to one thing at a time and not be distracted to the e-mail and text messaging bells and beeps.
7. Take a walk outdoors.  Even if it is just to the end of your driveway and back.  Deep breaths of fresh air and a simple change of scenery can do wonders for our soul.
8. Find the enjoyment and creativity in all things.  Appreciate the beauty of a freshly dusted shelf and add to it something seasonal.  Enjoy the process of cooking a healthy meal and the beauty of the food we eat.  Find ways to infuse creativity into work outside the home, even if the only way you can is by wearing a special necklace or setting a plant on your desk.
9. Finally, Smile.

I hope you have enjoyed this series and that it helps bring to you a very beautiful and creative 2017.  May it be your most creative year ever!

With love and blessings to each of you,

Nancy

Be creative daily and live life beautifully