Discovering Breadcrumbs

Picasso once said "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." Which brings me to the idea of self discipline. Without it, I'd never improve (in any area in my life) and it's probably my favorite tool in self care. And it does have to do with self care. Because when you love yourself, care for yourself, you do things that are good for you or that will take you where you want to be. You can't keep doing this though without self discipline. It is what will keep you going when the hard hits, or the inspiration and motivation are lacking. And as you create, work, do things because of self discipline, you'll find yourself moving past the ruts, past the hard parts and back into momentum.

See the Art from the Cultivate Project:

It is the progress we make that is the reward. Why do you think often it is never enough to receive the reward? If the reward is in the process and progression we make then the fruit of that is the extra icing on top making it all much sweeter.

See the Art from the Cultivate Project:

Hey  there, welcome to season 2 of Discovering Breadcrumbs. This is a part  of the Cultivate Project, a once a month project where I explore  practices and mindsets we can cultivate for growth. And this month we're  talking about Elevation. I started this as an exploration of lettering art  and illustration. As I created the art, discovered words that flowed out  with the art. This podcast is the place where I share those words. You  can see the art in the link below. And I'd love it if you followed along  in my journey by signing up for my weekly emails.

See the Art from the Cultivate Project:

Hey there, welcome to season 2 of Discovering Breadcrumbs. This is a part of the Cultivate Project, a once a month project where I explore practices and mindsets we can cultivate for growth. And this month we're talking about REST. I started this as an exploration of lettering art and illustration. As I created the art, discovered words that flowed out with the art. This podcast is the place where I share those words. You can see the art in the link below. And I'd love it if you followed along in my journey by signing up for my weekly emails.

See the Art from the Cultivate Project:

As we lead into this holiday season, the one word that comes up over and again is joy. We hear it and yet somehow often in this season, we don't live it. And I think for many of us we don't live it all the year round. But it's important that we do cultivate joy during this season and certainly the entire year round.

And if we can cultivate an inner joy during one of the busiest times of the year it should become a habit that we hold onto all year.

It may be cliché that I'm choosing to talk about gratitude at this time of year, but I think it's important. While well meaning ideas on gratitude through November and Thanksgiving Day are great, I think we tend to go back to our old mindsets and anxieties very soon after. Often with the busyness of the holidays our old ways of complaint and narrow perspective are compacted. So I want to make sure, that when you begin this month thinking about gratitude, you carry it over into the holidays and make it a true life changing habit.

Once we get comfortable with our weaknesses and our strengths and all of the in between, it leaves room for acceptance. Acceptance of who we have been, who we are, and most importantly who we want to become. Acceptance is about wholeness. And acceptance all of yourself leads to trusting yourself. This allows yourself to open up to other relationships with acceptance and trust.

Change is hard. We don't like change. But I think we'll all agree we need change. It's when change is forced upon us that it's especially hard. But in that moment if we face it with strength, we often find the good.

Strength allows us to grow, to move forward, to come out of hiding, to move and do with purpose, to make changes and waves in this world. Without strength, we stay where we are and accept what is because it's comfortable - even if it's a comfortably hard life. But this is hiding.

This month we look at cultivating strength, why and how and what it looks like when we do and when instead we look for comfort.

Exploration is often linked with play because we aren't necessarily looking for outcomes but instead involved in process. Exploring the new opens new opportunities, it allows us to do things without having to finish, or even accomplish anything - which relieves us of stress which has to be my favorite reason to explore. Exploration allows our imaginations to work, promotes questions and flexibility in our minds, and allows for mistakes without repercussions.

Exploration means pushing out of our comfort zones but without the stress of a needed outcome. Instead we are looking at process with a sense of wonder. Often we are trying something new so there is no real risk.

Self love is often being comfortable with who we are, knowing we are worthy as we are and not needing to keep up with someone else, or needing more than what we know is for us.

This week we look at cultivating self love, why and how and what it looks like when we do.

When we cultivate expectancy we are choosing to respond to things that happen in our life with hope and encouragement even though we may not know the outcome (there is a certain letting go of control required here) that leads to living with peace in your life.

The opposite choice when those things happen is negativity or fear (probably because we realize we aren't in control) and this leads to heightened anxiety and a mindset of scarcity which of course is not peaceful.

This month we are looking at how to cultivate expectancy, what it really is, and why it's so good.

Our breath is our very existence. It is what we come down to so it's no wonder to me why experts suggest breathing exercises for when we are stressed, upset, or need just a moment to gather ourselves. It's no wonder meditation often focuses on the slow work of breathing. Even in athletics breathing is important. I always found when I was coaching that athletes who were great at finding the rhythm of their breath to match their gait were more relaxed and could endure more. As I run, if I become stressed, it is my breath that first becomes hitched.

So without a doubt, the way we take in breath and more importantly, the way we release our breath is vital to our well being.

In much the same way, what we take in and more importantly what we let go of is also vital to our well being.

Paying attention to what we allow into our minds will often shine a light on how those things affect our mindset, our mood, and ultimately our well being.

And this month is all about daydreaming, something I'm excited to talk about because it is one of my favorite things to do. I never come out of a daydream in a bad mood, with anxiety or feeling sunk. I always come out inspired, active, and excited.

We need to know where we are going and then keep our eyes there while working in the moment of where we are. Otherwise we'll just go where ever our eyes are looking. And if they don't have something to look at we'll either end up going in many directions with the many distractions or end up stuck in one spot. This is vision.

In this episode I explore what vision is, how to cultivate it, and why it's important.

Why is practicing stillness so difficult? How is it done and what are  the benefits? I explore these questions and share how stillness used to  work for me (hint - it wasn't good) and how it works for me now (I found  a way!).

In this episode I go through 4 of the self care routines I've found to be most transformative and what I need to have an joyful and abundant mindset. I welcome you to share your routines as well!

The cultivate project is an exploration of mindsets that we can engage in in order to further our own self care. I wanted to explore these things even after I’ve practiced them, I’ve found it takes more exploration, questioning and discovering how to use those mindset shifts in my world to get the best effect. I describe here why I started the Cultivate Project and what it means. I also describe what you can expect from me each month, including the release dates of the art prints, calendar and notebooks, and the description of the mindset theme. 

This first collection in this series is actually not a mindset focus but instead, a reflection on the idea that self care is important. So important, that often we aren't able to serve others without first serving ourselves. It comes with a piece of art that says Self Care Shouldn't Be Rare and a full 2022 calendar. In the next episode I'll share with you all about it so make sure you tap that subscribe button so you know when it comes out!