{discovering your truth}

I'm a perfectionist.

There is no hiding it.

I was reminded of that fact at work today. I had one of my big conferences that takes up a lot of my time and energy. I make sure that everything goes...well...perfectly of course.

So when one of the attendee's name tags was spelled wrong, I started verbally bashing myself in the head. Until one of my volunteers stopped me, told me to take a deep breath, and let it go. It wasn't the end of the world for goodness sake. Right?

So she had to use a sharpie to make herself a new name tag. Did it ruin her experience at the conference? I should hope not.

We all have times when we sabotage ourselves, don't we? We can be our own worst critic.

For me, the two main areas so far in my life that I tend to be the hardest on myself have been my work performance {or school when I was younger}, and my physical appearance.

The physical appearance part began around junior high. I was tall, super skinny, had glasses AND braces. Oh boy it was a bit of a mess.

As I grew up I grew into my body and I was happy with what I saw. And then...many years later...I became pregnant with twins. And the last 4 1/2 years have provided more body image anxiety than I ever thought I would have. There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not self-consious about my stomach. Not an hour to be honest. It is almost always on my mind. Some days I try to celebrate it's wrinkles and stretch marks. Other days I curse them. It has gotten easier but it is still a struggle for me.

But one thing I have learned over the past few years is how powerful the words we speak to ourselves can be. They can literally change the person we are. How we treat ourselves and even more powerfully, how we treat others. And women can be the WORST at this. We judge each other like nobody's business. We point out each other's flaws and faults, and I believe this is only done as a way of making ourselves feel better about ours.

Maybe I'm weird but I've always actually felt better about myself when I see a women with a stomach like mine. But I'm not judging her for it...instead I feel like we have a strange sort of bond. It is comforting to know that we all have "flaws"...imperfections that make us unique. That make us HUMAN. And that is how we should relate to each other. Seeing others with all of their quirks and loving them because of those things that make them, well, THEM.

We should be encouraging ourselves to accept...even embrace...our imperfections. And when we do that we can start to do the same for others, right?

What am I getting at with all of this rambling?

It has been on my mind and in my heart for the past few years to share my creative talents in a way that can be encouraging and supportive to others. I love creating. I love people. And I love helping others  feel good about themselves.

And so this was born...

I'm teaching my first workshop in April and I couldn't be more excited!

It will be a mix of guided journaling prompts and art collage, with the goal of creating a set of "your truth" cards to be a visual reminder of what an awesome person you are.

We all need that reminder, right?

Here are some sample cards I created...

All of the supplies will be provided for participants to make their own set of cards using fun patterned paper and magazine images and text. These cards are such a great reminder when you are having a bad day or need a little extra encouragement.

You can get all of the details on the workshop HERE. 

If you are near the Richmond, Indiana area I would love to have you join me!

And let's be kind to ourselves and to others, OK?

I truly believe everything good in the world begins there.