Keeping The Balance!

Earlier this year, I invited my daughter to a vision boarding workshop. We each took our time to envision what we wanted our respective worlds to look like for 2023.

My daughter is much more artistically discerning than I, and I tried not to compare my efforts with hers. I looked around the room of other women, also trying not to feel intimidated with the process of "creating" visual art.  I did feel a little out of my comfort zone.  I think of myself as artistic (actually have a minor in art from college), but music and writing are my creative fortes (over drawing, painting, collaging, and other visual arts).   When creating art, I prefer "function" over look, with a purpose (aside from just showcasing it to view).  I love to repurpose objects and create things (like a unique chess set out of automotive parts) with everyday function.

For our vision board project, we were told to write ourselves a letter on our poster board before covering it (in collage fashion) with photos, colors, and textures that represented our feelings and goals for the year. I knew I wouldn't remember exactly what I wrote after I covered the board with collage, so I took a photo of it for future reference.

As I created my vision board that day, my senses pulled together images of cool colors, serenity, and nature. I seemed to lean towards pinks, purples, and blues which felt calming for me. The workshop leader had many magazines and photo books to select from. I also brought some scraps and messages off greeting cards I'd been recycling this year, and some black fabric ribbons with white music notes printed on them. Sorting through all the images and pieces I'd picked out before I started pasting, I found myself layering colors and images, just "so".  Finally, with a pile of images I still planned to use in front of me, I reached for the next piece, then stopped. My mind thought, and my lips whispered out loud "I can't do anymore!" "I can't put one more thing on this board". Torn by the idea of wastefulness (all the images I'd taken, thereby keeping others from using) and my mind screaming "no more!", I spent the final minutes of the project applying the music ribbon in a border around the whole board. I just tied it all up. There it was - a soothing display wrapped up in music. It was comforting. I added the word "BALANCE", because balance was what I was looking for. (My actual vision board is pictured above.)

There were many things I was committed to, like being a great businessperson, reciprocal caring friend, and some caregiving for my elderly mother. I was committed to staying creative, living, being excited about waking up each morning.

I was also committing to give myself a break if I didn't do every little thing I hoped to do any given day. 
As guilt (and a little embarrassment) crept in over my commitment to blog regularly, I worried about disappointing my readers (till today, my most recent post was over two years ago)! 

Then I reminded myself, I had been prioritizing my joy and balance by not HAVING to post.

I also realized I had been actively writing all the time - just not here! My daughter had gifted my husband and I each a subscription to "Storyworth" last December. (She is so creative. I am always inspired by HER!) Every week this year, we have each written stories from questions received, which serve as prompts to write about our life experiences from early years to present. We've share our writing with a few family members who read the stories as they come.  At the end (early 2024), we will each receive a published volume of our writing we can share with our family.   In addition, I took part in a short story writing challenge from a friend of mine who publishes an annual series of short story books. She published one of my stories last year and another this year.  (Find this year's "Hey Gertrude" - a seasonal story - available to read on my "MEDIA" page.)

Don't we all get into times where our priorities shift? If we allow ourselves the right to choose what we can and want to do, it becomes the choice we make and not the thing we need to feel guilty about!  We can feel ecstatic that we HAVE a choice! And then, we can also choose how we react if anyone cares what choices we make.

I will, right here - and now - relinquish my guilt about not blogging as often as I'd intended.  There!  I did it! 

Why write about Staying Inspired if we are not LIVING Inspired?  Let's all LIVE our inspirations and become the EXAMPLE for those who haven't figured things out yet!

We all need balance to keep ourselves sane and happy. And - we need balance to stay inspired! If we overload ourselves with too many tasks and expectations, we will spend all our time stressing about what we haven't accomplished. Balance brings JOY in to being alive. Balance puts those commitments we make to ourselves and others into perspective. The things we expect of ourselves, and others expect of us are a part of life, but they don't have to become the ENTIRETY of life.

Today, as we near the end of 2023, I found the photo of my "note to self" that’s “buried” behind the images on January’s vision board. Silly me! I do know that I can't read my own handwriting within hours of putting pen to paper. It's one of the reasons I document what I can in typed format. I think I can read enough off my photograph to give you the gist.

In brief, my "note to self" directs me to continue expressing myself, do what I can do, let go what I can't. It reminds me to look for the things that satisfy and fill me up and that music is the "glue" holding my life in place. As I read my reminders, I get a little teary-eyed. (Where is that emotion coming from?) My final words in that note are this: "Continue to love and care about others. Let go the negatives you've been handed, and tell yourself - in the end, there is only your last thought, breath, and the last song you sing."

I have not yet established a unique vision for 2024. I am elated that I wake up every day and am still able to sing my songs. My sense of mental balance has served me well to maintain a peaceful mindset in 2023.

I had fun this year!

2024 approaches.  I wish you, my readers, the means to self-express, the ability to let go whatever doesn't serve you, positive "notes to self”, joyfulness, peace, and BALANCE!

Please share your own comments and stories about your "glue" in life and what keeps you STAYING INSPIRED!

Paula C Snyder