EVERY DAY IS A BLANK CANVAS
Hello there and happy Tuesday! I hope this week finds you asking yourself how you want to feel and where you want to go this Fall. I'm drinking my trusty Irish Breakfast Tea this morning and thinking about treating every day as a blank canvas and I'm loaded down with glorious paint.
I was recently chatting to a friend about how so many of us get caught up in patterns that don't necessarily make us happy. Life is busy. People need us. Capitalism is a bitch. And we're all doing our best as we still navigate a pandemic. So it makes absolute sense to put your head down and just keep going. But what happens when you finally look up and you find yourself somewhere much further away from where you actually want to be?
I have experienced these moments many times over in my life. It's daunting and sometimes heartbreaking. But ultimately, it has been an eye opening experience that leads to inevitable shifts. Starting my own business came from realizing I would never grow in the way I wanted to if I remained in the yoga studio system. Getting on board with my body came from the pain of floating around in a space of constant judgement and cruelty towards myself. Moving to Vancouver came from the realization that even though I loved the community I had in Alberta, it wasn't taking me where I wanted to go.
Looking around and realizing you may have drifted far from where you want to be is normal. I want you to know that you don't have to stay there. And! You don't have to blow up your life either.
Every moment of every day offers you the space to make choices. What time you wake up, the first thing you do when you roll out of bed, who you see, what you eat, the route you take to work, how often you look at your phone and on and on.
Whether it feels like it or not, every day is a blank canvas for you to paint as you like. So take a moment to imagine your canvas as it is now and then ask yourself what you want it to look and feel like. Ask yourself how you want to feel and what you want to do with your precious time and energy. Who do you want to spend time with? What do you want to create? How do you want to show up for yourself and others?
Knowing how you want to feel and where you want to go is half the battle, so really sit with the questions above. And once you have your answers, decide on one small thing you can do each and every day to get yourself pointed in your happiest direction. It's important to keep this really simple. If you want to move more, move for 5 minutes each day. If you want to write, write fifty words a day. If you want to wake up earlier, wake up 15 minutes earlier rather than setting your alarm for 5am and then feeling like a failure when you drop kick it out the window when it goes off.
Remember that it likely took many tiny moments and decisions to bring you where you are now, and you can take many tiny moments and make small decisions to shift directions. Let yourself enjoy them and don't make it harder than it needs to be. Once you've mastered the first little thing, add another. And then another and another and suddenly you are painting the shit out of that canvas every day! You are the Michelangelo of your own life!
Every day is a blank canvas and a new opportunity to paint your world. So grab your favourite colors and get going!
As always, I'd love to hear about it! How are you painting your canvas? What did you learn when you asked yourself the questions in this email? What's one small step you can take now? Let me know in the comments below.
As you move through this week, remember to treat yourself and your body with love, respect and kindness.
Much love,
Helen xo
