Couldn’t sleep, so did a little sketchnoting of my arrival into Nasville—er, NasHville!—yesterday AM. (And yes, I snagged a first class flight on miles! I figured if I had to take a red eye, I was going to minimize the pain as much as possible! It helped.)
The best part of the story is on the next page, though, where my Lyft driver turned out to be someone I KNEW! A friend from the music world, from a conference we both attended years ago. We’re still Facebook friends!! What are the chances?? Clearly fate intervened when I couldn’t get my phone to work—it was delaying my calling a Lyft so HE would be my driver. 😊 An auspicious start to my visit! ❤️
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#nashville #sketchnotes #moleskine #originalart #pigmamicron #doodle #creativesandboxway #imperfectionism #insomnia #visualnotes #visualjournal #visualcommunication

I doodled this live from Whistler, Canada, today! Sharing strong feelings about the importance of self-compassion when you fall off your creative practice wagon. Of all the practices we engage in, the MOST important is simply getting back on the wagon, with an abundance of self-compassion! If you beat yourself up, you’re actually LESS likely to stick with it in the long run (think about it: your brain now knows that the next time you stumble you will get a beating! And it’s inevitable you WILL stumble again, because you’re HUMAN, and life happens! So the sensible part of your brain — the part that doesn’t want another beating — will decide to just stop trying!)
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In the craziness and stress of getting ready for this trip (two weeks, three conferences, speaking, teaching a workshop, having to pack 5,000 LEGO® components, plus a multitude of facilitation supplies—so many moving parts!!), I let my circumstances get in the way of my Creative Sandbox playtime. I seriously could not manage to get in even 5 minutes of doodle time! Absurd, I know! And yet, it happens to the best of us, EVEN ME, the one who preaches the importance of making time for this stuff!
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But I did not beat myself up. And that is 🔑 KEY!!! 🖍
Beating myself up would accomplish nothing useful. And here’s the thing: missing my doodle time IS NOT THE PROBLEM. How I RESPOND to missing my doodle time is (or is not) the problem!
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If I beat myself up, BIG problem. But if I respond with gentleness and self-forgiveness and self-compassion, then ZERO PROBLEM! In fact, this is a golden moment! This is a chance for me to love myself more, and reconnect with my art practice, to notice how important it is to me, how much better I feel when I take the time to play a little, how “meh” and hollow and bereft I feel when I don’t. Now I have more data I can use (self-awareness!) to help me stay on track the next time!
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Do you see how self-awareness + self-compassion=the key to everything good? Do you see why I call that my Golden Formula?
#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #inktober #inktober2018 #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #originalart

Today’s Inktober prompt is “bottle,” and I decided to actually try making some bottles, instead of pure abstract shapes. If you look at my Instagram feed, you’ll notice this is rather rare for me these days. Not unheard of, but I mostly prefer to work with zero preconceived notions when I approach the page. Why? Because when I don’t have a “platonic ideal” in my head that I’m trying to match on paper, there’s nothing for my gremlins to compare my work with! They can’t get disgusted with me for falling short. 😊 And when I choose intentional imperfectionism and abstract improvisation, it just confuses them, so they end up wandering off in a daze. 😉
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Today, though, I decided to go with the prompt of “bottle,” and make improvisational, abstract, intentionally imperfect (“crappy”) bottles. My inner 4-year-old still had a blast (she especially loved writing “label” on the labels! 😂), even though this was a totally different style and approach for me than my typical abstract doodles.
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It’s fun to play in a different style sometimes, when you can let your inner 4-year-old take the reins and play in the creative sandbox! Come join me at my Creative Sandbox Community Virtual Playday on November 17th, when we’ll be celebrating my birthday and letting our inner 4-year-olds play in the sandbox for 2 hours! Watch me make art and talk about my process, and make art right alongside me, and ask any questions you have, too. It’s totally FREE, but you do have to register in advance—link in profile, or go to http://bit.ly/2CEGAwg
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #inktober #inktober2018 #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #originalart #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #doodlebot #creativeplay

I totally forgot to even check what today’s Inktober prompt was (it’s “swollen,” in case you were wondering), so today’s Doodlecam doodle has nothing to do with it. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Well, maybe some of those bubble/rock shapes are a little more swollen than the others… That’s all I got. 😉
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I still had fun, though, with my inner 4-year-old inhabiting the tip of my pen, taking the reins. Especially after getting a lovely message from @riseshinecreative that watching me draw is “meditative” (aw, thank you! 🙏❤️), and seeing @ania_archer_designs Instagram Story about re-reading The Creative Sandbox Way™, and how that really helped her shift her perspective on her “crappy doodles.” (Yay!!! Totally warmed my heart and made my day! I shared her Story in my own Story if you want to check it out.)
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The Doodlecam of today’s doodle is up in the “Live” tab of my Story for the next 24 hours if you’d like to watch, and I’m also uploading it to my IGTV channel. 🖍
Meanwhile, if you also find it meditative to watch me draw, come to my FREE Virtual Playday on Saturday, November 17th! It’s a 2-hour birthday celebration plus art-making party! I’ll be making art and sharing my process, live on Doodlecam, and you can watch, and make your own art right alongside me (virtually), plus ask any questions you want!
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You do have to register in advance, though. Link in profile or go to http://bit.ly/2CEGAwg
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #inktober #inktober2018 #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #originalart #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #doodlebot #creativeplay

“Angular” – Inktober prompt for 10/16/18. And the word in my head as I started today’s Doodlecam, which you can watch in my Story for the next 24 hours. 🖍
As with yesterday’s doodle, I’m not crazy about how this one turned out, but again, it’s not *about* the outcome, it’s about the *process*. I’m not worried about the fact that I don’t like this one, because I make doodles pretty much every day, so it’s only a matter of time before I make one that I like again. (Plus it’s just a piece of paper!) Besides, you need the crap to fertilize the good stuff! It’s the practice of creating that will lead to something good in time. 😊
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#creativesandboxcommunity #creativesandboxchallenge #inktober #inktober2018 #doodle #dailydoodle #dailycreative #dailyart #imperfectionism #letitbecrappy #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #doodlesofinstagram #originalart #tinyart #abstractart #doodleart #creativesandboxway #creativeplay