Briarbook Lane
  • Home
  • Mary Bio
  • Mary's Blog
  • Enchanted Garden
    • Book Club
  • Liz Bio
  • Liz's Blog
    • Chronicling
  • Contact
  • For Writers

Mary's Expression

Aspects of Wellness

10/15/2020

0 Comments

 
This month the Healthy Lifestyles group at work is promoting Women's Health. One of the activities to do was a Journey Walk, where you focus on your senses, and then reflect on your state of well-being. Where are you, where do you want to be. This got me thinking back to the Aspects of Wellness.
Wellness isn't simply about your physical health. It's an overall state of well-being and achieving your full potential. Different sources list a different number of aspects/dimensions/categories of wellness, from four up to eight. I like breaking things down into smaller parts, so go with the eight: emotional, physical, intellectual, occupational, financial, social, spiritual, and environmental. This is a good site that goes into depth on each of them. 
I decided I want to go through each and do the following for myself:
  1. Define - What does this aspect mean for me?
  2. Evaluate - Where am I currently at?
  3. Ideal - What does ideal wellness look like?
  4. Goal - Set one or two goals specific to this aspect to work on.
I don't want to get into all of my answers here, as they will be personal, but I will share below what each category consists of and some example goals.
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

Find Your Bliss: Bliss Book

5/21/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
I first learned about a bliss book from Sylvia van Bruggen during a workshop at the Muse Online Writers Conference. (Follow her now on Leap to Joy.)

What is bliss? Complete happiness, undisturbed by gain or loss.

What is a Bliss Book? In simplicity: a book that makes you happy.
     Whenever I feel my writing sucks, or am generally depressed, I can open my bliss book and bring on a smile. I have words of encouragement about my writing, quotes, lists of favorite things, and I’m always on the lookout for pictures to clip from magazines.
     The most important rule is no negativity allowed.

CREATING YOUR OWN BLISS BOOK

​     Make or buy a pretty journal or notebook. I use a lovely illustrated fairy journal.
Write up a purpose page. What do you want from this book? Here’s what I wrote in mine: Fears have no power here. My bliss book is my quiet place. A way to center myself and find my muse. Smile. Play. Be Free. Free my muse; free my writing; free me from doubt and fear; free me from burdens that I may fly.
     Add something regularly. Anything that makes you happy. Ideas: lists, pictures, doodles, quotes, stickers, poems, mantras
     I also have a gratitude page (well, multiple sections at this point). Anytime I lose sight of the good things in life, sucked down in negativity, I can search for something to add to this page. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for, even in our darkest hours.
     Open your book! When you’re in a slump, or forget your motivations for doing what you love (whether that be writing, or parenting, or running). Read it front to back, or open to a random page. Let it inspire you once more.
    You can expand this idea of bliss into other forms. A bliss box, a bliss room. Anything or anywhere filled with things that inspire and lift you up.

Example Pages

1 Comment

Find Your Bliss: Coloring Therapy

4/15/2020

5 Comments

 

Coloring as Therapy​

I first got into coloring as an adult about five years ago, when I was working at CaptionCall. The job consisted of transcribing live phone calls, using a voice recognition service. So I would hear one side of a conversation, echoing it back in a monotone voice so the software could show it back to the hard of hearing person on the other side of the line. As far as phone jobs go, it was a good one - I didn't talk  directly to people, didn't have to answer questions, and felt good about the service helping those in need. But it really wasn't a job I enjoyed. It was stressful trying to keep up with the conversation, could get very mindless, and I wasn't used to talking so much.
What got me through my shift ended up being coloring. Sometimes reading between calls was hard because you didn't have enough time to get into a book, but I could easily grab a pencil and fill in a section. I found it helped me with the stress, and helped the day go faster. And I really enjoyed my new hobby. I even bought a new bag for work that had room for a colored pencil organizer.
When I got my job at a library, my coloring did slow down. But my passion didn't. I still collect books from my favorite artists. And situations like these are great reminders to step back and find time for myself. I even pulled out my new clipfolio and colored during a webinar video I watched for work.

Supplies

Picture
  • Best colored pencils for coloring books
  • Best sharpeners for colored pencils

To get started, you will obviously want your favorite colored pencils and a coloring book (or printed pages). For variety, you can also use gel pens, markers, crayons, or watercolor pencils. A clipboard or clipfolio (hardback folder with clip on front) is great for portable coloring. You'll need a good pencil sharpener and eraser. I got a craft tote from Michaels; it fits three or so coloring books, a pencil box of gel pens and markers, my colored pencil organizers, and more.

When to Color

I like to multitask while I color. Listen to an audio book or podcast, watch tv, or even during work when appropriate (webinars, conference calls). It's not using the language part of your brain so you can be creative and still pay attention to something else.

Artists

Here are links to my favorite artists. They all have sample pages you can print out for free. You can see some of my own completed pages of theirs below. Many coloring book artists also have groups on Facebook where you can share your finished work  and connect to other coloring peeps. One place I don't recommend finding coloring pages is Pinterest. Often, those are not authorized freebies. Support the artists!
Selina Fenech - link to free sampler
Johanna Basford - link to free pages
Hannah Lynn - link  to sample book

Some of my Finished Pages

Below: First three are from ColorIt. Second group is Hannah Lynn. Third group is Johanna Basford. Final group is Selina Fenech.
5 Comments

    Author

    Mary W. Jensen. Author, poet, gamer, library shelver.

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020

    Categories

    All
    Book Review
    Discussion Questions
    Expression
    Fairy Tale Book Club
    Find Your Bliss
    Game Time
    Poetry
    Self Care
    Writing Life

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Mary Bio
  • Mary's Blog
  • Enchanted Garden
    • Book Club
  • Liz Bio
  • Liz's Blog
    • Chronicling
  • Contact
  • For Writers