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Gratitude Friday is a weekly ritual I started in order to focus on all the small and big positive things that happened during my week. I invite you to join me, you’ll see how much being thankful can change your life. If you want to know more about it, read my introduction post.

Hello !

What a week ! It was emotionally and creatively hard to come back from the retreat. Not that I didn’t want to be home, but it was such a buzzing energy in each class, the excitement of learning, of expressing our stories, of trying new techniques and new supplies… Let me tell you, I had to push away the Gremlins and go to the studio to get my hands moving. They were itching to paint again but I was afraid to have forgotten what I’ve learned *yay for notes scribble all over my journal that I kept with me at all time !*

My heart expanded during these moments on the water. It is now filled with even more Love, with a sense of purpose a bit more anchored (I do know, now, for sure, that I am here to share. I am here to create.), with new friends, with the deep knowing that I belong to the sea, I do.

This week, I am thankful for:

• Playtime. Funtime.
• The immense chance I had to go to an art retreat.
• The people I met there.
• New possibilities.
• Friendships. old, new and in between the two.
• Taking the time to come back to music theory.
• Finding my deeper voice and expressing it.
• Stories. All of them. Mine, theirs, yours.
• Taking chances.
• Connection with Nature.
• Good food (very good food).
• Sushi.
• Laughter.
• The Sun light when it comes up and when it comes down.
• Memories.

What is filling your heart with Gratitude right now ?

If you wrote your Gratitude Friday on your blog, don’t forget to enter your NAME and URL below so I’m notified and can come to read you (you can also join by commenting this post):

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(I told you yesterday I was in list making mode… I was not kidding)

Sugar & Spice was my first one. I’ve been dreaming of attending retreats for at least four years, but there was always something that came up and I could not go eventually. But you know how I do firmly believe that everything happens for a (good) reason, and there was no coincidence here (yes, I would have loved to be at least at one Artfest, but I am now okay that it did not happen for me; and for the other ones, I know it will work out).

Everything settled down perfectly for me to go in Port Townsend last week. My Mom is here from France, I had a ride with Nancy to get there, three of my favorite artists were the teachers, it was in Port Townsend WA so the closest place in the US from where we live… yes, there was stress in the process, but it all turned out perfectly.

Port Townsend, WA. June 2013

I learned a lot, not only about creative process, but about myself as a Woman, about myself regarding my place in my family, about myself as an Artist, about myself as a friend…

In this retreat, I learned that

• I really found my Half in my Husband and it’s hard to be without him.
• I belong to the water.
• My happy place is always found when I create.
• Wine is not that bad.
• No dream is too big to come true.
• Food is really a huge part in my life, still.
• Writing makes me go deeper and deeper within myself.
• Words and Images cannot go without each other in my artwork.
• Quirky is good.
• I think I’ve finally found my true calling.
• I can be understood by total strangers.
• Layers upon layers is what makes my heart sing
• I really want to cultivate the Happy. Everyday.
• I want to be successful, in my own definition of it {I needs to find my way, to let my people find me}.
• I have Stories to tell. That my Truths matter.
• My tears have their own purpose.
• Sharing needs to happen more often.
• Age is something that absolutely doesn’t matter in a relationship.
• Road trips make me happier.
• I am a true hugger. And I love it.
• I want to embrace who I am. 200%.
• Learning is another of my deep passions.
• My Soul longs for symbols. And that’s okay.
• My body is my temple, I need to honor it, to take a better care of it.
• I am a passionate person.
• I am longing for connections. In real life. Face to face. (but the internet is nice too).
• I can trust my gut feeling when I do feel that special something regarding someone. I’m not that crazy.

This truly was as life changing as I thought it would be.

I left feeling that growth spurt of my Soul, my heart bigger.
Expanded.

I believe in positive affirmations and how, coupled with concrete actions, they can change our lives. I’ve witnessed their power myself many many times and find it weird that I totally stopped for a while. Doubt is never too far I guess.

My heart feels so fulled, I feel like it is going to explode without warning at any moment.
During the retreat, I caught myself repeating again and again (either out loud or just thinking it)«It’s okay».

It’s okay to be here.
It’s okay to be emotional.
It’s okay to share.
It’s okay to be myself (without any mask).
It’s okay to be in that hotel room by myself.
It’s okay to get out of my comfort zone.
It’s okay to tell my Truths (in words, in paintings).
It’s okay to revisit old emotions and old stories.
It’s okay to cry.
It’s okay to laugh out loud and giggle snort in public.
It’s okay not to have the perfect straight hair I am longing for.
It’s okay to love art supplies so much.
It’s okay to create weird and unusual art.
It’s okay to BE weird and unusual.
It’s okay to stay silent for a while.
It’s okay to be a living paradox.
It’s okay to have a girlcrush on someone you feel connected to.
It’s okay to live a wide ray of emotions, all in one day (or less).
It’s okay to paint girls who have no mouth and not to explain how come they don’t.
It’s okay to say «I love you» to someone you just met (not talking about a guy, love my man too much to see somewhere else ;)).

Guilt tends to arrive very easily in my Life. But I am ready to let her go (I know she’ll still visit me from time to time, but that’s okay too).

I think that Acceptance may be one of the biggest lesson I have to learn in this current lifetime. I made lots of improvements on that front, but I am aware that there is still a long road ahead of me… and that’s just okay to be in the in-between stage and stay there for some time. No rush.

I get it now. I do. When they talk about this few days following an creative retreat (or maybe even any kind of retreat).

The feeling of a buzzing heart.
The deep knowing of being understood, and heard.
The self-discovery in between in all.
The Love.
The connection.
The Oneness.

And now, back home with the everyday «normal» life, there is this readjustment needed. Not to say how very afraid I am to forget all the goodness Danielle, Mindy and Juliette shared with us.

The beginning…

Yesterday, I was talking with my friend Nancy (who I met thanks to Facebook and this retreat, before realizing we were litterally neighbors !) and was admitting that Truth: I was scared that my family would think I do not love them enough because of these emotions of being back home (nothing negative, though), I felt split between me missing them and me missing what was happening in Port Townsend, not knowing really how to simply do with it all inside of me, holding hands but not really. And today it is clearer: just take all the goodness in, and bring that into the big cauldron your heart is so it mixes together into one huge positive feeling. And it changed everything for me this morning…

(I think I will break my experience in Port Townsend in several blogposts, so it is not a huge one filled with words and images and… not very digest for you).

I’m writing you from my favorite spot in my hotel room here in Port Townsend, WA. It’s almost time to really start my day and join the ladies for our first day of class.

I arrived yesterday afternoon after a few hours of car drive with my friend Nancy who also attends Sugar & Spice.

I wanted to share that little mantra of mine, that popped in my head at night: be open to the unexpected.

Be open to the Unexpected
wonder of being surrounded by giant trees.
Be open to the Unexpected
joy of being yourself with a friend.
Be open to the Unexpected
memories, rushing back in my heart.
Be open to the Unexpected
feeling that you do belong here.
Be open to the Unexpected
Truth: you are worth it.

(Whatever your it is)