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This is one of my mantra…

When in doubt, be thankful.
When in tears, be thankful.
When it aches, be thankful.
When you smile, be thankful.
When you’re happy, be thankful.

I never stop doing my own personal Gratitude Friday, in the shadows. But today, after a tough week on many levels, I decided to share mine with you, to invite you to pause for a few minutes and reflect. Feel free to share you own list. There is power in seeing words and sending them to be seen by other eyes.

On this Friday, I am thankful for:

• Technology bringing us together despite geographic distance.
• Magic.
• My Sabbatical Sisters.
• My will power.
• Water.
• The morning Sun on my skin while I eat my breakfast, alone, on the balcony.
• Music.
• Books.
• Raw veggies.
• Rest.
• Our neighbors.
• Moral support.

Your turn, it does not have to be long or big. Tell me, what are you thankful for ?

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.

I am so happy to have the opportunity to dream and write it all out again. If you don’t remember what this monthly ritual is about, I invite you to read that first blogpost that will explain it all to you: just click here.

You can read my friend’s post for this month on her blog.

Dear Universe,

You are blessing me with so much goodness right now, but I am sometimes overwhelmed with what feels like unbearable challenges.

November leads to December, which is a difficult month emotionally despite all the celebrations it holds. Please, wrap us with Love and laughter, both are definitely needed. 
Please, help me to achieve my goals for Inner Voices/Inner Worlds. I am struggling too much to get them done; because I deeply believe in them.

Please, make November the month Chéridoo will get what he desires at work. He deserves to find his Happy again, he is doing so much for the girls and me.

I beg you to please please, Help Mom overcome her smoking addiction. She needs strength. And determination. She can do it, but a little Spiritual push would be appreciated (thank you).

Thank you thank you. thank you.

Nolwenn.

For our final day, our group was with Juliette. It actually was the class that made me the more nervous. But I’ve always been curious about how Juliette works on her paintings, I was eager to see the «behind the scenes» in more in details.

Juliette is sweet, it is the first word that comes in mind when I think of her (and she is so beautiful). When she is the room, everything felt calmer. Like it all fell into places just because she was there.

Passionate about sharing her stories, Juliette is also a writer. This is a common thread between the three artists that we had the chance to learn from at Sugar & Spice: the stories are told through their paintings. Each of them has her own way to convey her stories, but it is always there.

I hope that people will see that Juliette is SO MUCH MORE than her owls. I love seeing where her art is going, I see a great evolution and appreciate all the «in progress» pictures she shares.

Some of the things I learned from Juliette’s class:

• Every layer has its own meaning.
• Keep pushing until you love what is going on on your canvas.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment.
• There is a story behind each of her paintings.
• Not being afraid of covering it all up.
• Love the supplies you use.
• Simple can become complex.
• Don’t like this paint ? Use in to create painted papers. It’ll be covered up eventually !
• Use and abuse this paper you love, it’s okay to have it in every painting you currently create.
• It’s okay to see my art evolving, just go with it.
• Animals are fun to see emerging.

It was so nice to end up this amazing experience with Juliette. It was the calm needed to take everything in.

(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 am very pleased to be wishing again today. It’s been a long time since I’ve last shared it with you. Because to be honest, I do send my wish(es) when I see Jamie‘s prompts every week, but I just do it silently in my corner, without blogging about it.

This week, Jamie asks us: What Do You Wish to Welcome In?

This year feels different already. I guess however that this is just the reflection of how different I am from last year. I am more open. I am now ready.

So for today, here are my wishes:

• I wish to welcome innew connections.
• I wish to welcome in success (even on my own terms of what success looks like).
• I wish to welcome in a better health ( so I let go the weight that is not mine anymore, to let go bad habits that tend to unexpectedly come back).
• I wish to welcome in a stronger bond with my daughters.

What about you ?