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Let Art Be Your Therapy

Thursday, September 11th, 2008 by Alyice

Do you ever just create for the sake of creating? Do you ever just do something artistic because it’s relaxing, fun, or therapeutic? Or must you, like myself, have a purpose for the things you do?

Up until three weeks ago, I couldn’t see myself doing anything if there wasn’t an end result to be obtained. Everything I did was basically mapped out in my head and the only luxury I had was to sit comatose in front of the television after a long and exhausting day of going, going, going. Even my art had a purpose—create something for a specific person in mind.

The problem with this way of living is that we’re not really living. We simply go about life on auto-drive as we lose ourselves in a sea of “doing”. And if we’re not careful it will kill us—maybe not physically, but definitely emotionally and spiritually.

It took me three weeks to break my “always on the go” habit. Three weeks of pure torture as I forced myself to do less and less each day until I could actually sit down and do nothing without feeling regret, remorse, or guilt.

And you know what happened? Nothing. The world did not end because I cut back on all that doing. Sure our finances got a little tighter and the family has had to help out around the house more and authors have had to find other people to review their books, but my family didn’t suffer neglect and my business did not disappear.

In fact, quite the opposite has happened. I am happier and more relaxed than I have been in years and because of how much better I feel emotionally, certain aspects of our family life and my marriage is better than it has been in years. There’s a calm that’s come over the family—either that or I’m just so relaxed that it feels more peaceful. Either way it’s taught me the importance of making time each day to just play.

That’s why starting next week I’m devoting one hour a day for Creative Play: no agenda, no guilt, and no excuses. The hour may be different each day, but it will be one hour none-the-less. And there will be no more excuses about how busy my life is or how important it is that I complete this, that, or the other. I will simple devote one hour to being spontaneous and expressive with my art supplies. I’ll sit down and let my muse take me wherever it wants to go.

What about you? Will you allow your creative side a little room to breathe? Will you allow your inner emotions a voice?

Posted in Artist's Life | 5 Comments »

Thanks For The Health Insurance

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Alyice

As you may recall, a little over a month ago my husband cut off the tip of his middle finger in a freak work-related accident. While the company he works for carries insurance for such events, and has been wonderful throughout the entire experience, all the bills come to our home first. Once we receive the bills, we send them to the Worker’s Compensation department who then pays the bills. To date, the bill has totaled nearly $20,000.

I cannot imagine having to pay that bill ourselves, nor would I want to. I’m so grateful that it occurred under Workman’s Comp and not our traditional medical insurance—because even at an 80/20 split, that’s a lot of out-of-pocket expenses.

I have to tell you that I am truly grateful for any form of medical insurance we can get because without medical insurance getting sick or injured could put a lot of undue stress on our family. I am grateful that my husband has a job that provides medical insurance. I am grateful that we make enough money to afford the monthly premiums. I am grateful that we have a hospital that works with you when you cannot afford to pay your balance in full.

And yet, I can’t help but think about the state of our health care system and long for something better. Heck, I even long for the days when we were covered under Kaiser Permanente of California—now that was affordable health insurance.

For some that $20,000 bill is an entire year’s salary, for others it’s half a year’s salary. Either way you look at it, it’s a burden none of us want to endure—and many of us cannot afford to endure.

Yet, many people in this country do endure such bills. They endure them because they don’t work for companies that offer medical insurance. They endure them because while the companies they work for offer some form of medical insurance, it’s not enough to cover anything other than routine doctor visits. They endure them because while their medical insurance is good, our medical profession overcharges and there’s just not enough insurance to cover the difference.

So if you’ve been griping about what your medical insurance does or does not cover, or even about how high your medical premiums are, can I just say, “Give thanks” because it could be a whole lot worse.

Give thanks…

Posted in It's Gratitude, Dude! | No Comments »

Grow Strong & Beautiful

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 by Alyice

This is a “catch all” I created out of an old Ovaltine canister, some molding paste, a few napkins, and acrylic paints. I made it for the child of an online buddy.

There’s no special reason for the design except that I believe every child should have the opportunity to grow up strong and beautiful, to be able to experience nature in its truest form, and to feel safe in spite of the chaos thrust upon them by our fast paced and ever changing world.

Keep Creating

Posted in Artful Wednesday | 2 Comments »