Journal Pages - Just What I Needed to Hear

I never intended to like creating in an art journal.  I shied away from it because I thought it would be a waste of paint.  Why would I put my heart and soul and maybe even collage precious papers into a book that only I would see?  Well, I now love working in my art journal and I think of those former thoughts almost every time I pull it out to create.  When I started Mindy Lacefield's True Free Spirit e-course, she suggested we buy an art journal for one of our monthly projects.  I did and I'm hooked.  Like those who have come before me and art journal like crazy, I agree that it holds many purposes. 

1.   It's a place to mull over something bothering me.  I usually paint over any things I've written about stuff that's really bringing me down.  But just getting it down in the first place is a bit of help, even if I paint right over it.

2.  I can practice something new that I've been meaning to paint, maybe a new style of birdie that I just don't want to put to canvas yet.  Or this little fawn that I've been aching to paint.

3.  My main love of doing this is creating pieces that give me encouragement.  When I need some lifting up, I paint a message that I need to hear right at that particular moment.  I may not hear it from anyone else, so I've decided my art journal is the place where I can be encouraging to myself.  I've realized that I won't always hear what I need to hear from those I love.

Sometimes I've shared some of my encouraging journal pages online and they've spoken to others who've actually bought prints of them.  This is an added perk - taking something really just meant for my creative exploring time and also inspiring and hopefully uplifting others too!

Do you have any messages you either tell yourself daily or maybe even paint or write down that seem to help you when you need a boost?