How will you take action today? (plus a new painting!)

“The future is always beginning now” – Mark Strand 

When was the last time someone encouraged you to take action?

Perhaps it was a friend or your parents, wishing to motivate you towards your next big goal? Perhaps it was you, ready to create your own version of change?

As I’ve become more aware of the concept of resistance, I’ve recognized that taking action can be just plain hard. I imagine most of us know the difficulty of starting to exercise or sticking to a new diet, but resistance also sneaks into much smaller, tougher to reach places, emerging when you’re at the most complicated stages of your journey.

My resistance pops up in subtle ways, as I reorganize my supplies or update my to-do list multiple times and somehow never get to painting. I can spend too long sifting through my emails, or letting my mind wander when I’m supposed to be writing. It would be too easy to say that I don’t have enough time to create, when really what I need is an honest look at how I prioritize my time.

Painting and writing are crucial to my happiness, but creating and sharing new work also makes me feel vulnerable. No wonder there’s a little resistance at work there! Knowing that this is a point of resistance for me is super helpful actually, because then I can choose to move beyond it.

I’ve made a choice to prioritize painting lately, and it’s been wonderful. The email inbox will still be there tomorrow, as will the social media. I will still need to organize my supplies and consult my lists, in an ongoing dance that never quite ends. Prioritizing my art, however, has resulted in something quite tangible: new paintings that fill me with love, and that I hope you’ll love, too.

The future is always beginning now. 

I love this idea, the immediacy of it. I love that we always have the power to guide our future directions, starting right now in the present moment.

So why isn’t it always easier to prioritize what we love?

Unfortunately, there is no magic answer as far as I can tell. Life gets in the way. We get tired. Doubt creeps in.

Today I want to re-focus this idea. Let’s not worry about what happened yesterday, friends. About what you didn’t get done, or felt unable to do. Today is here, now in this moment. Today gives us a series of tiny opportunities to shift and grow. To begin.

I have a new painting and an article to share with you today, and both focus on this idea of taking action, no matter how small. First, check out my first published article on TinyBuddha.com, which has been a goal of mine for many years (!!!). I discovered Tiny Buddha at a time when my dreams had no real focus, and the articles were immensely inspiring in helping me to imagine a different kind of life. I promised myself that once I had a direction, I would return to Tiny Buddha as a contributor.

I also want to share one of my newest paintings, This is Your Moment. This painting was a fun challenge for me, and what thrills me most is the energy of the sky. I wanted to paint a widely expansive, energetic sky, and to create a feeling of both movement and change.

This is your moment: a reminder that what we have is a choice of how to act in each present moment. The painting, art print, and note card are available in my shop.

Ultimately, I wanted to honor the fact that each present moment is what we have to work with, and that it’s up to us to pick up our heads and look around. To listen. To act.

So now, I’d love to hear from you. How will you take action today to help move your goals forward? What choices will you make? Let me know your ideas in the comments below.

xo,