Unlived Lives
NATURE OBSERVATION
You can now buy printed reproductions of my hand-painted watercolor and ink Nature Observation Journals on Amazon!
I'm a big fan of Steven Pressfield's book "The War of Art." I had an artist recommend it to me 14 years ago when I claimed to be suffering from artist's block.
Although the word art is included in the title, the book is really written for anyone who feels blocked in any area of their lives.
You know that thing you've always wanted to start, continue, or finish, but you "can't" for some reason — the business idea, the workout routine, the spiritual practice, or in my case, it was simply about art.
I've known about this book for 14 years, but for the last 7 years I've hardly produced any artwork at all. And it's not because I didn't have the ability, or I didn't want to do it, I simply felt blocked (insert palm-to-face emoji).
Several weeks back, when I started my "no scrolling on YouTube" journey, I made a commitment to myself to be more mindful with how I spend my time throughout the day. And two of the things I wanted to reintegrate into my life, and into my daily habits, were drawing and painting.
Part of me wanted to continue being a stubborn little child. "I don't know what to paint or draw. I'm not inspired. If I'm not inspired it'll be boring."
But the adult part of me knew that I simply just needed to put pencil/brush to paper and not let myself stop, and eventually inspiration would find me, like Steven Pressfield says.
I started by painting the plants and mushrooms I've learned to identify over the past couple of years and then I decided to incorporate daily sketches into a journal I use to record my observations of nature.
After a couple of weeks of that practice, inspiration finally hit me — "Why not create my own line of hand-painted nature observation journals, so I can record nature in a book of my own making?!"
And so that's what I've been doing.
For 7 years, I was an artist who wasn't living as an artist. That was my unlived life.
It makes me feel a bit sick when I think of all the time that passed by and all the things I could have created.
But as we all know, the past is in the past and we can only move forward from here, with the life experience and wisdom we've gained.
Do you have an unlived life within you?
If you do, I highly recommend taking even the tiniest step toward living that life. I can't begin to explain how much satisfaction and relief I've gotten from doing so.
Hi, I’m Kristen!
I envision a world where you and I rediscover what it is to be human, through connection with ourselves, each other and the natural world around us.