I had so much fun PAINTING last Sunday! 🤩 👏😅🙌💥🔥🎨 (See my painting below!)

I've recently entered a new “Creative Phase” in my life, actively bringing more creative experiences into my life and recapturing some of the joy of different art forms that I used to experience as a kid and teenager, while applying The Art of Freedom® Method to each art form and getting in touch with the common threads between them all.

My favorite classes in school were always art (especially drawing and painting), English, and foreign languages.

I've always had a love affair with the blank page (I dislike lined paper), and I totally indulged that passion when I wrote my book a couple years ago. So, I figure, why not let myself drool over a blank canvas now, in this next phase of creative unfolding?

I've done very little painting since I was a teenager, and I've been wanting to get back into it someday, so I resolved to ease back into it very gently by going to one of those ‘wine + paint' franchises, where you create the same painting as everyone else, just for fun.

This is obviously NOT the most creative way to start painting (!), but I thought it might be a good way to dip my toes back into it (not into the paint, haha) and maybe have some fun with other people, too, while getting some tips on what I would need to get/do for myself if I decide to start painting on my own.

Here's what happened…

Participating in a painting class for the first time since I was a teenager in high school was a very interesting exercise in one of the most important principles of any art – for all of life, actually – namely, how to find freedom with structure.

I created this painting, according to specific guidelines within a limited timeframe (two hours), and everyone ended up with the same painting.

But of course, they were all totally different.

Sort of like being a classical musician and playing music that is more than 100 years old… yet again.

Think of the thousands and thousands and thousands of people who have played Vivaldi's Four Seasons over the last centuries! 🎻

But it's impossible to create the same thing twice. It's impossible to experience the same moment twice. It's impossible to create the same painting or piece of music or story twice. You get the point!

It can seem like there isn't much creativity when you are following instructions and creating exactly the same thing as everyone else, but it's all in the attitude and what you think of it.

Another thing I learned about myself is that it's helpful to have a time limit because that reduces perfectionism, and I was happy that I was able to do that and still be happy with the outcome. 🙂

I'm getting better and better at being happy and satisfied with “good enough”, even as I continue to make progress towards “something better”!

I'm going to be teaching a brand new 3-week program for Creatives (not just musicians!), coming up in a few weeks… Stay tuned for the details! I'm so excited!

This painting experiment was like doing research for this new program. I had so much fun, and I can hardly wait to bring that sense of happiness and discovery into this new program for you!!

~ Jennifer ❤️

p.s. Curious about the new program I'm creating? Send me a message so I make sure to share the details with you when the time comes!