Taking Stock and the Sharing of Ideas

I follow ‘Leonie Dawson’ who follows ‘Meet Me at Mikes’. Meet Me at Mike’s shared a taking stock exercise, and Leonie loved it and so she shared it. When I saw it, I also loved it and I am sharing it with you today. This will now be my new weekly check-in. Don’t worry I won’t bore you each week (just this week) with what I am up to, but it is a great tool for reminding ourselves what we accomplish and the changes we are making.

I love the sharing of ideas, I love how we create, collaborate, tweak and build on what we see around us. It is one of my favorite things about the Create with Me! Sessions. I love seeing what everyone is working on, I love trying new things. I have found so many great new art supplies, and suppliers, from those times together.

Taking Stock

Making: I have been working a lot in my art journals, making new pages, trying new techniques.

Getting: One exciting thing I got this week was the Oracle of the 7 Energies Deck by Colette Baron-Reid, I am loving it.

Cooking: lots of new recipes, incorporating so many veggies into each meal. It has been really fun to try new things. Saturday night was a chickpea stew made with pumpkin puree, so yummy. 

Sipping: I am off caffeine, so I have only been drinking rooibos and herbal teas. I am a huge fan of rooibos teas, my current favorites are bourbon spice from the Dollar Tea Club and Amaretto from Sipology.

Reading: I am currently reading only fiction, which is very odd for me, I typically read non-fiction. This week I am loving The Healing by Joy Margetts, which I have to say surprises me as it is very religious and I tend not to like that sort of thing, I consider myself more Spiritual than Religious. But, the book is very well written and the story is great.

Waiting: for my second dose, we have to wait up to 16 weeks here for the second dose. The first dose was a week ago. But, looking forward to it still.

Looking: out my window at the buds starting on the trees, so excited to see Spring take hold.

Listening: to the birds outside my window. I don’t listen to a lot of music. However, when I am doing work on my computer I often listen to podcasts like James Wedmore’s Mind Your Business Podcast or The Fueling Creativity Podcast

Wishing: to see my grandkids, facetime is great and my 8 year-old granddaughter and I have been writing a book together meeting each week on facetime, however, I am really missing the cuddles.

Enjoying: reading more, I had been really struggling with concentrating while reading for the past year or so, I am sure the pandemic has a lot to do with it. But, I recently turned off all notifications for social media (and only check a couple of times a day), and deleted all games off my phone and tablet. I now read way more and have been increasing my focus time.

Appreciating: I am appreciating all the little things, gratitude has been an important aspect of my life for a long while. I keep a gratitude journal and try to be grateful for even the perceived negative things that happen, as you never know why you needed that to happen, until maybe later or not at all. 

Eating: lots of veggies, and clean foods. I have been doing a detox and am in the last couple of days of the 21-day cleanse, so all my food is organic and I am limited to foods that will not add to the toxin load in my body. I am actually loving it, I love the foods, and how I feel.

Liking: spending more time looking after myself.

Loving: how I am feeling, so much more energy, and my head is not so foggy.

Buying: I just added a sticker subscription because I love sending snail mail and want to do more of it.

Managing: Okay, maybe not managing but I am working on managing my finances. I am typically a worry about it at the end of the year person, but I am working on becoming more mindful of income and expenses, it is a work in progress.

Watching: I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I recently watched Coroner, a Canadian show on Netflix that is quite well done. Oh, and have you seen Dr. Foster on Netflix? I thought the first season was better than the second, but it is quite well done also.

Hoping: I am really hoping that more people can learn kindness and empathy. I think there are a large population that are kind and empathetic, but they are being drowned out by all the fear and hate going on.

Wearing: This one makes me laugh because I have literally become sweats and t-shirt person, usually all black. My partner laughs and says it has become my uniform. I always dressed for work, and even after I started working from home I would dress for the day. Nope, comfort is more important, however, I will change my top for a zoom meeting (sometimes).

Following: One of my favorite YouTube channels to follow is CreativeKady, she does art journal pages and has some great techniques. I found her through Ninny’s Napkins where I order a lot of my supplies.

Noticing: how much better I am feeling with this detox. I am going to challenge myself to keep up a version of this for 75 more days once I am done.

Getting: inspired. I am so excited about the changes I am making in my business and so looking forward to creating with art supplies on a more regular basis.

Bookmarking: I usually only bookmark pages that I use for business, graphics sites like Pixabay or Foxit that I use for Merging documents and editing .pdf’s. But, I recently discovered Toby, a Chrome extension that files all your pages that you use regularly. It is life-saving, as I do not have to have 100 tabs open on my computer all the time anymore. This really helps with the speed of the computer too.

Coveting: Inktense blocks, I have been watching so many videos about using them and I really ‘need’ some. 

Feeling: I have been feeling really focused the last week or so, and I am really loving it. 

Hearing: I am hearing from a lot of people that are grateful for creativity to help them through this past year. 

I would love to hear about your list. What are you taking stock of?

Here is a blank list for you to copy and paste.

Taking Stock

Making:

Getting: 

Cooking: 

Sipping:

Reading: 

Waiting: 

Looking: 

Listening: 

Wishing: 

Enjoying: 

Appreciating: 

Eating: 

Liking: 

Loving: 

Buying: 

Managing: 

Watching: 

Hoping: 

Wearing: 

Following: 

Noticing: 

Getting: 

Bookmarking: 

Coveting: 

Feeling: 

Hearing: 

Have an Amazingly Creative Day,

Larissa