Hellooooooooooooo to you who is reading this :)

As I write these first few words I felt a chill go through my being which makes me think this is a beneficial first step to 2021.  My intention is to continue a conversation on here that will inspire you to create love, joy and happiness in our world.  

Writing has always been a pleasure for me, while my vocabulary and grammar is still improving, I find it fun to write thoughts.  This particular post is about gratefulness for 2020 and excitement around 2021.

To say 2020 was an odd year is an understatement, it completely flipped everything on its side.  I remember mid March when the winds of change swept over the city of Winnipeg.   These wind's blew me over and I stayed sheltered in my home for about a week before I was able to pick myself up off the floor.  To be completely honest in that first week I was overwhelmed with propaganda and scare tactics the government and media were shouting at me.  Im not saying that the virus isn't bad, I am simply stating that it scared me so bad I felt my life was over.  From every direction it seemed like the world was shutting down and that nothing would be the same again, I felt hopeless and scared.  It took me a week to shake it off and come to my senses that I wasn't going to accept defeat, I wasn't going to let an invisible virus shut my life off.  I made a conscious choice that I was going to move forward and thrive in a time when so many were cowering.  I made a choice that I would do everything in my power to be safe, keep others safe and carry on.  I wasn't going to hide, I wasn't going to see my life blow away in the wind.  

So that's what I did, the next day I got out of bed, dressed up to the nines and got moving again.  I started to see opportunity where I saw a brick wall the week before.  So much of life is about perspective, do you see the brick wall or can you see around it?  There is always a silver lining to life but sometimes you have to look below, around or even through the obstacle right in front of you.  Moving past the barriers set in front of me was liberating and it made me feel great!

With all my travelling trade shows and workshops being cancelled I saw great opportunity in the time I would gain.  I knew right away that this extra time would be allocated to be creative, to focus on what I do best, my art.  But what part of art would I focus?  For many years clothing design has been the front runner in my art taking up most of my time, however this year has changed that.  I have been flooded with requests for new paintings and my words of inspiration to the point where all three are working in tandem.  It feels as thought they're propelling each one forward.

Creating art with my hands has always been my biggest passion, whether it be visual arts, clothing design or creating words to inspire you, my art has always driven me.  Someone recently asked me, "If you had to leave your house each day and you could go to one place, where would you go and what would you do?"  My answer was definitive, my studio to get my hands dirty in creative flow.  It's this flow state that appeals so much to me, it's as though I am speaking with my hands allowing them to move without thought, I allow them to move with ease with one purpose, create happiness. 

Creating happiness, love and joy with my three pillars of art are what drives me each day.  I feel that my purpose on earth is to make people smile and feel good using these three art forms.  This is why I am grateful to 2020 and the sweeping winds that levelled the land.  You see they levelled the growing field for me.  Where I once spent all of my time focused on clothing design, I now see possibilities for growth in other areas.  2020 allowed me to have time to water the seeds of my visual arts and writing.  I am now seeing the benefits of this as my book, "The Art of Living" is thriving and helping people each day and my visual arts are beaming positive energy into peoples homes and workplaces.  Did anyone else experience something similar?  Did your playing field get levelled and you found new opportunities growing when you looked at it again?

I believe everything in life happens for a reason and I believe 2020 happened as a wakeup call to pay attention to that which is right in front of us.  The beauty of life isn't what we have, its what we make it.  It's what we make from the time we are given that truly matters.  So I ask you this, what will you create today?  What will you do to make 2021 a better place to be?

For me, 2021 has many amazing possibilities and I am working on some new and exciting projects that will make you smile and feel good.  The first big project will be released early in March and its goal is to set you up right for the day.  If you'd like to be kept in the loop about whats doing then sign up for my mailing list for the insider information.

xoxo

Lennard