“Sharp Dresser”
Time spent on drawing: 15:32 min
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Some days, all you want to think about is a really good pun. Today is one of these days!
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Happy Punday!
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #health #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #coronavirus #kindness #quarantine #isolation #socialdistancing #pun
15 minute musings
Sending Hugs from the Heart
“Sending Hugs from the Heart While We’re Apart”
Time spent on drawing: 34:06 min
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I’m a big hugger. I love hugs so much that I once even started a blog called Hug O' The Day where I posted a cartoon hug every day.
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The hardest part of this social distancing thing is not being able to give my loved ones hugs. With no end in sight, we don’t even know when life will resume to being “normal”. Or at least, a new sort of normal.
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While it's not a substitute for a real hug, today let’s send a virtual hug to someone we are missing from afar. Even if the distance is the house next door. Spread hugs, share love. It’s something we can control today. Forward this e-mail or copy and paste this picture and send it to someone who could use a little pick-me-up, knowing that you are thinking about them.
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As always, if you need someone to talk to, write back to me and I’m happy to chat!
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #health #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #coronavirus #kindness #quarantine #isolation #hugs #socialdistancing #spreadlove
Award Your Successes
“Award Your Successes”
Time spent on drawing: 34 min
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We are all struggling through this difficult time. It’s a challenge to put one step in front of the other, but that’s exactly how we’re dealing with it: one step at a time. So, what do we have to show for it, besides a seemingly never-ending influx of bad news?
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So many of us are now finding ourselves in the impossible positions of simultaneously being stay-at-home parents, stay-at-home teachers, and stay-at-home workers. As if finding that balance isn’t hard enough, our basic luxuries of finding the items we need at grocery stores or going out to eat at a restaurant - heck, for many of us, going out at all - are temporarily unavailable.
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We all deserve an award. A giant one. A fan actually suggested that I create one for us, so immediately that’s what I did. Because we deserve to take a moment to let it sink in that we are going through one of the most insane, unprecedented periods in all of history. We are living and breathing through a GINORMOUS, life-altering event, with an unknown outcome. And we are taking it one step, one day, one week at a time.
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So congrats! If you are reading this message, you deserve to be awarded for surviving another day without having lost your mind completely. It’s no small feat.
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In a time of uncertainty, be certain that you are doing the best you can. That’s all you can ask of yourself. We are all only human, and we’re in this together.
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If you would like the coloring page version of this, or one of the alternate versions "STUDENT DURING QUARANTINE" or a blank version to create your own award, send me a message and I'll add you to the mailing list. Or sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/7351a30d6371/15minutemusings
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #health #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor # #coronavirus #kindness #quarantine #isolation #award #parenting
Keep Your Head Up
“Keep Your Head Up”
Time spent on drawing: 42:07
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Andy Grammer is my favorite musician. He is the King of Kindness in music. Positive, insightful, clever lyrics are his jam. He used to perform as a busker in the Santa Monica Pier. After a particularly bad day in which he didn’t sell anything, he came home and wrote his song Keep Your Head Up. If you have not heard it yet, drop everything and listen to it now. If you have heard it before, listen to it again...and again. I’ve had it on repeat.
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Staying positive is hard work. The unknown is scary. Terrifying. I remember before I had my current job, when I was a freelance cartoonist making less than $10k a year, not knowing how I was going to find a full-time job for a respectable salary. I went to lunch with someone who was like a grandmother to me, my dear friend, “Bubbe” Ethel. She shared some sage advice with me that her husband had shared with her during difficult times: “You have two hands and two feet. You’re gonna make it.”
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Times are tough. We’re in this semi-quarantine state for the foreseeable future. We have friends, children, and family depending on us. Life as we know it is up in the air. But we all have two hands, two feet, and a head we can keep up. We can do this.
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Let’s take 15 minutes to listen to a music playlist that maintains our sanity. If you haven’t made one yet, Spotify is a really terrific, free resource.
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What’s your favorite song that keeps you staying positive? Drop it in the comments! Let’s spread positivity, one song at a time.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #health #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #coronavirus #kindness #quarantine #isolation #andygrammer #lyrics
Rainbows and Sunshine: a double post
Drawing #1: “Wishing a Rainbow for You”
Time spent on drawing: 32:38
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Drawing #2: “Sending Ewe Some Sunshine”
Time spent on drawing: 53:57
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Is it only Wednesday? This week has been the longest year ever.
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One of the most incredible things about human beings is the kindness that emerges during times of crisis. My friend Kelila Beth Green Siciliano, who homeschools her children, recently started a website and Facebook group OursandYRS: Our Online Village, filled with daily activities to keep your kiddos occupied during our semi-quarantined state. She reached out to me about creating coloring pages to print and mail to those under lock down in hospitals, assisted living homes, or nursing centers. She even included some suggestions for places to send them to:
Cedars Sinai
8700 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Kaiser
6041 Cadillac Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Children’s Hospital LA
Michelle Lahat
4650 Sunset Blvd.
MS 38
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Country Villa Terrace Assisted Living Center
6050 Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Whether or not you choose to mail the coloring pages is up to you. Either way, you have double the amount of pages today to color!
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Spend 15 minutes choosing kindness today. Drop a heart if you agree!
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Just Breathe
"Breathe"
Time spent on drawing: 23:12
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Yesterday a lot. It was the first day of our “new norm”. I’ve got three kids at home, a full time job, and there’s a lot of logistics to figure out. And the news updates are coming in fast and furious.
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It’s all a tad overwhelming. Okay, that’s a lie. It’s WAY more than a tad. I was so busy, I didn’t realize that I hadn’t eaten until 4 pm.
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There’s no way I can keep up for…weeks?...months?...at that pace. Today, I’m determined to schedule 15 minutes aside to just BREATHE. Meditate. I’m probably going to set an alarm on my phone around lunchtime, since I can easily forget.
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Share this post with someone who also can use a reminder to breathe. Sometimes having someone else hold you accountable to breathe is motivation enough to take care of yourself.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #health #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #coronavirus #breathe #quarantine #isolation
Traits of Focus
"Traits of Focus"
Time spent on drawing: 40:57
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I spent the better part of the last year and a half coping with various conditions that left me both physically and emotionally drained. Various ailments over the course of my pregnancy (including a 2-month battle with pneumonia) rendered me weaker than I’d ever felt in my life. A battle with postpartum depression after my baby’s birth rendered me a mere shadow of my once happy-go-lucky, bubbly self. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would EVER bounce back.
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Everything seemed overwhelming. I didn’t want to draw for MONTHS. I just wanted to lie in bed with my baby. I felt helpless. I had no idea how to even begin to heal.
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Working on these 15 Minute Musings was a big answer to how I pulled myself out from the pit of despair. It’s more than just about making art. It’s about taking 15 minutes to focus on the things I’ve been pushing off. To make time for myself.
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By working on myself 15 minutes at a time, I was able to build my strength up little by little until I feel like I’m almost back to my usual self. If the Coronavirus had hit even a couple of months ago, I’m quite afraid of how I would (or wouldn’t) be able to cope.
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After months of depression and physical weakness, I am done focusing on the negative. Most of what is going on is out of my control. After years and years of living life in nonstop motion, we have been blessed with a rare opportunity to significantly slow down the pace of life and focus on what’s truly important.
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I took 15 minutes to think about how I want to positively spend the time in isolation. I came up with five traits that I’d like to focus on: PATIENCE (especially with 3 kids at home for the foreseeable future), KINDNESS (on how to help others as much as possible with the resources I have), FAITH (I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason and to just go with the flow of G-d’s plan), WASTEFULNESS (especially when it comes to paper goods and rationing groceries), and HEALTH (Eating better, exercising more now that I don’t have to commute to work).
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What personal traits do you now have the opportunity to focus on? What good can you contribute to the world at this very moment? Let’s inject some positivity into the world right now.
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Drop a positive emoji that makes you smile in the comments! Share the joy.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #health #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #coronavirus #quarantine #positivity #kindness #patience
Sunshine
"Sunshine"
Time spent on drawing: 24:51
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Oh the weather outside is frightful. And the news is less than delightful. And since we’ve no place to go...I figured I’d let some sun flow.
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Let’s spread a little joy however we can. Let’s take 15 minutes to figure out how to brighten someone’s day during such dark times (both literally and figuratively - anyone else having grey skies and rain??). Suggestions: send someone a gift card for coffee. Call a friend to check in on them. Order food for a sick friend. Help someone struggling with the current reality by reaching out to help. We have the ability to provide sunshine to those hard-to-reach places.
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Tag someone who could use a bit of sunshine today.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #justbreathe #follow #2020 #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #coronavirus #quarantine #positivity #sunshine #sun
Quarantine
"Quarantine"
Time spent on drawing: 35:03
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We are living in strange times. The whirlwind and the speed of which the Coronavirus has spread and altered our basic way of life is confounding.
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Are you having as hard a time processing it all as I am? It’s hard to stay positive when bad news keeps pouring in by the second.
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There’s not much we can control. We can stay clean. We can cancel events. We can work remotely. We can help people who are ill to the best of our abilities. But the reality is, for the average person, it’s mostly out of our control.
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To stay positive, I took time to write down a few good things about the current predicament. Let’s spread positivity and share your good insights as well. Spend 15 minutes focusing on positive. No looking at news, no focusing on drama. You deserve 15 minutes to catch your breath.
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Share something good that’s come out of the global quarantines so we can help each other process this insanity. We’re all in this together.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #coronavirus #quarantine #positivity #spreadgood #remotework
No Doubt
"No Doubt"
Time spent on drawing: 1 hr 32 min
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I can’t begin to tell you how often doubt creeps its way back into my mind. Doubts about parenting, being a good human, if my cartoons are any good or not…
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If we removed our doubts, how much time would we save and how much more could we accomplish?
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Today, spend 15 minutes doing something that doubt has stopped you from working on. Is it organizing an area of your house that has been too overwhelming? Is it working on taxes? Is it sharing an artistic work that you are afraid to put out there?
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No doubt, you’ll feel much better after you get out of your head and get moving.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #nodoubt #doubt #confidence #bestrong
Mistakes
"Mistakes"
Time spent on drawing: 38:10
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There is so much to keep track of these days. Too much. It’s all overwhelming. Inevitably, we make mistakes. Loads of them.
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Life is not about the mistakes we make, but the actions we take to make up for them.
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I once got some upsetting news, but I was at work and couldn’t process it fully. A friend gave me some good advice: take 15 minutes of time to grieve on the topic, so I could give myself proper time to react, and then return to life.
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Perhaps the same advice could be applied to a mistake. Is there something that’s been weighing you down? Spend 15 minutes thinking about the mistake, and a proactive solution to counteract it. Donate money to charity. Decide to volunteer somewhere. Do a secret good deed for someone. Perhaps having a game plan would help you hold your chin higher and move on a little.
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If you need some inspiration, the song “Dear Me” by Eric Hutchinson has loads of wonderful advice he wish he could give his younger self. Every line is gold. I find it quite helpful for my current self and listen to it daily. His line “You’re gonna make mistakes, but they won’t define you” really resonates with me.
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Drop some weights in the comments if you have something heavy that needs releasing. Here for you!
🏋️♀️
#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #instaart #mistakes #erichutchinson #dearme #song #lyrics
Tough and Enough
"Tough and Enough"
Time spent on drawing: 24 minutes
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It’s Monday. We have a full week ahead. It’s time to put our game faces on. Remember, ewe are tough and enough. Ewe can make it through the week. You have survived 100% of your weeks in your existence so far, so the odds are in your favor that this week will be another notch under your belt.
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If there’s something you feel like you need to overcome, let’s toughen up and rip off the bandaid. Spend 15 minutes doing the thing you’re dreading most. Let’s start this week off on the right foot!
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Drop a muscle in the comments if you’re ready to take on the week ahead! (Or are at least willing to fake it until you make it!)
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #instagood #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #ewe #toughandenough #ewecandoit #eweareenough #youareenough
Treat Yo-Yo Self
"Treat Yo-Yo Self"
Time spent on drawing: 20 minutes
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Does anyone else feel like it’s been a rough week? On top of the daily drama in one’s life the news cycle was particularly heavy. But fear not - it’s Fri-YAY!
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You survived. No matter what happened this week, you are still standing (or sitting while reading this).
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Celebrate by doing something FUN for 15 minutes. Blast some music. Take a drive with the windows down if the weather’s nice. Paint your nails. Get an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. Play with a yo-yo! Just do something that you would normally do that would bring you back to feeling centered and put yourself in a good mood.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #instagood #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #yoyo #treatyoself #treatyourself #fun
Hanging By a Thread
"Hanging By a Thread"
Time spent on drawing: 38:16
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Do you ever have times in your life where everything hits the fan at once? And you feel like one more thing might break you? Today’s Musing is how I described my life recently. So, naturally, I wrote it down and drew it up.
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When everything gets crazy, be sure to make 15 minutes to do something calming. Meditate. Color. Eat ice cream. (You’ll notice I suggest ice cream whenever I can 😄.) Pet a pup. Or just close your eyes, and do nothing for 15 minutes but listen to music.
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I have a chaotic day ahead of me, but I’m going to find 15 minutes to go outside and listen to nature.
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Drop an emoji of your favorite thing to do to calm down!
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #instaart #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #thread #hanging #hangingin #hangingbyathread #chaos #scissors
Insecurity
"Insecurity"
Time spent on drawing: 1 hr 30 min
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One of the biggest battles I face on the daily is with Insecurity. Am I a good enough mother? Wife? Artist? Human being?
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It’s a battle that I face every time I open my mouth. Every step I take. Every move I make...okay, taking it back before it continues to spiral into a Police song. Although, that would be appropriate, given the subject of today’s cartoon Musing.
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I do have a huge insecurity every time I post. Why bother? Someone else has probably done something similar already. What do I bring to the table? But I decided with these Musings, they are to help me get through a tough time in my life. Before I started these I didn’t feel like drawing anymore. Now if I miss a day I can’t wait to work double the next day to make up for it. And if the Musings help someone else in the process, it’s gold.
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Anyone else battle with insecurity? Raise your hand - drop it in the comments.
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Today, take 15 minutes to do something that you feel insecure about. Feel free to share it with me privately for support, or if it helps, post below to hold yourself accountable to do the thing you’re uncomfortable with so we can all support you.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #instaart #insecurity #selfdoubt #battlewithin #confidence #help
I Wanna Be Serrated
"Serrated"
Time spent on drawing: 15:47⌛
Do you ever have an itch to just do something creative for creativity’s sake? Do you ever just need to take a break from the norm just to do something completely different? Do you ever have a pun so bad it just makes you laugh constantly and you just need to share it?
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I present to you some of the best 15 minutes spent in recent history for me in today’s Musing. I dare you not to be singing The Ramones song after reading.
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Today, spend 15 minutes doing something completely and utterly silly. Something that puts a big ol’ silly grin on your face. Bonus points if you make someone else laugh with it. No shame allowed.
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Drop a silly emoji if you can use 15 minutes doing something ridiculous. Watch a silly YouTube video. Look at the clouds and figure out what shapes they look like. Decorate an ice cream sundae with a funny expression.
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And don’t be embarrassed or regret any of it for a single second.
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#15minutemusings #15minutes #babysteps #selfimprovement #iPad #iPadArt #selfhelp #digitalart #momlife #art #instagood #justbreathe #follow #2020vision #2020goals #digitalink #creator #maker #happiness #success #feelgood #digitalcolor #serrated #theramones #parody #silly
Live Wisely
"Live Wisely"
Time spent on drawing: 34 minutes
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It’s Sunday Funday! Time to make the most of the second half of the weekend. Here I’ve included the wise owl waking up early to enjoy the fun day of a few of my favorite activities. But honestly, with three kids, Sundays are the days I least get to spend doing the things “for me”.
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So today, take 15 minutes to make sure you get some “you” time, the things you like to do to make life worth living. 🏃♀️🎨🍦🎧🎶What are some personal activities that you can spend 15 minutes doing today?
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Happy Funday!
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