The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

Here is the illustration I’m working on today. It’s not finished yet but I like it so far. I’ve decided to branch out and do things other than self portraits for the book. I was getting a little bored of just drawing myself over and over.

Jogging, making art, writing, and walking the dog are all things that give me energy and put me in a good mood. Also, eating nutritious food makes a big impact on my overall energy levels.

So I’m on day 20 of my habit change journey and this new routine is still hard to get through, so my brain hasn’t established it as second nature yet. It has been a successful week though. I achieved all 4 core values (incorporated into the routine) every single day. There was a lot of effort involved to keep myself persevering, but I soldiered through the moments when I was less motivated. I’ve gotten much better at coaxing myself out of procrastination. With kind inner dialogue encouraging me to get going, I tend to put things off a lot less.

For those of you who haven’t been following along, my New Year’s Resolution is to follow my 4 core values each day incorporated into a routine. Core values #1 is creativity, so doing something creative every day and working towards completing the poems and illustrations for my book. Core values #2 is taking care of my body and mind which involves regular exercise and eating as healthy as I am able. Core values #3 is kindness to myself and others which involves incorporating self compassion into my day, meditation (including a loving kindness meditation focussed on sending kind thoughts to other people), and just trying to be a kinder person in general. Core values #4 is incorporating all 3 of my previous core values into a daily routine.

I’m hoping by New Years I will be following my new routine easily and that one day will just flow into another instead of feeling like starting at the bottom of a mountain every morning.