STOP WORRYING!

Well I wish I could (stop worrying that is).  I am an expert in this field and could give lessons, having been practising for a lifetime.  This page began as so many do with just a blank page and NO ideas ... so I follow the helpful advice that I once read somewhere to just write a single word on the page.  Guess what mine was?  It does work, and is often true that by using this technique you find out what is really on your mind, and what you most need to work through - sometimes with surprising results!

It won't come as a shock that the pen which jumped into my hand was the deep pink Promarker, and then I outlined the word with black to make it pop off the page more.  Another pink pen provided a background - at which point it was clear that this negative subject needed to be suffused with my favourite colour - which also works!  I do love this Stampotique face - she looks absolutely FRANTIC doesn't she, a particularly good fit with the subject matter.

After more writing I began to fill in the background some more and the doodly process began.  Because the writing is done with a waterproof pen I could probably (possibly?) have gone over it with the colour too, but it can still smear.  Its more reliable if you wait until another day when the ink is truly dry, but I rather like the effect of the white background.

Then of course it was time for the fiddly (my favourite) bits - and of course generally I can't bear to leave too much empty space - somehow its part of the process of working through something for me, that I haven't quite "done" the subject unless I've filled every available inch.

It will however be obvious to those of you who've been with me some time that this is a counsel of perfection - a life-long worrier like me won't be stopping the practice without a struggle.  I am working on it however, because it IS a waste of my strength, so now when I catch myself doing it I am trying to ask "can I change this situation"  or "is there anything I can actively do to make things better here"?  Much of the time the answer is no, so at that point I am trying to put my worries into God's hands and let Her deal with them .... and work on trusting that somehow, in ways I can't yet understand or see, things will work out for the best exactly as they are meant to.  I can't say that I've achieved zen like calm yet, but She and I are working on it together!  Let go, let God, as the saying goes ...