Writing in my journal and painting are the ways I meditate. I recently sat to “meditate meditate” for five minutes and “received” the image of a dog chasing its tail. Could this is what it looks like to chase one’s shadow — or to be chased by our shadow self?

We all have a shadow self. It’s is the part of us that we don’t see or don’t want to admit we have. Like the dark side of the moon, it remains a mystery until we become aware of it enough to embark on a “personal shadow adventure.”

Learning to recognize when our shadow self is active can dramatically impact our lives.

Before painting, I sketch the idea. It’s important to know that it all fits on the page!

“That which we do not bring to consciousness appears in our lives as fate.” ~ Carl Jung

If our shadow self snaps at others when we’re cranky or annoyed and we become aware that’s what’s happening, we might be able to soften our responses — or apologize once we realize it’s happened.

There’s more that I don’t know about shadow selves than I do know. Lately, it keeps coming up in my awareness in the form of questions.

We’re each unique — and there’s a “boat-load” of unique individuals on Earth today. I believe we’re here for a reason, and the reason must be HUGE! Why else would there be so many of us?

If only we knew why! The reason could lie in the shadow self of our collective consciousness.

Last autumn, I awoke to a booming (I MEAN BOOMING!) voice in my head saying,

“EVERYTHING CHANGES!”

It scared me. I had NO idea what it meant. Of course, everything changes, everything always changes!

We often think we know what’s happening, or what to expect next, but we don’t know. We live with a false sense of security.

I’m no psychiatrist. I’m an introspective artist consciously choosing to make friends with my shadow self.

Is the shadow self the one who stops us from moving forward when we feel fear or shame?

Is it as simple (and mean) as the “inner critic”? The one who wakes us up at night to berate us for something we did or didn’t do the day before?

Is the shadow self the part that thinks we have to be perfect before we share our work with the world?

Is the shadow the part of us that thinks we DON’T have anything worth sharing?

Is the shadow self the one who “flies off the handle” when we’re frustrated?

“Who’s Pulling the Strings?” — You, Your Shadow, or the Great Unknown? Do you notice anything different between this photo and the previous photo?

For now, let’s make friends with the shadow as best we can and continue asking questions.

‘Luke, come to the Dark Side.’ ~ (my memory of Darth Vader enticing Luke)

Those words echo in my head each time I face a painting that needs dark colors.

In the beginning, the painting is meant to be mostly light and medium tones

Dark colors provide contrast, interest, intrigue, and excitement to our work.

Adding the darks to our paintings can be SCARY!

It’s scary and it’s exciting and it makes a HUGE difference in our paintings.

If the dark color is “perfect” when we paint it, it’s probably too light. If it looks “too dark”, it might just be perfect!

Scare yourself just a little bit. Add dark colors & the difference is immediate. It’s hard to appreciate the edge of darkness when we’re scared.

Noticing that we’re scared is the first step to shifting into action. Fear lives right next door to Excitement.

Move from fear to excitement by breathing into your fear. Inhale and feel the feeling rise from your belly to your chest (your heart center).

Remember that if the painting isn’t finished, or if you’re not happy with it — if you don’t like it — it isn’t finished. You’ve got nothing to lose by adding darks. 

If you don't like your painting, what's in front of you is just a piece of paper!

Still mostly light and medium tones, with definition added

Remind yourself that no one will die if you add darks to your painting. You'll likely energize your painting by adding dark colors.

Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are “plunging into darkness” (on so many levels I’ve lost count — mostly I refer to winter).

Darkness is scary because we don’t know what it holds. 

Winter is a time of rest and of letting the ground lie fallow.

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It’s a time for us to ease up, maybe just a little bit, maybe take a nap, and certainly to reflect on all that we’ve done this past year. 

It’s also a time to plan ahead and to set our intentions for next year.

What is it you most want to see, do, or BE next year? What would light up your life and energize you?

If you want to relax, feel great, enjoy life, see the world through fresh eyes, and spark your creativity, join me on Art of Aloha's 8-day cruise through the Hawaiian Islands August 4–11, 2018. Come Discover Paradise, Inside and Out. Click here to receive first dibs on the great Balcony Cabins!

Yesterday my friend Tamara Moan took me and another friend, Frances Hill, on a trip around Whole Foods in Kailua to teach us the ins and outs of keeping an Artistic Travel Journal.

Here you see Tamara showing us one of her many travel journals; this one is an accordion book. She's been creating her travel journals for at least 14 years, and has stacks of them. Whenever she leafs through them, she is transported back to the time and place of her trip.

A Travel Journal is the perfect way to record a trip, stay creative, and have fun, all at the same time!

Frances, Tamara, and I wandered around Whole Foods for an hour, recording what we saw. I can honestly report that the people working at Whole Foods do an amazing job creating beautiful visual displays! I wandered through twice and look at all that I found:

I started out sketching really really fast, unsure of what I would find, I wanted to capture as much as I could. I soon realized that if I wanted to recognize anything at the end of the journey, I would have to slow down a bit.

Sure enough, if you look closely, you will find tropical flowers, beets, peppers, fish, cheese, loaves of bread, even a baby that was sitting in one of the carts (yes, I asked permission first).

If you've ever thought of keeping a travel journal, I highly recommend it. Obviously you don't have to go far from home to find something interesting to record! We had a great time, the hour flew by, and we treated ourselves to a glass of wine and a slice of pizza at the end. Thank you Tamara and Frances for a truly memorable morning at Whole Foods!