It's hard to believe, but this is the TENTH year of the Positively Present Gratitude Challenge! I've been doing this for a decade (and I know many of you have too!), and I'm so excited to begin this year's challenge on November 1. There's always something special about celebrating gratitude during the month of November each year, and this year it feels like we need the reminder more than ever. As always, I'll be sharing illustrations on Instagram daily (follow me on Instagram if you're not already!), but feel free to use these prompts for art, photos, collages, or whatever... Continue reading

It's hard to believe it's been months since I've written a post! This year, for all of us, has been such a strange one. For some, it's been heartbreaking. For others, merely unusual. But, regardless of what's happened in your life, 2020 has been a year of change. Like it or not, 2020's smacked us all over the head with one of life's universal truths: things change and, as a result, we change. Change isn't my favorite thing. I love a good routine, a safe space, the comfort of the known. It's that love of sameness that prompted me to... Continue reading

Throughout the years of working on Positively Present, I've discovered that one of the most essential aspects of living a positive and present life is this: keeping an open mind. This sounds much easier than it is, so I created a digital workbook to explore what I believe are the necessary steps needed to truly view the world from an open-minded perspective. The workbook is thoughtfully divided into four key sections: Defining Open-Mindedness: the term "open-minded" is much more than a dictionary definition; this section explores what it truly means to be open-minded in practice The Benefits of Open-Mindedness: there... Continue reading

Another list featuring things to do during stay-at-home time? I don't blame you if you're rolling your eyes. But, after doing some research, I've found that a lot of these curated lists rely heavily on two things: having someone else in your home with you and having the money to purchase all kinds of stuff to keep you entertained. Having neither a companion nor discretionary funds, I thought I'd come up with my own list of things that (most) people can do if they're solo and unable to shell out money for online classes, gardening tools, or baking supplies. I've... Continue reading

Things are tough right now. With coronavirus circling the globe, impacting nearly every citizen on Earth, the world is a weird place right now. We're all facing uncertainties about what the future will hold. We don't know for sure what will happen with our health, the health of our loved ones, our jobs, our communities, and more. It's unnerving, to say the least. During times like these, it's okay to be overwhelmed, scared, or anxious. In fact, it's normal. You're not alone in feeling how you feel. I, too, feel overwhelmed and unsure. So, of course, I did what I... Continue reading

Much as I hate to admit it, I've never really been a try-er. If something comes easily to me or I only have to put in a moderate, not-totally-unenjoyable work, I'll do it. When I encounter anything I'm not immediately decent at doing (or something that is out of my control in some way, I find myself putting in a minimal amount of effort, doing what's needed to get things done (if I even do it at all). During a conversation with a friend a few months back, I was pondering why I do this. Why do I just not... Continue reading

As winter arrives, I'm taken back in my mind to last year... Last winter, I was really down and out at the start of 2019. I spent so much time in bed, engaging in unhealthy coping methods, and generally just feeling rotten about myself and my life. While I don't know for sure if this was general depression or Season Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) -- I should have sought professional help, but I didn't -- I do know that it was pretty terrible to feel that way. Though I feel very differently now than I did then (not gonna lie --... Continue reading

HOORAY! The NINTH year of the Positively Present Gratitude Challenge is about to begin on November 1! Though I keep a daily gratitude journal, there's always something special about celebrating gratitude during the month of November each year. Having a specific topic to focus on each day really makes me pay even more attention to the things I'm thankful for, and I hope these annual prompts help you too! As in previous years, I'll be sharing illustrations on Instagram daily (follow me on Instagram if you're not already!), but feel free to use these prompts for art, photos, collages, or... Continue reading

Note: A lot of what I learned about Highly Sensitive People (aside from my own personal experience), came from Elaine N. Aron's book, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. If you want to learn more about the info that's not personal-experience-based, I highly recommend you check it out or visit her site here! WHAT IS A HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSON (HSP)? Basically, Highly Sensitive People (HSP) is a term developed in the 1990s to describe people who pick up on subtleties that most others ignore. HSPs are more sensitive to external stimuli (sounds, colors, movement,... Continue reading

Today I turn 36! Age is just a number, they say, and the older I get, the more I realize the truth in that statement. With every year, I feel both changed and exactly the same. There are parts of me that will always be and there are parts that will shift over time. One thing I know for certain is that, the older I get, the less I know. I gain wisdom, yes, but I also gain the realization that so much of life is a mystery (and so much is uniquely experienced in ways that are difficult to... Continue reading

Get this print in the shop here! I'm in the midst of working on a very exciting project (can't wait to tell you about it soon!), and I've been listening to makeup videos while I work. I rarely even wear makeup, but there's something about these videos that just works so well as background noise! All that makeup talk in the background has had me dying to draw makeup things so I was thrilled when I thought of the mood makeup idea the other day. Once I started thinking about it, I realized just how many things factor into a... Continue reading

For months and months, it felt like a dark cloud was hanging over my head. I don't know if it was seasonal depression or regular depression or just part of my biological mental ups and downs, but, man, was it rough. I didn't feel like doing anything, and I didn't feel like I'd ever get out of that dark fog of what felt like nothingness. But, over the past few weeks, there's been a shift. I've felt something start to change, the clouds start to part a bit, if you will. I don't know if the darkness is gone (I... Continue reading

Regard yourself as a cloud. Clouds never make mistakes. Did you ever see a cloud that was misshapen? Did you ever see a badly designed wave? No, they always do the right thing. And if you will treat yourself for a while as a cloud or wave, you’ll realize that you can’t make a mistake whatever you do. Because even if you do something that appears totally bizarre, it will all come out in the wash somehow or another. Then through this capacity you will develop a kind of confidence. And through confidence you will be able to trust your... Continue reading

Get the print here! Whenever I do interviews, one of the questions I get asked most frequently is, "If you could give out one piece of advice, what would it be?" It's a tough one to answer, but my instinct is almost always to say, "Pay attention to your thoughts." It sounds like simple (or perhaps even strange) advice -- after all, aren't we always paying attention to our thoughts if we're thinking them? But, if you think about it (ha!), we actually don't pay attention to our thoughts very often. Maybe when we're infants or children we pay closer... Continue reading

Get the print here! For as long as I can remember, I've been anxious. During some periods of my life (like now) it's worse. Other times, it's just a faint trace, like someone's perfume lingering on you after a hug. For as long as I can remember, I've been trying to elude my anxiety. I've tried almost everything. I've tried mixed drinks and drug cocktails. I've tried sleeping too much and sleeping around. I've tried therapy (which does, to some degree, help) and soul-searching (also helpful, in its navel-gazing way). I've tried shopping and scrolling. I've tried yoga (also useful... Continue reading

On Friday, my mom celebrated her birthday, and it never feels like I'm able to express how grateful I am for her presence in my life in the form of tangible gifts. You see, my mom is the absolute best mom. I know lots of people think their mom is the best, but I truly did get the best one. And this time of year, with her birthday and Mother's Day, always reminds me of how fortunate I am to call her mine. As someone who is incredibly fortunate to have an amazing mom, I sometimes feel guilty talking about... Continue reading

As the leaves start to sprout on the trees and the flowers begin to poke their heads up through the dirt, I'm reminded, once again, of how spring is the ultimate symbolic season of change and growth and blooming once again. After months of drab, colorless treetops, things are blooming as they always do, and it's showing me that we, too, can bloom again, even when things have been dormant for some time. One of the best ways to channel the springtime vibe of transformation is to investigate what we've been settling for. When we can identify the areas in... Continue reading

How I came across the video Keeping Mentally Fit I'm not quite sure — pretty sure it's a combination of my own YouTube content and Safiya Nygaard's decades videos — but when I first saw the video in my recommended feed, I naively expected it to be filled with such out-of-touch advice that it would be laughable to those interested in self-help today. While some of my 1950s-era expectations were certainly met (blatant racism, overt sexism, and a bizarre understanding of mental health treatment — 2 out of 40 high school graduates could expect to someday spend time in a... Continue reading

If you need this reminder IRL, print is in the shop here! Materialism exists because we get excited about something, want to own it, get it, grow used to it (or even feel let down by it immediately after acquiring it), and then strive again for the "wanting" high by identifying a new thing to covet. The cycle can be endless, and even if you're aware of it, it can be tough to break because wanting something (and striving to make it yours) just feels so darn good sometimes. The problem is we often don't pay attention to where in... Continue reading