Notes to Myself • by Linda Tieu

I went back to read over my first ART SAVES story and thought about how taking the time to reflect and understand oneself truly leads to internal balance, healing, and many other great things. It has certainly been the case for me and I think we often do not spend enough time on nurturing ourselves. It’s something I try to focus on from time to time ... to feed my creative soul.

The Seed
A few years ago, I started a series of graphic posters based on little phrases that were important to me. Simple encouragements and motivations like “remember to breathe” and “enjoy the ride.” They serve as a dose of wisdom, especially during tough times. I really loved the idea of capturing these pick-me ups, but the posters seemed a bit cold and impersonal. Nothing wrong with a motivational poster … but I wanted something more and wasn’t sure where to go with it.

The Project
Then one day, a blog friend emailed about my work. She thought I should teach classes and that I was so inspiring! She is a scrapbooker as well, and we got to talking about various interests and hobbies. I was so honored and touched by her encouragement and from that email, an idea was sparked. It just clicked! My series of notes should be turned into a scrapbook and I need to share the idea with everyone.

The missing component to my words of wisdom was the story. The personal story behind each little encouragement would be so much more meaningful. It’s one thing to say “laugh every day” period, versus “laugh every day” and remember that difficult time … you thought the smiles would never come back, but then Dad said something totally ridiculous and we all burst out laughing? I could see it in my mind, a scrapbook art project, a book of wise words with concrete memories that I could turn to for encouragement and perspective.

Join Me
I would love to take you through the making of this scrapbook art project — Notes to Myself. Helping me to get through this bumpy road of life ... I often flip through my book and just smile. I’ve learned that ART SAVES in many ways and it is important to remember, record, and reflect upon our journey. Take the challenging experiences of life and turn them into life lessons that empower. Sometimes we need to be reminded of how much we’ve gone through, of what we've learned and how strong and brave we really are. Join me at backtopaper.com.

Linda is an artist living in Tuscany, Italy. You can follow her art blog, tortagialla.com, to learn more.