How it’s going… the thrill of completing my largest custom card order to date!
Where it started… October 2016 after making 100 handmade cards for 100 consecutive days.
Six years ago, as a way to reinvigorate my stagnant life with some joy and creativity, I committed to making a handmade card for 100 consecutive days. I was out of practice and TBH, many of them weren’t my ‘best work,’ but they were each made with love for someone I had in mind. I learned to be ok with being a beginner again, and trust that my good intentions would somehow unfold artistically on that blank card each day.
It was the act of making something daily that would encourage and bless someone else that ultimately led to a career pivot. It revealed to me that I wanted to use my creativity and ideas outside of the hospital setting to motivate, encourage and coach individuals in their wellness.
This week I fulfilled my largest custom card order to date. As I designed, hand-lettered, and painted each one, there were ones that smeared or where the centering was off. I was gentle with myself, took a deep breath and started again. And sometimes again. I couldn’t help but remember how all this started six years ago. I felt stuck and unhappy at a job that I knew wasn’t meant for me. This practice of making something daily connected me to my heart, and I found my way out by turning inward, following my intuition and curiosity, tripping, getting back up, and believing in a bigger dream.
To this day, I receive messages from those individuals who still have the cards I made them from back in 2016. They tell me they framed it, or it sits above their office desk, or they posted it on their kitchen wall. They take it out and read it when they’re feeling down or discouraged. Someone recently told me she’s never had anyone take the time to make her a homemade card, and receiving it moved her to tears. Hearing her message moved me to tears.
We never quite know the ripple effect that a single action done in love can have. Remember, love moves both ways. What began as a project to make art and encourage people was ultimately a way that led me to a place of newfound peace and contentment.
So today, do that one thing that connects you to your heart. It can be small. In fact, the smaller the better. Tomorrow, do it again. And keep going. If you smear or trip, that’s ok. Get back up. You never know where you’ll end up and what you’ll create.