Yesterday, I got a little tired of binge-watching Castle to avoid a few troubling thoughts. I made a list of what I could do concretely and took a few steps. It was good but not enough.Â
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I needed to calm my mind and find other ways to relax. As I was scrolling my emails, I felt like opening one from Kasia Avery of Everything Art. I like her and have bought a few courses from her but I've always abandoned quite quickly, not because they didn't hold my interest but because I tend to buy too many courses, books and audiobooks. I always say that the never-ending choice of options and resources we have is our biggest problem.Â
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Also with the pandemic, my firstborn was back home at home for 18 months and he is very chatty — I am talking hours every day! My children are my priority and soon enough, they will live their own life so I forfeit my me-time and more to be there with them.Â
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Anyway, I logged into my Everything Art account to check the status of my courses. One of them I had never even been open, so I did and I felt quite excited.
Most of us have courses lying dormant in our email inbox, many of them we have completely forgotten about.Â
The access to some of them has expired and that's it, they're gone.Â
Some of them have lost their appeal and we must let them go with gratitude.Â
Others, however, still have their magic to offer.
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The first step is to look for them. Start with the newsletters you are getting and try to remember who you bought courses from. Next, go to the login tab on their website or find the link you were sent initially — that might be in your saved emails folder.
As you find them, list the courses on a new document (Word or Pages) along with the link to each course.Â
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If it was an email course, create an email folder titled the name of the course. Next in the search box of your email inbox, type in the type of the course. You will get all the related emails. Select them all and move them to their designated folder.Â
In the coming days or weeks, you might remember more courses. Just repeat the process.
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Now, which one has rekindled excitement in you? Make the decision to commit to getting it done, create a schedule for it and put it in your phone calendar or paper one if you consult it every day.
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Do not be tempted to commit to doing two courses at the same time! You don't have enough time as it is! Instead, invest your time and energy into a single one and enjoy it!
Remember that making a decision means cutting all other options. Etymologically, de-cision means to cut away. Therefore, you must avoid the temptation of introducing anything else in your schedule or leisure time if you can.

Rather than numbing myself on Netflix, my plan to deal with these pesky thoughts is:
- Sleep: switch off the lights and iPad at the time I know I should.
- Listen to an uplifting audiobook or meditation music.
- Journal in a way that supports me.
- Project: work on it for just 5 minutes a day. It feels doable and I might spend longer on it but I give myself permission to only spend 5 minutes on it.
- Little walks with no headphones on.
- Course: select the easiest to do in terms of time and resources, one I can do while sitting on my couch or bed (when I am feeling tired), such as art journalling in an A6 sketchbook with a limited number of supplies. As Kasia was saying, working every day in your art journal doesn't mean completing a spread every day, but doing something maybe as simple as pasting a picture or paper, making a few marks, etc.Â
Do you think you might benefit from drawing your own plan? Don't hesitate to share it with me if you like. What little gem of a course will you be happy to rediscover? It might even be one you completed but will enjoy doing again.
