Where does the time go? My Mom used to say the older you get, the faster time goes, and I’m beginning to believe it! I published my last blog post over a month ago. Things have been hectic around here lately, and I just didn’t have the bandwidth to work on the blog. That said, though, I have been painting almost every day for the last month and a half, and it’s been a great stress reliever.

As we’ve talked about before, creative pursuits of all kinds are great for stress relief. Being able to go back to my painting table and concentrate just on what I was doing for awhile was exactly what I needed.

An added bonus of doing all that painting is that my skills are improving and I have a better understanding of what I need to do to get the results I want. I still have a long way to go, but I really have seen the benefit of getting those ‘miles on my paintbrush.’

Now it’s time to get back to blogging.

A New Direction

During my time spent not writing, I did do some serious thinking about a lot of things, including what I wanted this blog to be.

In my very first post, this is what I said I wanted it to be:

• Documentation of my journey – “Hopefully, this will document my pursuit of becoming the artist I want to be and help me become consistent with my painting practice.“

• Encouragement for others – “I hope it will also serve as encouragement for others who find themselves in the same position I’m in.” 

• A Community – “Let’s discover who ‘we want to be when we grow up’ together!“

I hope I’ve met at least some of those goals over this past year, but I realized I wanted it to be more.

The Way Ahead

I want to do more than just talk about what paintings I’ve done, or techniques I’ve learned, etc.. I want this to be a community, a place where people can come for inspiration to pursue new passions, learn how to make sure they’re in the best position to do so because they’re taking care of their health, and get spiritual and emotional encouragement – all the things we need as we move into the second half of our lives. I want to help them write their own new story as they move into their new season.

I still want it to chronicle my journey to becoming an artist (my new story), but I also want to be able to help them figure out what they want their new story to be, be as healthy as possible in order to pursue it, and provide encouragement for the journey.

I don’t want this blog to just be about me — I want it to be a place for all of us who are writing a new story in our second half of life.

I used that information to ask Chat GPT to write a mission statement for me — who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? ha ha — and this is what I’ve settled on as my new mission statement here:

My mission is to inspire people to embrace the second half of life with courage, creativity, and purpose. Through my own journey of becoming an artist, I want to encourage others to discover their next passion, prioritize their health and well-being, and write a new story filled with meaning, growth, and joy.

Although I’ll still be sharing my sometimes-boring painting stories, I’ll also be sharing other things people might find helpful; things that can help us live a healthy, fulfilling life, discover who we really want to be in the second half of our lives, and move toward becoming that person. Most of all, I want to build a community where we can encourage and help each other.

I hope you’ll continue to join me on this journey!

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