art

Decide

| Bonnie Kelso

Since the lock-down began, I’ve suddenly had a lot less time to work on my projects. The funny thing is… I’ve somehow managed to still find time to work on my projects! I’ve had to make a lot of tough choices in order to stay productive. It’s heart-breaking work to have to say ‘no’ to comfortable routines and people we care about, but it helps you to understand in your heart what you need to continue saying yes to, no matter what. The world is changing on micro and macro levels all at once. Even when things “go back to normal” we’re only kidding ourselves if we believe that anything will ever be like it was. I’ve been learning important things about myself during these past few months. Like the other day when a distracted driver almost ran me over in the crosswalk. I learned two things in that one moment. #1, I learned that my crisis response is to freeze, not fight or flight. #2, I learned that I had been taking for granted that a few lines drawn on the street could grant me safety. They don’t. In these times we have to be extra vigilant. We have to observe. We have to look both ways, again and again, even when the lights are green and the little walkie man is flashing. It’s okay to freeze, but at some point we need to start moving again. But when we do, we have to remember that the world has changed, that we have all changed. There will be some things we will miss. But there will be other things that we can rebuild to be better than they were. We have to decide to hold on to that hope.

Bonnie
©Bonnie Kelso and Creating Your Experience

For a limited time I have reduced the price of my coloring books to $7.99. Enjoy!

Check out this new 100 Day Project on Instagram: #TinyLifeLines2020

Stay Connected

| Bonnie Kelso

Being on “lockdown” might not be all that bad for some people, like me. I’m used to spending long hours working alone, but for some people this is a fate worse than prison. As we all grapple with where this global situation leads us, it is essential we stay connected with others and with spirit.

We are all in this together and we are stronger than we realize. In a meditation I received this prayer which has become my mantra:

May our bodies be fortified with boosted immunity, may our minds be filled with positive thoughts, and may our hearts be overflowing with generosity and compassion as we courageously walk into the future with dignity.

Sending love and hoping you are well.

Bonnie


Start your own PLAYBOOK!

“My Playbook: A Daily Practice Of Recording My Divinely Guided Magical Life” is one of my favorite secret weapons for living a creative life.

Now is a great time to start a creative project of your own. If you’re not sure where to start, try getting one of these playbooks. Each day you can write and draw in it until you figure out what you want to create. Once you’re into a project, you can use it to monitor your progress. I’ve been using one for three years and now I’d be lost without it. (read more…)

Sea Slug

| Bonnie Kelso

An exploration in drawing cute monsters brought me to this sea slug.

Hoping we all find a little buoyancy this week.

With love,

Bonnie

A new 2020 cover for the Playbook!

“My Playbook: A Daily Practice Of Recording My Divinely Guided Magical Life” is one of my favorite secret weapons for living a creative life.

As an empathic creative, I am constantly bombarded with ideas, inspirations and messages from spirit. I used to have a day planner, several spiral journals, a sketchbook, and about a million post it notes floating around my house and work space. It was maddening trying to keep everything straight. I had no single resource to turn to to really measure my progress and reflect on where I had come from and where I was going with an idea or project. One day, I decided to try… (read more…)

Wild & Free

| Bonnie Kelso

This is what it feels like to finish cancer treatment! I did it. I survived. I am humbled and ultimately a better person because of it. And, yes, it sucked. I am still a little angry about the whole thing, actually, but just a little bit, deep down where I hardly notice it anymore.

Now is where the fun part begins. I get to live again. I might not be base jumping any time soon, but I’ve started moving my body fast enough to feel my heart-beat again. This is a quality of life improvement that I am ready to fully embrace.

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Thank You

| Bonnie Kelso

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for caring. On this Thanksgiving I have a lot to be grateful for. Mostly, I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful to have the ability to think about putting sweaters on wild animals. I am thankful to have the time to wonder, who was the first animal to be drawn with a sweater on. Was it Winnie the Pooh? Goofy? What is Goofy, anyway? These are the questions I am grateful to be able to ask on a Thanksgiving morning, because I am still here. I am still alive, and I am hopeful that with each new day I will put a little more of my fears and insecurities behind me.

To see more pictures of animals in sweaters, if this interests you, click here.

I am thankful that I have time to draw this penguin in a sweater. That I can put aside everything else and simply indulge myself in an idea and put pencil to paper and create it. I don’t know why I wanted to do it, but I did it, and you know what? It made me feel happy. Sometimes I get so consumed by the challenges of each day, the work that needs to be done, the goals that are still to be met, that I forget what the point of it all is anyway. Everyone might have a different reason for living, but, for me, today, it is to create a little “penguin-in-a-sweater” happiness.

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Happy Halloweensie!

| Bonnie Kelso

This Halloween I decided to enter a writing contest (frenzy) for fun. Below is my entry. It had to be 100 words or less, which was a challenge. My shortest story yet!

(Here’s the link to the contest info, in case you are curious.)

Halloween Forever!

Harper, the witchling loves Halloween!

            One cobweb,
            six candy corns,
            a sprinkle of dust-everlasting.

She sips and waits…

Knock, knock!
Children shout, “Trick or treat!”

As they leave more appear.
“Trick or treat!!”

On and on it goes…
Harper grows weary.
The children line up down the street
and around the corner.

“I must sleep,” yawns Harper.
Slam!
Lights off.

Bang, bang!
“TRICK OR TREAT!!!”

Frantic, Harper stirs a new potion.

            Two cobwebs,
            three candy corns,
            a sprinkle of normal-essesnce.

Gulp!

Knock, knock!
Peeking out…
Empty streets!
The sun rises.

“Whew, maybe Halloween is better once a year.”
Harper collapses.

###

True As Blue

| Bonnie Kelso

Deep in my heart I’ve been wanting to write a Children’s Picture Book about global climate change and our role as stewards of this beautiful planet we live on. I’ve been waiting for a story to come to me ever so patiently. Then, just yesterday it appeared! As I sat in my backyard and wrote in my journal next to my favorite tree, the words came through my hand and I don’t even really know how. I believe it may have been from a source outside of myself. It felt like an out of body experience. I love it when that happens!

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Reading and Writing

| Bonnie Kelso

As a writer I find it embarrassing that I was never an avid reader as a kid. I was much more interested in going outside. It didn’t really matter what I was doing, as long as it was outside. Mostly, I wandered. I looked at things, smelled flowers, tried to talk to the birds, and when I felt really brave, I would lift up a rock and see what I might find hiding underneath. I didn’t really become a recreational reader until I graduated from college.

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