I found a moment

Life has been so crazy busy lately. In the last two months I've moved house, started working full time, and I still have to keep up all my after hours commitments, including keeping my label afloat, getting my freelance work done and keeping my French lessons on the go, while at the same time still having time for connecting with friends and getting some reading time in.

This week I added another crazy flavor to the plate of my life, I'm taking part in the NYC Midnight short story competition. So I have seven days to write a 2500 word story in the fantasy genre, with the subject mathematics and a pro athlete as a character. It's been chaos, and I am exhausted and loving it. I'm currently about 1300 words in and trying to pace myself. Hand in is on Saturday.

I realized recently that in all the chaos I have forgotten to draw. Drawing is my lifeblood. I literally can't remember the last time I sat down with pad and ink, focused on capturing the moment around me. I'm an artist and I live and breathe the visual, creating is food for my soul. This was a shocking revelation and my fingers started itching and aching immediately.

Problem is, I just don't have the time. How do you find the time when you don't have it? So I decided to keep a sketchbook on me always, and look for tiny moments. My moment ended up being Sunday morning, in church, sitting on the floor listening to Ross do an incredible teaching on the multidimensional presence of the kingdom. Breathtaking stuff. And then I realized there was a perfect picture right in front of me, and out came the notebook. And I drew. What an amazing feeling, the release of pent up creativity. It made me so happy.

So now my pledge to myself is to keep looking for moments, to keep my creative eyes open and to make art part of my life once again. I need to, it's the air I breathe.

Shar-Lee Jessica

P.S. Keep an eye on my blog for the official release of my currently unnamed short story

many many happy days

I happened across this amazing project the other day. It's called 100 Happy Days, and the concept is this: Can you identify one happy moment, every day for a hundred days in a row? The challenge: Document your journey. Take a photo representing your happy moment every day and upload it to the web with the hashtag #100happydays. I love the idea so much that I didn't hesitate to sign up. I might even push mine to a year of happy days. Why stop at a hundred? That's the thing I guess, I love Jesus, so there should be joy every day, it's a given. Even on the really lame days.

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. - Psalm 16:11

I'm very aware that at some point this "challenge" might actually become exactly that. And there's the point. On the toughest of days, will I still turn around and go, "No ways, my joy is complete in God!", take a photo of the nearest flower and carry on going? I hope I can. Because now everyone who reads this will be holding me to it.

So far I've had a Tuesday power out with a phone call to say I can work from home, a visit from a grumpy tortoise and a cheese grater from some special friends (because in my new kitchen I have cheese but no grater.) Today is day four. I can't wait to find out what today's moment will be, I can't wait to fall in love with life all over again. Are you joining me on the journey? Let's find the joy together!

Shar-Lee Jessica

If you're keen to see what happy moments the next ninety-six days have in store for me, here is the link to my Instagram. Send me yours so I can see your journey too!