Author: Dawn

It’s a Good Day to Play Hooky

It’s a Good Day to Play Hooky

Posted on by Dawn

I have been so blessed recently to have several people ask me to edit their books and build websites for them. It’s always an honour when someone trusts you with something important to them. And I also have several projects on the go, like I always do. So when I got up today and prepared to work in my office, I realized that I had a headache and my eyes were sore. Today would have been the 11th day in a row where I worked. I do 7-hour shifts at my day job 3 days a week, but when I’m home working, I often start at 6 am and go till 4 or 5 in the evening. So, I have put in a lot of hours in in the past week and a half! I love the work that I do, don’t get me wrong. But I think my brain and my eyes are crying for a break from the computer. It is a joy to do work that you love, but even when your work feels more like play, you still need to take a break. So, I’m going to turn the computer off for a while and go sit outside on the patio because it’s a beautiful day to enjoy and winter will be here before you know it!

So if you have found yourself working a little too hard, even at the things you love, remember that to have a good work-life balance you have to rest a bit and have a little fun! I think I’ll take my sketchbook outside and do some drawing which I haven’t done in a very long time.

I know most of you try your best to be kind peeps to others. You need to remember to extend a little bit of that kindness to yourself sometimes, too! ☺️

On Shadows

On Shadows

Posted on by Dawn

One thing I like to advocate for is not standing in anyone else’s shadow. Shadows are dark spots. Why hide there in someone’s shadow, outside of the limelight when you have so much to offer the world? You have unique gifts and talents. Discover them! Use them! Nothing is more fulfilling that using than using those talents and techniques you love to make the world a better place.

But what about your own shadows? The flip-side to the light are the dark places inside. They are not inherently evil, but people act like they don’t have a dark side because of the connotation that dark=evil. It’s called your shadow self because of the things in it that you don’t want to admit to being a part of you. Things like anger, desires and uncomfortable emotions. But instead of trying to ignore it or heal it or otherwise dispose of it, why don’t we embrace it and see what it has to teach us? If there’s anger there, perhaps it can help you place better boundaries in your life. If you have desires there that you don’t want people to know about, maybe you need to see why they are so strong or what experiences in your life caused them to rise up. Your subconscious might be trying to tell you about a lack in your life you aren’t taking care of or about an emotional wound that is festering that needs some tlc. Ignoring our shadow selves causes us to be unbalanced and to live lives of inauthenticity. Go on, give yourself a hug and tell yourself that you accept yourself, dark spots and all.

So to recap, stay out of the shadows cast by others and let your own light shine. And that light can shine even brighter still when we take the time to acknowledge and understand our own shadows. Almost every person I know who is a beacon of light and a joy to be around became so after a period of darkness and learning to grow and accept all of themselves.

You can’t be a colourful person if you pretend that half the colours don’t exist.

For more information on shadow self, click here.

On Learning to Love Yourself

On Learning to Love Yourself

Posted on by Dawn

Despite our best efforts, sometimes negativity alights on our shoulders and whispers unkindness in our ears. It happens. For those who struggle with self-esteem and mental health issues, it happens more often than we’d like. I wish I could say it’s easy to overcome the negativity, especially when others have forced that kind of vibe on us during our formative years and beyond. It’s not easy but it is a worthy pursuit!

When my first marriage broke up, I was devastated and was also dealing with the fallout of leaving what many would consider an abusive church. I felt unloved, unwanted and utterly defeated in life. It was easy to dwell on the negatives while grieving my losses, but I realized that if no one else was being particularly kind to me, well, I could certainly give it a whirl. If anyone else had confided in me that they were going through a similar trial, I would have told them to be gentle with themselves, to take really good care of themselves and to rest and find ways to work through their intense emotions. Basically, I would be telling them to love themselves. It’s something many of us struggle with because being truly good to ourselves isn’t exactly an intuitive thing when you have self-esteem issues.

Self-love is not selfish, but a necessity in order to be the best version of ourselves that we can be! If you take care of you first, then you have the strength and resources to take care of others and maybe even take on the challenges of a world seemingly gone mad. So be kind to yourself. Eat good food and get plenty of rest. Remind yourself of how far you’ve come, not how far you have to go. If you’re choking back anger or hurt, give yourself permission to express those emotions so healing can come. Write them down, have a good cry, scream into a pillow. If you don’t, those repressed emotions have a sneaky tendency to surface when least wanted because you didn’t deal with them. In most everything, it is possible to re-frame the circumstances and journey with positivity and gratitude if you just spend a little mental effort to do so. And you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel day to day when you make the effort to be kind and loving to yourself.

It’s maybe not the answer to all your woes, but it sure helps to get through them with strength, dignity and grace. It takes some effort but the results are worth it. Because YOU are worth it!