The Art of Becoming More Yourself with Sheila Darcey

“Now we're showing up in full Technicolor and saying, ‘This is who I am.’” –Sheila DarceyWhen you turn 50, two things happen: you don't give a hoot about what other people think … and you start to really understand and embrace your power. I’m really excited to talk with Sheila Darcey, a visionary artist and the author of Sketch by Sketch, about how she claimed herself as an artist and developed a tool that you don’t have to be an artist to use. The SketchPoetic method is an embodied, somatic practice. Sheila says “The moment you're attached to the outcome or the audience, it becomes art.” And that’s not what this is about. It’s less about what things look like and how they feel. Sheila explains the process in issue 5 of Pause. Check out the conversation and give SketchPoetic a try. Sheila suggests 7 days is for healing or releasing something. If you want to make a habit, try 21 days, and if you want transformative growth, try consistently for 40 days.We talk about: The invitation of unfinished and “messed up” sketchbooks How Sheila developed SketchPoeticDiscovering emotions under emotions and rewiring emotional neuropathwaysDoing a body scan before you start sketching Plateauing with a practice and how to loosen your graspThe energy of our marks and how our intuition shows when we are in flow and take the time to pause and look afterABOUT SHEILASheila Darcey is a visionary artist and author of Sketch by Sketch, guiding others back to themselves through the healing language of intuitive art.LINKShttp://www.sketchpoetic.comhttps://sheiladarcey.substack.comhttps://www.instagram.com/sketchpoetic/DOABLE CHANGESAt the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is how change happens.Often we feel like our actions have to be huge to match the bigness of our desires, but we have seen over and over and over again that the little things add up. By stacking up a series of Doable Changes, you will create that big change that you crave. Choose the one that really resonates with you this week and really make it part of your life. Here are Three Doable Changes from this conversation:PLAY WITH WHAT’S THERE. My foundation opened up into my sketch book. Maybe you spilled coffee or a page got marked by a pen in your bag. Instead of tearing out the page or starting a new book, play with what’s already there. DO A BODY SCAN. Before you try the SketchPoetic project or journal or try another creative act, pause for a minute and do a body scan. Acknowledge how you feel throughout your body.LOOSEN UP. There is benefit to sustained practices, but sometimes things that serve us begin to feel stale. We don’t get the same thing out of them. What happens if you try holding your practice more loosely for a week? For example, sketch in the sand or the dust instead of a notebook. Skip your morning pages and write a single page … in crayon or list the first 5 words that come into your head. Allow they practice to shift.