With the practice of gratitude, I sometimes find myself being grateful for things mentally, but not able to truly feel the emotion of gratitude. It’s a strange feeling knowing that I am grateful for something but not always being able to feel that internally.
Over the years, I’ve realized that sometimes just thinking something without an accompanying physical action can leave me feeling disconnected from myself. But, if I can pair the practice of gratitude with some type of movement, I find myself instantly able to feel the emotion of gratefulness in my heart.
As a person who loves art, I’ve found combining a very basic form of abstract painting with gratitude is very effective.
Don’t worry, this is exercise is very accessible and I’ll walk you through an example I made.
Keep in mind, as you do this exercise that we are not trying to create a work of art for others to see. This is simply an expression of what is happening inside of us. Your final piece is only meant for you.
I make these all the time and no one ever gets to see them, except the one below that I’m using as an example. You can do the same.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Tools
o Something to protect your table from paint. Could be newspaper, wax paper, reusable table cover etc.
o 8.5×11 in piece of cardstock (you can use printer paper but it will likely ripple once the paint is applied and drying)
o a variety of colors in Acrylic Paint (you can get these inexpensively at craft stores)-
o 1-3 brushes 2-3 inches wide. Foam brushes are affordable and definitely work for this. You could also use 3 folded pieces of cardstock (folded edge should be between 2-3 inches). Another option would be just use one brush and rinse and dry it out after each of the three sections. This is not ideal because it will require you to stop and shift focus in the middle of the practice.
Instructions
1.Take the 8.5×11 piece of cardstock and face it long ways up.
2. Mentally divide the piece into 3 vertical sections. Each section of the paper will have a different focus, which we will cover below
3. The left most section will represent one thing you are grateful for in your life. So, take a moment to think of something or someone in your life that is positively impacting you and that you are grateful for.
For me, I chose gratitude for leaving near (enough) to the mountains and thus hiking.
4. Once you have identified that item, choose 3-5 colors that represent that thing to you. You can either do this by feel or by thought. It is important to remember that colors have different meanings at different moments and situations in our lives. For example, red can either be anger or love. Green can either be jealousy, growth or wealth. Blue can be sadness or calm. So, this really is a bit of an intuitive exercise. If it’s a person you are grateful for maybe you choose their favorite colors, or the colors of their house. If it is an object, use the colors of that object.
If you struggle with this or feel anxious, just choose the first colors that pop out to you regardless of what you think they mean. The magic is more in the movement than the colors themselves. There really is no right or wrong.
In my case, I chose green and bronze to represent the forest (I didn’t have brown), blue to represent the sky and water I come across during my hikes and yellow to represent the joy I feel on a hike in the mountains. If I had gray I might also have used that to represent the rocks that are ubiquitous here but instead I used a pearly white to represent the snow capped mountains.
5. Once you have identified those colors place a dot no larger than your thumbnail in a line at the top left of your page.
6. Place your brush just above the dots.
7. Take a deep breath
8. Start thinking again about the person or thing you are grateful for and start to pull your brush downwards to the bottom of the page. Your focus is on the thing you are grateful for, not the paint, not whether the paint is making it all the way down the page, and not whether it is mixing with the other colors. You are only focused on your gratitude.
9. You will repeat all the same steps as above in the middle, but this time you will think about one thing you are grateful for about yourself. It could be anything from the fact that you are kind, that you are a trivia master, know how to repair cars, or that you make the most amazing meals. It can even be something as simple as gratitude towards yourself for getting out of bed today and bravely facing a new day (been there).
In this case, I chose gratitude towards my fighting spirit. I have faced quite a few setbacks lately and honestly some of them have felt brutal. Somehow, I keep finding the strength to get back up and to keep trying and I am immeasurable grateful for that. From a color perspective, I chose black and blue to represent the despair of the setbacks, red for the fight, orange for courage and green for the internal growth that is coming from it.
10. After you finish the middle section, move to the last section on the right. This is the same concept as the two sections above but this time you are going to think about one thing you are grateful for about the future. Of course, the future is unpredictable and we might not know for sure if something will come to pass but many of us feel better when we have something to look forward to so this is an important piece of this practice. Think about something you want to happen or expect to happen. Choose your colors and start painting.
For me, I’m headed to New Orleans in a few weeks and I CANNOT wait! I went a few years ago with some girlfriends and we had a blast eating, drinking, jazzing and shopping our way through the Big Easy. Great memories. My husband and I are both passionate about food and specifically about Creole food and I cannot wait to overindulge. I choose purple, green and gold because these are the colors of Mardi Gras. No, we won’t be there for Mardi Gras but I can’t help but to think of these colors when thinking of New Orleans.
Now, take a look at what you’ve made. Here is mine.
You’ll see it’s an assortment of colors and emotions. It might not be intrinsically beautiful on it’s own but it is beautiful because it is a representation of you and where you are in life. It is also a reminder that life can be a bit messy or chaotic but that we have so much to be thankful for even when times are rough.
You can choose what you do with this painting. Sometimes if I need a reminder that there are positive things happening in my life, I might put it on my desk while I work (I work from home though). I also sometimes keep them in a folder to act as a reminder for myself for days when I’m feeling down. Other times I look at the painting, express gratitude for what is happening in my life and then I shred them. It’s yours and you can choose what to do with it.
There are also a LOT of alternative ways you could do this exercise. You could try this as a finger painting exercise, or if you found yourself without acrylic paints and brushes, you could also do a similar exercise with markers or colored pencils. You could hold the 3-5 colors in one hand and draw a line straight down with them while thinking of the thing or person you are grateful for.
I hope this unique way of expressing gratitude helps you to feel the positive things that are happening in your life more deeply. It has helped me immensely, but don’t worry if this doesn’t end up being your thing. There are so many more ways to feel and express gratitude and we will cover more ideas in future posts.
