Sometimes I just paint. I’ve painted on tables, chairs, my arms, my legs, walls, beds, picture frames, floors, books, clothes, desks, computers, pets, houses, boats, rocks, windows, and canvas. I’ve made messes. I’ve gotten my hands completely covered in paint. I’ve ruined lots of clothes. I’ve had paint in my hair and on my face and on the bottom of my feet. Given my hunger for color and painting, it’s no wonder I love to paint my nails. I look at my nails as a personal canvas where I can be creative, everyday. Where I can be an artist. Where I can express how I’m feeling and what I am thinking and where I am going. Spring Break nails. Chicago nails. Wedding nails. Holiday nails. St. Patrick’s Day nails. Sports Team nails. New Year’s Eve nails. Datenight nails. Match My Outfit nails. Work Week nails. Vacation nails. We all have a canvas to create beautiful art that is personal only to us, everyday.
Have you ever painted your nails and instantly felt better? I have. I do, pretty much everyday. Today is the first day of spring so I painted my nails white. Because white = spring. It’s such a small thing, painting our nails, yet we can create our own works of art at our very own finger tips, every stinking day – literally speaking. My neighbor Jennifer sent me a picture of her St. Patrick’s Day nails on Saturday. They were green with sparkly gold. She wanted to have festive nails for work. And it was so cool. I have friends that send pictures of their nails while they are in their car saying how happy their “Piggy Polish” makes them feel. And I have lost count of how many pictures of feet in a car, or feet on a beach, or feet by a pool, or feet on vacation people have sent ~ all with their toes painted. Such a small thing, painting your nails, but such a huge impact on how it makes us feel.
We all go about our every day life and have jobs and errands and activities and all of the things that make us, human. Yet instead of ‘every day life’, perhaps we can all be ‘every day artists’. It’s so easy. I can’t help but believe that we all have a bit of creativity in us (even you Brittney) and we all have nails so we all have our own personal canvas that we can be creative on. Paint your nails. Be creative. Try new colors. Try a mixture of many colors. I promise you it will make you feel better.
If you need inspiration, look about you. It’s spring. Flowers are popping up, color is coming back to the world, the wind is softer, the water is thawing and life is beginning, again. Spring is a good time to think about change and new beginnings and a chance to be renewed. It’s always been a time to start over. Be an artist. Be an Every Day Artist. Start with your nails.
With love from Grand Haven,
Julie