New Year's Musings

"Dream, Plan, Do" and other Mantras for 2022

One thing to know about me is that I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. Statistically, they don’t work, and I know from experience they don’t work for me. A new year does inspire me though to envision what the coming year holds, make plans for art, travels, and social events, and to do a review of my previous year and sort out what’s working or not in both my business and my personal life. During the pandemic, I started meditating more, and started using a monthly “mantra” to guide my thoughts, write in my journal, and organize focus in the studio. I found this worked much better for me than putting so much emphasis on things like a big new year’s resolution.

Having a whole month to ruminate on a theme helped me internalize what I was trying to work on and create some new, positive habits. Science has shown that new habits can take 2-3 weeks (or longer) to form, so I found the monthly cycle worked a lot better than daily. My life, especially during the pandemic and even during regular working parent life, seems to juggle a lot each day, so the pace of a monthly theme felt grounding rather than grueling. Last year’s meditations inspired the Monthly Mantra section on this year’s easel calendars.

It took me a week or so in January to settle back into my routines (thank you Seattle snow…), but as I envisioned the coming year’s new artworks, applications, events, and other ideas, I knew I needed to get a bigger picture view. So January’s mantra is “Dream, Plan, Do.” I gave myself permission to slow down a bit to gather my thoughts, create a vision for my year, and then develop a monthly plan so that whether I’m in the studio painting or at my computer writing and posting, it’s all pulling in a unified way toward what I want to say and express as an artist, and also getting that art out into the world.

What's a Mantra?

​The word “mantra” comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “a sacred message or text, charm, spell.” Using mantras or other motivational affirmations can be a powerful tool to boost positivity and happiness. Learn more about the science and benefits of self-affirmations in this article in Psychology Today.

As I dream out what I want to manifest in 2022, I’ve been able to return to the studio and start some small studies, and experiment with my growing natural pigment collection. I look forward to coming events, new art series, and sharing the process and results more intentionally, whether online or in-person. This is the first year I’ll be full-time as an artist! It will be a milestone year, and I hope to make it a good one...

I created a set of mantras for 2022, to guide me after the Dream, Plan, Do month... Click on the image below to download a printable PDF version that you can use. Join me in these, or craft your own. Please add a comment if you have a favorite mantra, or share how any of these worked for you. Enjoy & Happy New Year!