Ever get a hankering to try something new but it feels a bit risky? I'm sharing a new Walk & Chat with Dawn video where I talk about just that subject! Just giving you a little bit of encouragement to take that first step! 
I'm always here to cheer you on when you want to step out of your comfort zone. It can be so worthwhile to do something your heart is bringing to your attention. Do it for yourself! And Enjoy!

Journaling Prompt: 
Reflect on the last time you tried to do something new. Did you feel intimidated? Excited? Anticipatory? How did it go? Did you do it more than once? Did it hit the sweet spot and end up something you do all the time now? Detail this in your journal and celebrate anew! 

Welcome back to Beginnings! Today I am sharing a new Walk & Chat with Dawn video where I share a word about External Voice and the impact they can have on your decision making. The question to ask is: what voice am I listening to and is it bringing clarity or confusion? 

The Higher Self is a reliable source of wisdom & direction. How do you know when the voice you're hearing is a Higher Self? You will know whether it brings clarity or confusion! 

So Listen carefully and Proceed with confidence! 

Journaling Prompt: 
Detail a recent time when you heard your Higher Self give you direction but you went with an external voice instead. What was the result of that decision? Were you satisfied? 
Now detail a recent time when you listened to your Higher Self rather than following an external voice. What was the result? Any different? Did you feel more confident as a result? 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings! Today I'm sharing a new Walk & Chat with Dawn video where I chat about how you can stay more consistent and persistent with the things that matter most to you! We all want to spend more time doing what we love. So, what's stopping us? 

Let's make time, make what we desire to do part of our lifestyle and make it fun! 

Journaling Prompt: 
Make a list of the activities you desire to engage in more. Choose one or two that you are drawn to most in your heart and make space for it today, even if it's just 5 minutes. How did doing that activity make you feel? Does it surprise you with its impact? 

Have yourself a delightful day and I wish you the Best of Beginnings! 

Welcome back to Beginnings! 
Today I'm sharing a Walk & Chat with Dawn where I share a word about Instincts and what you can do about them, especially when you notice a repeating patterns to nudges. We all experience those innate moments of direction and clarity, but we're not always so sure where our steps should lead. Watch the video for my take on it! 

Journaling Prompt: 
Pay attention to your instincts and record when they happen to you and what the context is that it brings to your attention. What is it telling you? Have you seen and felt this before? What step can you take to honor that instinct? 

Follow this link for more Walk and Chats with Dawn! 
I wish you the Best of Beginnings! 

Welcome back to Beginnings! We're back with a Walk & Chat with Dawn on the subject of Dreams...
Do you give yourself permission to dream? I give some suggestions on how to bring your dream to life. What kind of dream am I talking about? Watch the video to find out! 
Dream journaling is something I engage in regularly so I speak from experience as I share my Point of View on this subject. 

I trust you'll be inspired to pay closer attention to your "Sweet Dreams." 

Journaling Prompt: 
Detail your sweet dreams in your journal, giving yourself permission to picture what it might be like to fulfill a sweet dream of yours. 

​Wishing you Sweet Dreams, my friend! 

Hello my friends and welcome back to Beginnings! I've been doing something that I haven't done in a long time. I'm going for walks and taking you with me! Yep! I've started a new series called Walk & Chat with Dawn, and I'm sharing one of these videos in this post in case you haven't seen this one already and/or if you aren't subsctibed to my YouTube Channel....

Today I start with a chat about the weather and then I share about how you, my viewers, are inspiring me and I share some video of my art journal spread progress plus more! So, do join me! 

And you're welcome to share either on YouTube or here in the comments what is inspiring you and what Small Step you're taking toward the things you want to be doing! I'd love to hear from you and Celebrate with You! 

Thanks for watching, subscribing and giving my video a thumbs up and leaving a comment if you're thus inclined! 

I appreciate your support and interest in what I have to share as an artist and creative; having you in community just makes it more fun, satisfying and meaningful to me. 

Journaling Prompt: 
Make a list of what is inspiring you right now. What small step can you take to make a move in the direction where your heart is calling you? How can you support yourself in that way? 

I wish you a delightful day and the very Best of Beginnings! 

My Dad, Danny Bel-Tempo, loved eagles. He loved how majestic they were and appreciated their beauty. So much so, that back in 1989, I did a pen and ink stippled rendering of one for him for a Christmas Gift. He was thrilled when he received it. His remark was "Excellent." I recently came upon this photo as I was going through some older snapshots I took in my early years. This one was the year I married. 

My father appreciated the effort I put in to creating such a piece of work that would touch his heart. I could feel how much it meant to him upon the receiving. He always told me how proud he was of me; it still rings true even with his passing over a year ago. I'm glad I have these images to remember such profound moments from our past together. 

Well, an Eagle's View comes in handy when we need it most. Sometimes life gets complicated, and an eagle's view can help us see the bigger picture; maybe that's why Dad loved eagles so much, so he wouldn't get mired in the details. 

Although he was very detail oriented, from the way he dressed to how his surroundings worked for him. He liked everything "just so." 

I feel that way about my art. I want what I create to be "just so." And sometimes it takes change to make that happen, especially when I've been doing something the same way for a long period of time.  And when I get that Eagle's View, I can see and feel where an internal shift is taking place. And I usually have an idea of where I want to go; most times, it involves a challenge of sorts, growing my skill set to get to this new place I see and desire to reach, so I can get that strong sense of satisfaction with what I create. 

I must remind myself to Go Gentle, and take it one step at a time. I'm not looking for perfection but an up-leveling of sorts. I'm always looking to improve my craft, knowing it's time for a change, when what I've been doing is no longer satisfying me. 

As an artist, I must trust my instincts, knowing that where I want to go will open up to me; it's just a matter of crossing the threshold with confidence, the same confidence my father instilled in me by being so supportive and affirming in my journey as a young artist, only now, with many more decades of experience to support my growth as a creative. 

So here I am ready to embrace change and see where it takes me and enjoy the eagle's view every step of the way. 

Journaling Prompt: 
When was the last time you needed to have a birds'e eye view of your current circumstances in order to solve a problem? How did it help you determine your next steps? Is there a situation where a higher perspective might help you see things more clearly so you know what to do going forward? Be patient and gentle with yourself as you go. 

Thank you for being on this journey with me; I appreciate your interest and your desire to know what I have to share. It makes a difference to have you on life's path as we journey together as the creative people we are in community! You're welcome to share below when an Eagle's View has helped you in your next steps! 

​I wish you the very Best of Beginnings! 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings! This post makes me smile since I am featuring my Illustration Pic of the Week called Leap Day! Yay! I had so much fun with this one, showing me Leaping for JOY with the extra day we had this year on February 29th! I was wearing a crew neck sweater with a fun colorful scarf. I also enjoyed creating the polka dot pattern in the word DAY, bringing some whimsy and FUN to Leap Day! 

Did you celebrate Leap Day this year? I enjoyed creating this illustration as a way to honor an experience that only comes around every 4 years. Why not, right? This leads me to ask myself and you as well: What are we leaping into right now? What is exciting us about our days, our work, our self discovery? Or perhaps we can look at where we've lost our zest for something we've been doing and how we can get it back! Sometimes we end up creating boxes for ourselves which makes it very hard to LEAP into much of anything. So break open that box that may be holding you back and see what you decide to Leap into next! 

Journaling Prompt: 
Is there an area of your life where you feel "Boxed In?" What change do you think would make all the difference so you can feel excited about it again? 
What do you desire to Leap Into? Do you feel confident about it or a little reserved? Detail how you feel and why in your journal. Happy Leaping! 

Note: I only had 6 illustrations to choose from this week since, much to my surprise and amazement, I did not create a journal entry on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Did it feel odd? Sure. But I got right back to it the next morning! It's ok to take a break when you need it for whatever reason. 

Thank you for your interest in my illustrations and reflections; I trust the journaling prompt will give you interesting and insightful food for thought. 

You have yourself a delightful day and I wish you the Very Best of Beginnings! 

Welcome back to Beginnings! This week, I am choosing to share the more Vulnerable Side of my Illustration Practice for my Illustration Pic of the Week. 
The title of this one is Confusion, and it illustrates how we can sometimes put ourselves in a box of societal expectation with a topic that is very personal. And when we allow that to determine the decisions we make, it can create an incongruence that doesn't align with what our heart is telling us. 

This happened to me recently and it created an unexpected heaviness that was hard to shake; but once I recognized the box I had put myself in, I was able to relieve myself of the Confusion it caused. Confusion has an energy that can be unnerving, undermining your confidence, especially when making decisions, whether small or large. 

When we recognize that the elements that create an incongruency are not coming from within but from without, we can get really honest with ourselves about why we are allowing these elements to have such a direct impact on how we feel. Letting go of those societal expectations and instead, embracing what our own hearts are telling us is an act of courage, but it also affirms who we are on the inside. And that is necessary for moving forward with confidence. 

May we stay aligned with what our hearts speak, knowing it's the Best path for Beginnings. 

Journaling Prompt: 
Describe a time when you struggled with making a decision based on other's opinions. How did that make you feel? What one step of courage did you take to align with what your heart was telling you? Affirm yourself with an empowering heart message of support and love going forward. 

Thank you so much for being a part of my creative and spiritual journey with me; you motivate me to continue to share snippets of my life with you which is an essential part of our community here at Refresh with Dawn Herring: Where Beginnings Are Celebrated! And I celebrate with you as you follow your heart! 

(And what a perfect way to end February on this Leap Day of 2024!) 

I wish you the Very Best of Beginnings!

Hello and Welcome Back to Beginnings! Today's post is focused on my Illustration Pick of the Week! Yes, it's that time again already. Where do the weeks go? I don't know. February is almost over...

So, anyway. My choice for Illustration Pic of the Week makes me laugh. I find it to be seriously conceptual, which is not my typical way of portraying a moment in my day. But I actually LOVE it. It really got my attention when the idea came to me of illustrating what could appear to be my wranging with film after a day of being on camera. Yes, much of my content now-a-days is such, between my Art of Journaling videos, Fashion Styling videos, sharing in my stories, and showing my art process, the camera is often front and center. 

My realization with this illustration is the need for Balance. Making sure that what I choose to do (filming in order to show you the essence of my creative practices) always brings me JOY in the sharing. I do LOVE to show you what I'm up to, thinking about, wearing, deciding, creating. And I'm excited about the possibilities of how my sharing inspires you, my friend and reader! It motivates me when my viewers and readers share how my content is giving them ideas for how they dress, create or keep a journal. Yes! 

Yet, Balance is a necessary reminder that there are days when there needs to be a rest between the camera lens and what I'm doing behind the scenes. 

I'm calling this Illustration Pic of the Week Focused Filming with the subcontext: When you realize how much you got done in a day! Whew. *wink*
 
Journaling Prompt: 
Do you ever recognize all you do in a day? Or do you wait until overwhelm hits? How can you slow down to see clearly all you have accomplished and celebrate as well as determine where you need balance? Detail how you have felt recently. Be honest and recognize when you need to take a rest. Take care of you! 

Thank you so much for being a part of my creative journey and for your support of my YouTube Channel. Your views, thumbs up, choice to subscribe and comment hearten me, knowing that what I share is bringing you joy too! 

Thank you for being present in my community here at Refresh with Dawn Herring: Where Beginnings are Celebrated!