Step 2. Turn off the computer. Put down the paint brush. Close the journal. Drop the pencil.

Step 3. Walk away.

Step 4. Keep walking.

Step 5. Do something you love: Read a book. Listen to music. Make love. Drink coffee. Sip tea. Take a nap. Talk to a friend. Play dress up. Go see a movie. Take your time.

Step 6. Breathe. Repeat steps 5 & 6 as needed.

Step 7. Accept your “a ha!” moment. Even if it doesn’t look like you thought it would.

Great question! It comes back to my whole theory on using social media (that includes blogging): for it to work, you have to be you! And you define who you are by what you choose to share with your audience.

If you faith is important to you & inspires your work, you owe it to your audience to share it with them. You don’t have to do it in a pushy way or even blatantly, but you should definitely share it.

The same goes for political or social convictions that may be controversial. If you present your views as a part of your art & a part of who you are, few people will argue with you. You can probably even advocate for your own views & beliefs in you are careful to do so respectfully and with passion.

I think I do this on a daily basis – but you probably don’t even realize it! I’m pretty liberal politically – okay, really liberal – and I feel that that informs my conviction to buy & support handmade/independent business. It also informs my desire to buy “green” whenever possible and encourage others to do so, as well.

But I have no misconceptions that you have to be a flaming liberal to hold those opinions.

So I might use that as a barometer for your own faith. Please tell people what informs & inspires your work – but accept – and love! – that others may appreciate your work & ideals without holding the same beliefs.

okay, i’m officially out of profound thoughts for this week. you can see my two fave posts from scoutie girl – the art & business of crafting your online self & blog it forward :: what inspires me is you! – from this week to see what i mean. i also posted my very first video post this week!

here are some other goodies i’ve come across recently:

are you looking for some crazy backgrounds for your desktop or website? look no further than totally severe. actually, the image in this post with by totally severe and it’s a repeating pattern! found via how about orange.

i really love the sentiment of this post. and i think i agree with it completely! found via @erikajurney.

and i love this find by sonya audrey – who i’m so thrilled is going to be a blogger in residence at sg soon! – because it’s so pennsylvania!

and definitely stop by paisley wallpaper & small for big where lori & mari wrote their response to being included in my blog it forward post. so sweet!!

that’s all for now!