Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hello and welcome to my
course of closing the door to musts and shoots an opening
the door to compassion. I'm on yes to Bismarck, an artist, author and
teacher from France. I'm so passionate about
growing and self-care and personal development
alongside some fun and simple art projects. This course is about
learning how we can craft our way to a more compassionate
and loving person to ourselves by creating
a simple art project that paints a picture or
subconsciously lights up our path and gives us more clarity into what
vocabulary words we want to tell ourselves that will
motivate us to building good habits as we go through
our daily responsibilities, we will uncover some of the negative and unhelpful words that we often use
without even realizing that they are putting
unrealistic expectations on us and make us push harder
and feel overwhelmed. Words such as should
or must or have to, just to name a few. And then we will seek out
and discover how we can welcome in gentle and
kind words instead, words that we want
to tell ourselves. Words that will cheer us on and encouraged us to greater growth. Such as, I want to, I love to, I get two. In this course, we
will take the time to think about what words
we want to close the door to and what words we want to invite into our lives. Feel there are so
many benefits to incorporating some
type of art project. Whether painting,
drawing, crafting, do using any mediums that are right and appropriate for you. And mixing it with growth
and progressing in some way. So let's get started. I'm so looking forward
to seeing you in class.
2. Materials needed: I will be showing you some of the materials that I will use. But of course, please feel
free to personalize it for you and the material and
items that you have, or maybe the mediums of
art that you would prefer. I will be using an A4 size
sheets of watercolor paper, next two pieces of cardboard. So these are little thicker than paper for extra sturdiness, one cardboard or
paper, brown color. Scissors, glue stick, a pencil, black ink pen, or a ballpoint pen if you
prefer, and a marker. You will also need a set
of watercolor paints. But if you prefer, you could use colored pencils or
crayons or pastels. Lastly, you will
need some glue tech. I wanted to use very simple
material that you would have on hand so
that you don't have to go and buy anything. You just use what you have in your house and what's
most practical for you. Alright, then we're
ready to begin.
3. Sketching: I'm starting out with
my A4 size piece of paper folded in half
as if it were a card. In this class, we're going to
be sketching out the door. You can follow along and
draw with me if you'd like. Just watch if you prefer. You may ask why I adore. Well, it's the first thing
that came to mind when I chose to be more intentional about my
level of compassion. We close a door to
what we don't want, maybe the choline, a noisy
street, public life. And then we get to open
it to invite a friend in, to welcome in a family member, or to bring in more of
the things we want. That's what we will use
our door for it today. Closing the door to
certain negative words, and opening it to more positive words we want
to use in our vocabulary. That the door is not the main
objective in this course. So feel free to use
whatever picture or imagery you would like or
that would be more meaningful in a value to you. This is a course you get to
totally personalize for you, or maybe just
swatch the process. Because that can also
be a calming time, the therapeutic moment. Just accept where you are right now in your level of compassion. That's a big step to
practicing compassion. Probably the first step. We don't need to
beat ourselves over the head for doing something
or not doing something. We just accept the situation. And it's all okay. The past incident and
the future meeting. Since we're on the topic, what if you had to rate
your compassion level at this moment?
Where would you be? Between one to ten? What would you honestly
choose for yourself? Visualizing where
we're at right now, it can be so helpful in envisioning where
we want to go next. That would be the first exercise to think about as we
sketch out the store. How would we rate our
level of compassion? And again, let's
practice acceptance and embracing our thoughts and feedings where
we're at right now, rather than fighting or
feeling guilty about them. That's a very important step
to love and compassion. Like this quote from
Ruth fish shell, It's a beautiful
experience being with ourselves at a level of
complete acceptance. That begins to
happen when you give up resistance and
needing to be perfect. Peace will come over you
as you have never known.
4. Inking: Now that we have our sketch, I like to go over
it with an ink pen. That way I see it real clearly
and it's nice and neat. It's not a must or should, but it's an I'd like to get the check-in with you to see how
you feel about this part. Again, back to compassion. I think it's so ingrained in us to push ourselves real hard. If we want to succeed
at something, whether it be in our work, home life or family life, there's just a never ending
list of to-dos or should do that we put on ourselves in order to maybe feel
good about ourselves. Or we might think that it helps motivate us to
keep us challenge, to succeed, and move
towards our goals. There's also a lot of outside
pressure that call from all sides enticing and
some totally well-meaning. But then comes the
comparing game. In compare, if I were to be
really honest with myself, which means automatically my
compassion level goes down, way down when I start
comparing. But it's true. Motivational speakers, social
media, podcasts, books. There's a never-ending
list of how we want to grow and learn. And they do work for
us most of the time. They work for me too. I love planning and mapping out my goals and setting
intentions for myself, getting inspired from
others ideas and inputs. I feel that it helps
me get somewhere. As we ink our door picture, we can also imagine
where we want to be. The difference this time
is we'll close the door to the outside voices and we'll
check in with ourselves. Personally, where
do I want to be? Not because of something someone else said or something I read. Because of a desire, a feeling and emotion
I have within me that sparks joy
and lights me up. I am my own best teacher. What is my heart
telling me right now about compassion,
about self-love? How do I want to make progress
and grow in this area? What would be most helpful
for me in my situation.
5. Painting: Now you can get out
your paints and paint bushes and let's
paint the store together. As you can see, mine
are nothing fancy. I'm using my kids
old paints from when they were younger. That's okay. It's not the material
that counts. It's the process and enjoyment
I'm getting from painting. I'm making a green door and maybe I'll make some
red and gray bricks. But you do what you like. I've realized that there
is always more room for growth in incorporating more
gentleness and compassion. Especially in planning,
mapping out and envisioning my future
goals or daily to-dos. It really comes
down to self-love. Without self-love, we don't
do so well at loving others. Excuse. I know that I need my
love cup filled to the brim before I can overflow
and share with others. So I asked myself, how can I do that? We could all use a little more vitamin
C, C for compassion. This is the goal of
this activity to create for ourselves and
loving and gentle reminder of some positive words
that can help build this up and cheer us on when
we want to get going. As we look at our to-do
list of things to get done, or maybe our day-to-day
responsibilities are jobs. What are those
words that you can tell yourself that
help you want to do something or maybe
look forward to with joy and excitement rather
than stress or pressure. As we paint this picture, let's use the relaxing and meditative process to check
in and ponder this question. What are those words
that you can tell yourself that help you get
to where you want to be. Where that gives
you an extra spark or bounce to starting your day. Rather than more work
overwhelm stress. I'm sure.
6. Pencil Shading: Now it's time to
cut out my door. For you to cut out whatever
shape you've worked on. It doesn't need to be perfect. But I just wanted
to make sure that I have the fold on one side of my picture that it
can open and close. Now I'm adding a
little pencil shading to my painted door. I love the texture and
contrast that gives, as well as more time for me to reflect and think about
this lesson of compassion. You can just pencil or ink
your shades wherever you feel you want to accentuate a
little more shade or color. I'm not sharing with you here
the techniques of shading, but more so of a loose and free go with the
flow kind of thing. Feel that flexibility is a big part of
practicing compassion. Being sensitive to your
needs at the moment. That's what I'm doing here. Just going where I feel is right for me to shade or to add a
little bit more contrast. Go with the flow. Go where I feel there's a need, a want or desire. Now back to these
vocabulary words. When I realize the benefit of changing just a few of them. I was so amazed and excited, not only in my actions that I can practice compassion
and self-love. But it first starts with my thoughts and the
words I tell myself. So that's why this
activity can be so powerful when we use it in conjunction with feeling
overwhelmed or stressed or frustrated as we view our long lists or our
calendar events for the day. Instead of using words
like I should, I have to, I need to, I must
do this and that. Now I avoid those altogether
because I've found new words to replace them with that have changed my
whole perspective. It is totally changed the
way I look at my day. Now I'm excited and thrilled about what I can get
done and accomplished. I think also finding the balance to prioritizing what I really need to get done
that day and what maybe I can put off for
tomorrow or at a later date. Also making sure that
I have some time for some self-love and treating
myself to some vitamin C. Now as you continue
to shade and pencil, it may be a good
time to think about what benefits can
you think of in your own life that
you would gain from using more
compassion words. Remember those words
you thought of in our last class that you
wanted to tell yourself? Well, think about those. Maybe you wrote them down in a notebook or on
a piece of paper. Now look over them again. Read them out. Let yourself feel. Then ask, how did it feel? Does it change
something for you? It can even go as far as
imagining or manifesting. How do you want to feel? What do you want to gain
from using these words?
7. Negative Words: In this part of the class, we will make some wooden boards with our brown sheet of paper. You can take your pencil and
ruler and let's get started. Just follow along with me
or watch if you prefer. By using a little art project or art prompt like the store, it will create for ourselves
a gentle reminder. In a picture format. It's for all those
visual learners out there who would love to
see it in a picture. Or imagine it's somehow. As I explained before, I used the door because
that's what I picture it as. But there are plenty of other things you
could use as well. Maybe you'd see this
as a no entry sign or a box of sort or maybe
a fence or a bucket. You're welcome to personalize it and make something
that would fit you best or help you visualize it in a way
that is right for you. So I've cut out my main board. Now. I'm just going to
take measurements and cut little strips to
board up my door. With all these words that
I don't want to hear, don't want to use
in my vocabulary. Here I'm including these boards and writing words that I often use as I write out or go
through my to-do list. I might them or I might
tell them to myself. Or maybe they're just in
my subconscious mind. When I use these
obligatory words, which is how I
like to call them. I feel boxed in. I feel stuck, no entry, no trespassing type of attitude. It's like boarding up my door. But when I welcome and positive
words, I feel invited, excited as I open myself
up to new opportunities. New delightful
moments in my day. Isn't that what we all want? More of that in the next class? I've written out some
here that I use myself. But feel free to include some extra ones that
you have thought of. Or maybe that are in your vocabulary
as you go through your day or your
lists or calendar. Now that I've put them all nicely where I want
them to go on my door. I just keep them down with
little piece of glue tech. But you could use glue or tape or whatever is most
convenient for you. The reason I use glue
tack is because I feel that my vocabulary changes
as it changes and evolves. I might realize that there
are other negative words that I happen to use because I'm going to
get rid of these ones. But I might replace them
with some other ones. So I can always exchange
them and add the ones that I want to let go of and
release at a future date.
8. Welcome Mat: Here I'm using one of
the smaller pieces of cardboard to create
a welcome mat. I'm drawing here the mat
with my black ink pen. Doesn't have to be perfect. Not super straight lines, just little strokes,
sometimes little dots, little lines going zigzag
all over the place. And then I'm going to write
in the middle, welcome. As a nice speak clear
reminder to myself. Gentle reminder. As I think about those
welcoming words. Welcoming more compassion. I realized that I can
use self-compassion, gentle and kind words that helped me feel
loved, passionate, and excited to get going with a project or to start on my day. Or I can use demeaning
words and feel uptight, judgmental or guilty for not getting everything
done just perfectly. It's my choice. So what will I invite
into my life today? As we create and
paint this welcome, and we can be thinking about
those words to ourselves, that lighter syrup and make his shine bright field by
self-compassion and love.
9. Positive Words: Now I'm taking my other piece of cardboard and I'm going to measure middle strips to be able to add in those
welcoming words. This is when we
get to imagine and create these inviting,
encouraging words. I'm creating these on
cardboard so they are nice and firm and I can use
them for a very long time. At times, I even liked to hang them on my mirror or calendar. That way I see it
loud and clearly. In this portion of the course, we will be imagining
and creating those welcoming,
inviting, encouraging, and motivational words that we want to add to our vocabulary that will help us to
feel better about our regular daily
duties or chores. Maybe our assignments and work obligations and
appointments or deadlines, all those sort of things. I can't be more
excited about sharing this part with you because
this is my favorite. Anyway, all that to say
that since I've been using these welcoming
words into my vocabulary, I felt so much more
joyful and free to be me. I'm no longer bound
by my to-do-list, but now I get to do it. This is an amazing
feeling and I hope that you can try it
for yourself too. This is really the
part we get to play around with
love and compassion, implement, apply, enact, and use it in our
everyday lives. Open yourself to imagine all the loving words to start
off your sentences with, and we'll take it from there. You can feel free
to use these that I've written or some of these. And then the rest
you can personalize, the ones that would be even more meaningful and right for you. Now I'm going to take
my glue and my mat and we're going to place it on the bottom of the open door. I'm just going to put glue on the two sides and the bottom. That way I'm creating myself a little pocket to fit in
all these little words. All of these inviting words.
10. How to Use: Now that we've finished
our little craft project, let's practice
using it together. You will need your
notebook or Notepad, or even just your to-do list. And a pen. I'm going to write here
my to-do list of today. I make a little box and I jot down all those things that I can think of or remember
to do daily routines. Some of them I enjoy
more than others. Some of them can be a little
stressful or draining. It doesn't matter. I'm just putting it
all down on my paper. There is no set order or
priority in this one. But of course, feel
free to prioritize or make your list the way that
you would normally do it. That's right for you. Anyway, so you can continue. These are just some examples
that I have put here. I wanted to show you
how to use this door. These words in conjunction
with my to-do list. These words that I
have boarded up. I have to do the laundry. I am expected to
go to the meeting. I must cook for the guests. I asked myself, how do I feel, how does it make me feel
when I use those words? Usually pretty miserable. Yeah, I think any of those
words wouldn't leave any of us feeling sad or
grumpy or stressed. Now, I'm going to try
these Welcome words. So I open my door. I take one of these out. Or I might take two or
three or all of them out. I might use a different one
for each thing on my list. I would like, if you
do the shopping, I can edit this video. I'm happy to walk the dog. And how do I feel when
I use these words along or just before my
list of things to do. I feel love, I feel
worse, self-worth, happy. Most of all, I feel a
sense of compassion because I've taken the time to pay attention
to my vocabulary, to give myself those
gentle nudges, it gentle reminder, we'll picture of what
compassion is for me. This is the way I
like to use it, but it doesn't and
shouldn't limit you to how you would
like to use it or implemented for yourself
in your own life or habits. We're using this project for building positive
vocabulary words. But you can even go further
as to create a specific craft for building other good habits or growing or
progressing in some way.
11. Conclusion: So I invite you, I welcome you to continue this process of
evolving and growing your positive and compassionate
vocabulary words to help you live the more happy and fulfilled and loving life. I'd be so happy if you'd like to share your work,
the community here, maybe taking a photo of your art project or your
vocabulary words to help benefit somebody
else and help encourage them on their
journey to more compassion. If you would like to
see some other courses on the topic of
self-love and self-care. Feel free to check them
out on this platform.
Agnes De Bezenac, Designer of Tools for Wellbeing
