Your Marble Jar

There is a great metaphorical story in Brené Brown’s book Daring Greatly using a Marble Jar to build trust in relationships. She tells a great story of her daughter’s teacher who kept a jar in the classroom and each time the class did something positive a marble went in the jar.  Conversely, when the class veered into the land of negatives, marbles were removed.  When listening to this story I thought about my art.  For all Creatives, the Marble Jar can represent all of our inspiration and creative ideas.  We take from this jar daily as we head to the studio.  All the ideas and energy we expend on all of our wonderful paintings deplete our jar.  Not to mention all of our frustrations and self-doubt that join us from time to time.  We do this day after day and wonder why we are burned out and our creativity has left the building at times.  Then we go on a vacation or some other inspiring adventure and come back and most of the time our creativity and zest are back.  Think of our time away from the easel as time to fill our Marble Jars but don’t wait until you are burned out and need a big vacation, do this regularly.  There are so many ways to fill our jar.  Overall, just do things you enjoy.  Take time to slow down and recharge.  I typically recharge best spending time outdoors.  It is amazing how much more inspired you can be when you get back to the studio.  Join us in my new Facebook Group for Creatives - Angela’s Color Story and share how you are keeping your Marble Jar full!