After a rather sleepless night, I need my “Morning Pages” ritual more than ever today. Morning pages are a form of journaling where, every morning right after waking up, you write freely from the heart about whatever moves you, without overthinking it.

I do that sometimes, too, but somehow I find it hard to focus on the words that are supposed to express what I’m feeling. It’s easier when I paint. Much easier. All I have to do is let the brush, pencils, or chalk dance across the paper.

This morning, I was in the mood for orange, red, and green. No idea what that means. I use green quite often in my paintings, but the red and orange paint pans are usually the ones that stay dry. Today was different.

Well, now that I think about it, I do know what it means. I was angry last night. But at the same time, I felt calm, because somehow it’s all part of it. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but when you have small children, nights aren’t always that restful. The soft, warm green soothes me.

And by the way…I got inspired by this beautiful woman (Helen Norton):