Be Myself (playcrane)

The message I've been getting from so many creative sources lately is to

BE MYSELF

Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project, has this mantra as her top personal commandment in a list of 12.  Sounds easy enough.  But then a tendency to compare myself to others creeps in.  I wonder why I'm not-like-that.  If only I _______, then I'd be able to _______.  I think Gretchen's right.  I am much more happy when I   BE MYSELF.  Incidentally, her May chapter is called Be Serious about Play.  Aww, it all fits.

  

I recently made the artwork above as part of Kelly Barton's Find Your My Inner Icon workshop as part of the wishBIG ecamp.  I put it off for awhile since I have such trouble with drawing and sketching.  Then I realized I should stop trying to draw like an artist and then just draw the best I can and more importantly, have fun in the process.  It WAS fun.

I coined the word "playcrane" for this blog, my twitter, and flickr pages.  It seems to fit.  Of course, Crane is my last name through marriage.  The Crane is also a symbol of longevity particulary in Asian cultures due to its long life span.  It is also associated with longevity, health, happiness, wisdom and good luck--all good things.  The white crane or origami crane is a symbol of peace.  You can read more about this in an earlier post.  I am all about peace in its many forms.

playcrane: a reminder to be myself

What reminder do you have to be the fabulous, wonderful, unique you?