How can you discover your personal art break?
How can you discover your personal art break?
Transcript for Take an Art Break Podcast Episode
Lisa (00:00):
Okay. Hey,
Lauren (00:01):
We’re here.
Lisa (00:02):
Oh, hey guys.
Lauren (00:04):
Hi everybody. Hi. We’re here for another livestream podcast. Hi. Hey,
Lisa (00:12):
<Laugh>.
Lauren (00:13):
So for the last, I feel like the last couple conversations we’ve had, we’ve sort of touched on this idea of this redefinition of an heartbreak, or basically we’ve always had this idea of an heartbreak, but, but coming to an understanding that when we say the word heartbreak, it might not be what other people think we might not be aligning. So this seems like the fact that you don’t have to have an art studio to take an art break. You can use a piece of paper and a pen. You don’t even need a piece of paper and a pen. So, with all of that in mind the question for today is, how can you or a person, how can a person discover their personal heartbreak today? Like, what steps do they need to take to do that?
Lisa (01:10):
Okay, well, I think we talked about it before, but remember it’s kind of like a muscle. So it’s kind of like exercise. So you have to kind of think of it like that. It’s not, you know, you can’t run a marathon <laugh> the first day that you start, so, right. So be
Lauren (01:25):
Yeah,
Lisa (01:25):
Be open and gentle with yourself when you’re looking for an outbreak. I say number one.
Lauren (01:32):
So yeah, number one is to be open, and number two is to be gentle. You mean don’t judge yourself when you say
Lisa (01:41):
No, no judgment. Yeah. Yeah. But also it’s like what, I mean you could go in the route like, what am I interested in? What am I passionate about? What inspires me or do I wanna challenge myself? So those are other couple options. Right,
Lauren (01:55):
Right. Yeah, I’m thinking like, you know, I think that there might be people out there that are taking art breaks and just might not know it. Mm-Hmm.
Lisa (02:08):
<Affirmative>
Lauren (02:09):
And they just might need to turn on that part of them, them that recognizes that, so. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> example that pops to my head is people who enjoy walking on trails. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> walking out in the woods, or jogging on the beach. You know, that to me can easily be an heartbreak, but it’s how, just like you always talk about it’s the intention. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, what’s the behind it? It’s about, about perspective. How are you viewing that time? You know, are you jogging on the beach just, just to, just to get enough exercise and get that checked off your list for the day? Or are you jogging on, on the beach and li listening to the waves and your, the way your feet hit the ground and, and sort of the music of life around you. Right. Just imagine those two scenarios,
Lisa (03:11):
Right.
Lauren (03:12):
Of the experience of either one. So I actually think that there’s a lot of people out there that might have found their heartbreak. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, they’re not em embracing it yet.
Lisa (03:24):
Well, I, I think you’re right cuz it’s my, what comes to my mind is making food. You know, when I make dinner, I like to make, I like to choose colors that are beautiful and the plate, when I played it, it’s like a canvas. And then when you taste it, it’s just like, you’re like, whoa, this is, it’s really good and really beautiful to look at. So that’s an heartbreak. And I think a lot of people are an amazing cooks and they’re very creative at cooking. But I think also to recognize it as like, what are the benefits? You know, what, what are my benefits from making a plate of food look like art? You know, how does that benefit me? So there needs to be an awakening in that person who’s doesn’t know they’re taking an art break. Like, well, what, what is that benefit? So there needs to be mindfulness ness involved as well. Cuz you need to be kind of mindful, like, oh yeah, I’m not, I’m not checking this off my list. I’m not putting in the microwave, you know, I’m actually taking time and making this into a creative act. And then I know the benefit is I’m like, I’m in bliss when I’m eating the food. Right.
Lauren (04:28):
So, yeah. Right. So I think it’s, I think that I’m hearing you and it’s basically, it’s kind of, and, and this is what we want an heartbreak to do for someone. It’s snapping you out of that like da da da da da kind of mindset, right? Like, I’m gonna do this and then I’m gonna do that. We can all get into that kind of cycle where we’re that what hamster on a wheel cor sort of thing. Like,
Lisa (04:57):
I call it like a, you’re, it’s a robotic thinking. Cuz when you’re talking like that, you kind of sounded like a robot. I’m gonna do this next. I’m gonna do this <laugh>, I’m gonna check it off my list. You know, we don’t,
Lauren (05:08):
I what I think that, I mean, even as an artist, your art can turn into that and that’s when you really need to take a break. And that’s really what we’re, what we’re talking about, right? The break comes first. It’s almost like we need to say take a break art, but that makes no sense, right? <Laugh>, but <laugh>. But that’s what we’re really saying is you take a break and then you, and you turn that break into art, into an art experience, into an art object. And that’s the thing is whatever works for you, most of my heartbreaking does not end up with anything physical. At the end. There’s no object involved. It involves I’m a mom of three, so a lot of of times it involves deep breathing in my backyard. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> like counting how many birds fly by or listening to all the different types of birds I can hear at one time.
Lauren (06:09):
Or we sometimes we have like the wind come through all the trees and I turn it, I turn that into music and it’s, for me i, it’s an exercise in recognizing that everything is extraordinary and that it’s a reminder because you can get, and it’s as, as a mom, you can definitely get caught up in the du da da da da, I have to go to the kids. The kids need to do this, and the kids need to do this and the kids. And you forget to enjoy your own children or your own life as a mother. Right. And so my heartbreaks are sort of a way to remind myself of those magical moments that exist all the time, but you just have to be open. Right. Just like you said. And also gentle with yourself.
Lisa (06:58):
Gentle and non-judgmental. Yes. I thought of something when we first developed Art Break Day, my friend Daniella she had the gallery in San <inaudible>. She thought it was art break, like B R A K K E. So that’s a beautiful way of looking at it. Take an art break, <laugh> like, you know, when like, take your take, put your, put your, you know, yourself,
Lauren (07:20):
Put your brakes on. I look, put your
Lisa (07:22):
Brakes. Yeah. Yes. So I think that’s a really simplistic way of thinking about really what is an art break. So what can you do today, you know, for yourself that you just put your brakes on.
Lauren (07:35):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. Okay. So with that, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> we’re talking about here about like that every art break is different for every person and that the way to really discover it is you have to be open to actually looking for it. But you need to be in that non-judgmental space. What if someone doesn’t even know where to start? What do they do if they’re just like, okay I get it. Lauren and Lisa, you talk about this all the time. <Laugh> all
Lisa (08:06):
The time.
Lauren (08:07):
<Laugh> all the time. Just never stop. I’m willing to give it a try, but I have no idea where to start. I don’t know where to start my heartbreak journey. How would, what would you suggest to them?
Lisa (08:17):
Well, I think, I mean, we have developed a beautiful resource on the website, artist moving.org where you can just pop on there. We have the art in everything calendar. It’s a daily kind of like a idea. We have a lot of ideas on our website. You can do that. Or you can even do a Google search and look up, maybe say you’re like, oh, I wanna try Clay today. You know, I’m interested. I I I got some clay. You know, you can even look up an art break with clay. You know, that’s the, I mean the internet is a, an amazing resource for finding anything you want.
Lauren (08:52):
Yeah. I love that. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, I definitely we, we filled our website up with a whole bunch of different heartbreak ideas and, and with the, with the mindset that having a variety that, that, you know it, that it was good to be diverse with the types of heartbreaks that we offered and the ideas because you know, not everybody likes to paint. Right.
Lisa (09:22):
Yeah. I, I’m thinking also I think our, our definition of heartbreak is like what, how can you break out of that box? I think when you’re talking about that, that’s a box, right? I have to do this, I do that. I gotta feed the kids, I gotta do laundry, I gotta, you know what I mean? I gotta <laugh>, so,
Lauren (09:39):
Right. Gotta go through the Yeah, totally.
Lisa (09:43):
So it’s like how can you break out of that box? It’s almost like we’re, I feel we’re asking people to like put the brakes on, kind of get out of the robotic thinking. And I think another way of heartbreaks is like, what is that our brain thinks the same thought of in a day, like 62,000 times? Yeah. And if you just think about, about that, taking an outbreak, heartbreak, doing that, just kind of take, put a break on and stop thinking that thought that you thought 60,000 times <laugh>,
Lauren (10:15):
Right? Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think, so if you were trying to discover your personal heartbreak, you need to find the thing that helps you not get into that robotic thinking that gives you a break from that robotic thinking. And so for someone who doesn’t know what that thing is yet, you know, cuz we might some people listening right now that are like, oh, well that’s baking for me. Oh, that, well that’s, you know, when I ride my bike that’s my heartbreak because I’m in, I’m in the flow, right? We talk about the flow a lot, you know? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And I would challenge those folks to push that even more. Like if you found the flow with your bike ride, right next time you ride your bike you know, try to stretch your notion of what, of how that art, that bike ride could be an art break. Like, could you ride, could you do a bike ride in the shape of a number or words or something? I don’t know. <Laugh>, right? Like, or could you what else could you do on your bike that would be an heartbreak? I gotta like, you could make a design or something, go somewhere with there’s dirt and try to make a design
Lisa (11:39):
<Laugh>. Right? That’s fun.
Lauren (11:41):
Yeah. Yeah. But like for people who don’t even have a thing right now that gets them into that flow, I think the easiest approach is to maybe look at art. So, you know, go to like the Louv has, has digitized like almost their entire collection right at, at the point mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, which is incredible. Yeah.
Lisa (12:07):
Yeah.
Lauren (12:08):
The louv is full of a variety of art. So, so do that and you know, maybe find something that you’re inspired by and, and maybe just looking up, looking at art will, will kind of help you start walking towards that, that road of making art.
Lisa (12:30):
Yeah. I think that’s great. Great ideas. And I think also if you are one of those flow masters <laugh> that can get into the flow I, I like to think about this. Like what does my flow feel like? What does it, you know, what does it look like? I mean, like what is the flow for you? Because I know there’s that awesome Ted talk on flow the name I cannot pronounce cause it’s like this long, but he talks about the state of flow and what, what it does for you, what it feels like. But flow is so individual towards e each person. So when Lauren, you’re in a flow, what does your flow look like? When I’m in flow, what does my flow feel like or look like? So I think it’s really, it’s, it’s interesting also, I think we’re asking people to kind of break it down and kind of think about it, right? Like Yeah.
Lauren (13:17):
Well, yeah. I mean that’s what it is for us. For us it’s an, it’s an intentional act of creativity. Right? Right. Like if you go, if you take me and you take me to like my art, my art concept, right? Me, Lauren, as an artist and art concept, everything, that every, everything is art. And you know, all of it is art. But if, if I’m talking more practically and I’m talking about the definition of an art break for, for practical purposes, it’s that you’re, you’re stopping and you’re intentionally telling yourself, I’m gonna take a, I’m gonna hit the breaks. I’m gonna take a break now and I’m gonna do this because I know that it’s, it’s going to help me reduce my stress. It’s going to increase my cognitive abilities. It’s going to mm-hmm. <Affirmative> just help me get out of my da da da da da da. Right. For a while. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think, yeah, go
Lisa (14:20):
Ahead. We always, we always say it’s like it’s epic. So self-care, you know, it’s really self-care. So maybe look at an heartbreak as like self-care. Like you put on the brakes and you go, how can I take care of me? You know? Cuz you were just saying you’re a mom and you’re stretched all over, you know, between your three boys and you’re life and your dogs and everything. So how can, at one moment in time you have put the breaks on, take an our break and take time for me.
Lauren (14:44):
Yes. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, okay, so I’m still thinking about that person cuz you know, I always am mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, like I don’t even, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.
Lisa (14:56):
<Laugh>
Lauren (14:57):
Trying, I’m trying to find an art break that will like, help them, you know, get, get a couple of steps closer to understanding what an art break can do for them. So if you don’t have that thing in your life that gives you that flow, that flow is when you’re not in that da da that robotic thinking. If you don’t have that yet mm-hmm. <Affirmative> and you don’t feel like looking at art, then I would argue that you should get a piece of paper and a pen and you should set a timer for five minutes and you should write down all the random thoughts you have with no judgment whatsoever. And then, and that’s it. Like, you don’t have to think about it. You don’t have to ju you know, you don’t have to try to analyze yourself. You’ll probably giggle cuz you’ll probably have some random funny thing, you know, and you can rip it up. Lisa always is like, rip it up and throw it away. Right. The main thing to do is check in and see how you feel after doing that, because that’s what we’re talking about. Cuz you’re gonna feel better than you did five minutes before. Yeah,
Lisa (16:22):
I would, I would also, this is okay, I’m thinking of the person who does, just doesn’t, it’s not coming together. Like what is an heartbreak? You know what I mean? Because we’re talking, we’re really broadly talking about like, it could be walking, it could be it’s flying, it could be, you know, it could be drawing, it could be, you know what I mean? It could be making food. But what if you do this kind of like, think about your day and write down what is happening during your day. You know, a lot of people are so scheduled and kind of think about the day, you know what I mean? Like very like practical and then figure out where you can incorporate this little break. This break where you put your brakes on and then you know, spend, you know, I think, I think it’s important to have that set aside time.
Lisa (17:10):
You know? I know, but you can do it on, you can do it automatically when you’re like, oh my God, I’m stressing out. I’m stressing out and I need to break. I need to take a break. But I think especially in our lives, busy lives, you need to kind of look at your life <laugh> and you know, maybe it’s not being on Twitter for that five minutes. Maybe it’s not being Facebook for that hour, right. Maybe it’s like you kind of look at your life and where are those, where are those areas that you’re being sucked away from who you really are, right?
Lauren (17:41):
Yeah. So
Lisa (17:42):
Take, right like, you know what I mean? Like figure it out. Where, where’s what, what are you doing with your life <laugh>? And then, you know what I mean? And then when you, I mean this is all for good. It’s all for like, you know, making people healthier people and happier and more joyful. And so like, when, when can you take that brick? When can you put your breaks on?
Lauren (18:00):
So I, you know, I love that advice because I’m the type of person as I just described 10 minutes ago, that’s usually kind of rushing into an art break because I have that warning bell in my, in my head and my body that’s like, you have to hit the brakes, you have to before you, you kind of flip your lid, you know? And and I keep talking. So we, we try to schedule daily art breaks for my, my oldest son as part, basically as part of school. And when we have that rhythm, when we keep it, it’s amazing. It’s amazing how much our family flows, right? There we go. That daily art break cuz we take him together and it’s incredible. He, you know, it’s gotten to a point where he makes up his own heartbreaks to take, but we don’t, we’re not perfect. Nobody is. And we skip and then, and then I have my rush to an heartbreak <laugh> and then we get back into that rhythm. So that’s where the be gentle with yourself and don’t judge yourself comes from because hey, we all get sucked into Twitter, <laugh> and Facebook and we’re like, where was I? And you know, that’s okay. That’s why Lisa’s advice to actually scheduled in your life is, is great. Because,
Lisa (19:23):
But what I love what you said about when you, when you have that scheduled heartbreak in your family, your, your family life just flows. That’s another type of flow. It’s like things get a little more harmonious, right? Things are not like, cuz I think a lot of times what we’re doing is we’re kind of putting out the next fire, right? <Laugh>, we’re all putting on, there’s a fire, we gotta put it out. But I think what you’re, what this beautiful concept is when you schedule an outbreak, your whole life becomes very fluid. And then so you can tap into the, the harmony of your life versus putting out big fires.
Lauren (19:57):
I love it. Yeah. Okay. So hopefully that helps someone who didn’t know they were taking heart breaks, take them more consciously. Intentionally. Or someone who’s like, what are these ladies talking about? Has a better idea of how awesome making art part of their daily life could be.
Lisa (20:21):
Beautiful.
Lauren (20:22):
All right. All
Lisa (20:23):
Right.
Lauren (20:23):
So until next time. Thanks everybody.
Lisa (20:25):
Okay.
