One of my favorite authors is SARK. I’ve read most of her books, “The Bodacious Book of Succulence,” “Live Juicy,” and most recently “Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper” along with several of her other books. Her works are unique because they are not typed, but written in bright colored marker, pencil, or watercolor with side-notes and doodles. It brings forward freedom and realness of genuinely living bravely in the way she shares her words. SARK’s works are graphic art as much as they are written art.

I’ve always felt like there is an artist hidden inside of me. I consider myself crafty. But, I’m far from naturally talented as a painter, sketcher, or other visual works artist. My girlfriends and I have attended a few of those Wine and Paint Nights and my finished products are always good for a laugh. I still find I enjoy the creativity of choosing the colors and seeing a blank page or canvas transform.

Last year I picked up the colored pencils sitting on my son’s desk in the kitchen and started creating little notes to put into his lunch. I didn’t do this every day, but at least a few times a week. They were messages to remind him that I was proud or to be kind, or funny jokes to make him smile. Sometimes they were just a small picture of something we had talked about or a favorite stuffed animal of his.

Surprisingly, I had to give myself permission to do his for him. Crazy right? I had to permit myself to send “mini love notes” to my child in his lunch box. What possible reason could I have for this? It is because I had to give myself permission to send out imperfect work. It turned out to be an ideal exercise for embracing the beauty of simple and imperfect work.

I’m sharing this because I think it is an excellent example of how many things we don’t do because we feel we aren’t good enough or that our work isn’t good enough. When we do decide to give it a go, we usually spend so much time trying to make it perfect for our family, friends, and insanely for people who we don’t even know, that the joy leaves the art.

I would like to encourage you to try something similar today. Color a picture, start a blog, write a love letter, paint, make a collage, sew, plant, cook, sing, and dance. Be brave, allow yourself to be inspired and just go with the flow. Don’t look for perfection in the work, look for the happiness and contentment it brings along with it. This is how to live a bodacious and succulent life, by inviting the world in and filling it with enthusiasm instead of judgment.

I will be indulging my inner artist with colored pencils and continue my little notes to Luke this year. I hope that he sees the mess-ups and learns that flaws can be beautiful.