Last month we talked about ways we can bloom both on the page and off, you can read about that here. This month we are getting outside! Yes, we will get outside and get some fresh air but let’s also get outside of our comfort zones.
I’m not much of an outdoor kinda girl. I tell people all the time I’m a City Mouse, I’m not a huge fan of bugs, and I really don’t like birds and I don’t love being dirty. I do run outside but I one time almost skipped a race because I saw a racoon on the way to the starting line!
So usually when we go outside to enjoy fresh air and nature it’s to a theme park. Lately, we’ve been spending a lot of time at Sea World. I picked a recent visit to scrapbook and in an effort to get out of my comfort zone I took inspiration from Shimelle Lain’s Half & Half class. Using pattern papers this way and layering this way is something I’m not always comfortable with so I wanted to break outside my norm and try something new!
Here are some easy ways to get outside and to get outside your comfort zone.
- Take a class – this can be an online scrapbooking class like Shimelle’s that encourages you to do different things. Or it can be a yoga in the park class or photography class that literally gets you outside.
- Do something that makes you uncomfortable – use that whole sheet of bold pattern paper, use those bold colors, smear paint all over your page, just jump right in! I force myself to go outside for walks and runs and also for photo shoots now and then. I just try to brave the elements Ha!
- Avoid your go to moves – I almost always ink and splatter on my layouts, for this layout I forced myself to put the ink and spray bottles down. Sometimes we use our go to techniques as a crutch and we avoid trying something new. I won’t do this for every layout but it was kinda fun to do it this time. We have spent a lot of time at Disney over the years so lately we have been going to Sea World and we are even talking about heading to Universal Studios this Summer. Sure they are still theme parks but it’s outside our comfort zone and home base. It can even be something small like change your route for your morning walk, you will be surprised how different it feels to break that pattern.
Do you like going outside? Do you like doing things outside of your comfort zone? I would love to hear how outside works for you!
Be sure to head over and read Alison’s latest blog post for more fun inspiration from Shimelle’s latest class.