To all my friends who are grieving the recent or long passed loss of loved ones, my heart is with you. May the memories of love and presence soothe the pain of their absence. So many souls transitioning lately. Cherish the ones still here. 🤍✨

Peace in the stars, shining so brightly through the dark night sky. Looking at the stars reminds me of my dad. Missing him a lot.

Good morning and happy Sunday, new moon, & solar eclipse! So much energy and transformation taking place. Reflecting on some of the biggest transformations of my life, and some of the darkest times as well. What I’ve learned is that how you talk to yourself and frame things is everything. During those really tough times, I realized that I could still choose how I frame the situations in my life. I could choose the words I use to describe them. I could choose how I thought about, talked to, and treated myself. It didn’t necessarily change the situation right away, but it changed me. It created peace, resilience, faith, kindness, and compassion in and for myself. Eventually this allowed me to be different, make different choices, take different actions, which created different situations. Changing this inner dialogue was not easy. It took conscious consistent effort. I literally had to pause myself and question my thoughts and actively turn them around. I had to use all those personal growth tools that I knew but wasn’t really applying in my life. Like sitting down and literally rewriting a situation and my thoughts around it. Looking for the good, speaking more kindly to myself. For example, instead of allowing that thought in my head “this (insert shitty situation here) always happens to me, and it probably always will,” I would pause and correct myself. Talk to myself, “Okay, you know that isn’t true. This doesn’t always happen, but it’s happened a few times. And you can’t possibly know if it will always happen. What can you do right now to care for yourself, to be proactive, to find relief?” And even just that short inquiry, interrupting that negative thought that would start a downward depressive spiral, made all the difference in shifting my energy a bit. I would begrudgingly go do something positive and proactive for myself and slowly I would start to feel different, a little bit more at peace, even if still struggling. That at least in the struggle, I could be compassionate and loving toward myself, as I would with a dear friend. Be kind to yourselves, give yourselves the compassion and encouragement you would to a friend or someone you love. 🤍

Just breathing. As many times a day as possible, on purpose. I love mornings by the ocean. 💙Breathing in nature brings me so much peace. This shot was taken the other day, as the east swell from the storm began to arrive. Would love to paint this at some point.

Finally had a couple good sessions yesterday and today. 12 hrs of surfing and I am soooo sore and tired, but alive, breathing, refreshed, and happy. 😆❤️ #shellya

Current workspace…sorting more books in between storm prep. Going to be windy and rainy!

Moms night out to celebrate Berlene ❤️🎉

Beautiful beginnings everyday.

Recap of WineFest at @hyattguam Always a great time at this event. Found the Milagro Wines that are usually showcased as well. I’ve done some live art painting the Divine Mother alongside the showcase before. Hadn’t been here in awhile! Loved the way they set it up this time.

Sunrise light beam… like a flashlight through the clouds. ✨I like how it creates this lit rectangle/square in the sky, shining and reflecting on the ocean. 🤍

Found the Milagro wines at the WineFest. Still feels crazy that my art is on a wine label. Two of my favorite things! 😆

A few deep breaths… the simple things ✨