Remember when you went back to school as a kid in September and had to write about what you did during summer vacation? I loved that assignment. I loved hearing all the different experiences my classmates had. My summers usually consisted of kick-the-can (IYKYK), ring and run, and running after the ice cream truck, with no money.

Well, this summer, I reimagined my life.

No big deal, right? Except it was a very big deal.

I spent this summer really allowing myself to paint with complete and absolute freedom. I painted whatever I wanted, different styles, different sizes, vibrant colors. Reimagining what I, as an artist, should really look like — not from the outside but from within. I started painting a couple of years ago and I have not looked back. I started painting. And then painted some more.

The best part is that the work is starting to resonate with other people too. People are buying it. Connecting with it. Sending me messages about it — and I say THANK YOU!

And honestly? I CAN believe it. Not in a braggy way. But in a, why shouldn't I believe it? way.

I think sometimes we're caught off guard when something we've dreamed about actually starts happen. To say, "I can't believe it!" as if believing in ourselves too much might somehow be embarrassing or braggadocious.

I worked hard at this. I taught myself to paint, to stretch my own canvases, to build a website, to sell my work, to redo my "brand" over and over again, whatever the heck that means. To stop judging myself, to write Studio Notes, and most of all, to take the most authentic approach to painting as I can without fear of what anyone thinks.

I painted when I felt inspired and I painted when I didn't. I made things I loved and things I absolutely hated. I questioned myself. I started over. I kept going.

Last week, my painting Dancing Side Of The Street sold. And I swear, the second I painted it and named it, I knew it was going to sell quickly.

I just knew.

Maybe that's what this summer has really been about.

Trusting myself. Trusting my instincts. And having a little more courage. I know that sounds like something you'd find printed on a throw pillow, but it's true.

Painting has taught me that courage doesn't always arrive as one giant brave decision. Sometimes it's hour by hour. Then another day of showing up and doing the thing you can't stop thinking about.

And I think everyone deserves to find that thing. The thing you can get completely lost in.

Maybe it's cooking or gardening or writing a book (I'm working on that too!) or starting a business or going thrifting or learning how to play the piano at 70.

I don't think the actual thing matters. I think finding it does.

Because there's something pretty incredible that happens when you stop waiting for permission to love what you love.

You start trusting yourself.

And once you do that, who knows what happens next?

So, if my teacher asked me today to write about what I did during my summer vacation, I think my answer would be pretty simple:

I painted. I painted some more. And somewhere in there, I found myself.

Thanks for following along.

Kerryn