Let’s Set Some Goals for 2025!

Ashleigh (@discoverarttherapy) has inspired me to get back into therapeutic art.

If you’ve read my latest poetry book DIVE WITHIN, you will see a bit of the therapeutic art that I did during my fight against lymphoma.

During that time I was struggling to write, somehow found myself learning about art therapy with books. I had counselors at the time who knew about how useful art therapy could be but didn’t know as much about it. So I ended up teaching them as well.

In that time, around 2023, I had found Ashleigh’s account, she was sharing the most as reels and posts. She had content through her website. Including ebooks that you can purchase. I’ve purchased these workbooks. At the end of 2024, she started to share more through her Instagram broadcast channel with therapeutic art activities.

I wasn’t feeling well physically and it was affecting me mentally. So these art activities sparked an interest to return back to therapeutic art that I put aside to focus a bit more on writing. In December 2024, Ashleigh inspired others, like me, to take circles and create what we are feeling without worrying about the end result.

If you know me, you’ll know how much perfectionism impacts me. I always want to do the best that I can. There’s times when I feel I’m not doing enough or even that I’m not enough to make things possible.

I’ve tried to explore why I have struggled with perfectionism. I figured out that some of it is rooted in being bilingual. Growing up I worried about reading out loud because I thought I would say the wrong thing and everyone would make fun of me. Even artistic things like dance recitals, I didn’t want to make a mistake. I wanted my parents to be proud of me.

I also somehow connected making mistakes unintentionally somehow as doing something bad. I would feel worse than it was. Beyond that there’s so much expectations for quality when we complete important work.

I don’t want to let some of this go because it allows me to keep working on improving. I know there has to be a balance between doing my best and not worrying about it being good enough for others. There’s only so much that I can do. I have to remind myself this all the time.

So with a bit of therapeutic art that I made in December 2024, I added my goals for this year. If you’re following my Instagram stories, you’ll know that I’ve continued to make therapeutic art. This January, Ashleigh (@discoverarttherapy) created Doodle Everyday Bingo. I doodle each day based off of her prompts (in a small circle or square) and color in the boxes of one of her Bingo cards. I haven’t reached a Bingo yet, but I think I will by the end of this month. I have found this activity helpful for me mentally and creatively. I’ve been able to do some writing as well.

I hope you will share one or more of your goals. Let’s work together to make our goals happen in 2025. I know we can do it. Thanks for your support always.

P.S. This was originally a Instagram post that I expanded for my blog on my website. We can’t rely on social media. So I’ve decided to start sharing a bit of what I post on social media onto my blog but expanded. I will still have my free newsletter, but that will be for exclusive updates. So please make sure you subscribe.