Have courage (aka get over it and write in your bible already)

Do you ever look at the hashtags like #illustratedfaith and #biblejournaling and say to yourself, "I could never do that because my handwriting isn't pretty enough to decorate my bible"? For a long time, I was nervous to "mess up" my pretty leather bound bible with markers and stickers and paint. I thought I would regret it too much if I were to flip past a page that looked ugly or unfinished. I was confident in my handwriting, but something was still stopping me from unleashing myself creatively into the word of God. 

Creativity, neuroscientists have discovered, is produced when we allow the part of our brain that self regulates and critiques and reins in to shut off, and free the part of our brain that is self expressive and reflexive. My fear of mistakes was keeping me from picking up my pens and drawing out my heart. 

That's when I made this commitment to myself: this is not going to be the only journaling bible I ever use. I plan on working through it until I have no more room, then storing it away for my daughter as I begin again on a second. If it's not perfect, if I don't come to an earth shattering revelation after each meditation, if I allow the paints to bleed, it's ok. I have more chances. 

Since then I've felt more relaxed picking up my art supplies to express my heart, and my art reflects that. Today I'm sharing one of my personal tools, my alphabet practice sheet. I like to pick styles for each thing I do, and these two sheets are a basic representation of the letters that I pull from. You can save these to your computer and print, then trace and copy as much as you like!

Follow me on Instagram (@hardincaroline) and find this photo for a chance to win a set of micron markers for your own journaling bible and hand lettering adventure!