How to Build a Daily Creative Practice (Think Like an Olympian)

Struggling to maintain a daily creative practice? Wondering how to reconnect with your creativity after 50?

What if the problem isn’t inspiration — but training?

When we think about the Olympic Games, we think about medals and elite performance. But the Olympics are built on years of unseen practice, repetition, discipline, and devotion.

And that got me thinking:

What if we approached our art the same way?

What if we became Olympic artists?

The Truth About a Daily Creative Practice

If you want to build a consistent daily creative practice, you cannot rely on motivation alone.

Olympians don’t wake up and ask:
“Do I feel inspired today?”

They ask:
“What’s today’s practice?”

The same is true for creativity.

A sustainable creative discipline isn’t about waiting for the perfect idea or a free afternoon. It’s about daily repetition, experimentation, and showing up whether the work feels brilliant or ordinary.

Especially for women navigating midlife transitions, this mindset shift is powerful.

Because so many of us say:
“I’ll make time for art when I retire.”

But creativity after 50 isn’t about waiting for someday.

It’s about devotion today.

Practice vs. Performance (The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything)

One of the biggest obstacles to starting a daily art practice is confusing practice with performance.

We see finished paintings.
Published books.
Gallery shows.
Social media highlights.

We don’t see:

• The failed sketches

• The messy pages

• The hours of experimentation

• The emotional honesty behind the scenes

Becoming an Olympic artist means separating practice from performance.

Some days are slow.
Some days are sloppy.
Some days are simply conditioning.

But they all count.

If you haven’t picked up a pencil in 20 or 30 years, it’s not going to be perfect. And that’s not the goal.

The goal is consistency.

How to Start Making Art Again (Without Perfectionism)

If you’re wondering how to start making art again after years away, here’s the shift:

Stop asking:
“Is this good enough?”

Start asking:
“Did I train today?”

Did I:

• Put color on the page?

• Make one mark?

• Try one experiment?

• Show up for five minutes?

Creative discipline is built through tiny acts of devotion.

Not through grand projects.

The Olympic Artist Reflection Exercise

In my own daily creative practice, I use a process I call Creative Reflection Pages. It’s a four-step process:

1. Begin with a prompt

2. Write or create

3. Write or create again

4. Integrate meaning

Here’s the prompt I used this week:

If there were medals for artistic devotion, what would I receive one for?

Not for talent.
Not for sales.
Not for applause.

For devotion.

Maybe you’d receive a medal for:

• Being a courageous beginner

• Returning after self-doubt

• Showing up consistently

• Trying new materials

• Making time for yourself in midlife

Draw yourself on a podium.
Or create a gold medal on the page.

Then ask:

Where have I already been in training?

What tiny act of creative devotion can I commit to this week?

Why Creativity After 50 Feels So Urgent

Many women in their 50s and beyond feel a quiet calling back to creativity.

After decades of caregiving, career-building, and showing up for others, there comes a moment of pause:

What about me?

Midlife creativity isn’t about becoming famous.
It’s about becoming yourself.

A daily creative practice becomes:

• Grounding

• Nourishing

• Emotionally honest

• Deeply restorative

There are no crowds in your studio.
No anthem playing.
No spotlight.

But every day you return to the page,
you are in training.

And sometimes the most important medal
is the one you give yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions About Starting a Daily Creative Practice

How long should a daily creative practice take?

It can be as little as five to ten minutes. Consistency matters more than duration.

What if I don’t feel creative?

Creativity is not a mood. It’s a muscle. Show up and let the process warm you up.

Do I need expensive supplies?

No. A pen and paper are enough. The goal is practice, not perfection.

What if I miss a day?

Olympians miss workouts. The key is returning the next day without drama.

Final Thought

You don’t need applause.
You need reps.

Your creativity isn’t gone.
You’re just out of training.

And you can begin again today.

Youtube Video

Video Transcript

00:01 -> When we think of the Olympic Games, we
00:03 -> think of travel. We think of medals. We
00:07 -> think of elite performers at the very
00:11 -> best point in their life to perform,
00:15 -> achieve, and accomplish this big goal.
00:19 -> And that goal could be simply being able
00:22 -> to show up and compete at the Olympics.
00:25 -> Or it could be to get on that podium and
00:28 -> to get a medal. But the truth is that
00:31 -> the Olympics are built on years of
00:33 -> unseen training, a lot of daily
00:36 -> repetition, devotion to their craft,
00:40 -> showing up whether they feel inspired or
00:43 -> not, competing mostly against themselves
00:48 -> and commitment to long-term mastery.
00:51 -> Olympians don't wait to feel ready, they
00:54 -> train. They don't ask, "Am I inspired
00:57 -> today?" They ask what's today's
01:00 -> practice. They don't expect brilliance
01:02 -> every session, but they do expect
01:06 -> discipline. Hi, I'm Dr. Manette Ryarden,
01:09 -> the founder of Mindful Patterns, a
01:11 -> company dedicated to supporting women in
01:14 -> their 50s and beyond to use art as a
01:19 -> powerful tool for personal growth and
01:21 -> self-discovery.
01:23 -> And I'm a huge fan of the Olympics,
01:26 -> winter and summer.
01:28 -> I've been watching a lot of Olympics
01:30 -> this week. Watched the team figure
01:34 -> skating, watched some of the
01:36 -> snowboarding and skiing events. And my
01:40 -> husband and I both really love the speed
01:43 -> skating. And there was a 37year-old
01:47 -> woman who is competed in four different
01:50 -> Olympics. She's now also a coach. and
01:53 -> her students were there watching. And I
01:56 -> was so inspired by her story, but also
02:00 -> her passion and commitment to
02:04 -> consistently showing up in this journey
02:07 -> as a speed skater. She owns still the
02:11 -> world record. She's won multiple medals,
02:14 -> but we know she didn't get there by
02:19 -> wishing it were true or saying someday I
02:22 -> will. Four Olympics, right? That's what
02:26 -> 16 years of competing in this sport, not
02:31 -> just at the Olympics, but between times
02:34 -> as well. And so, it got me thinking. So,
02:37 -> I'm going to share with you kind of some
02:38 -> random thoughts and then a little more
02:40 -> or organized thoughts today as well.
02:44 -> And a few things kind of all came
02:47 -> together to make me ask myself this
02:50 -> question. What does it look like to be
02:52 -> an Olympic artist?
02:54 -> And I'm reading this amazing book called
02:57 -> Tiny Experiments that I'm really
02:59 -> enjoying. We are also just about at the
03:03 -> onset of the 2026 100 day project. I
03:07 -> have a couple of different videos about
03:09 -> doing a 100 day project. It's basically
03:12 -> a commitment to doing something creative
03:15 -> every day for a 100 days. And so I was
03:18 -> thinking to myself, do I want to do that
03:20 -> this year? I just started talking about
03:23 -> my creative reflection pages process on
03:25 -> YouTube this year.
03:28 -> It's my fourth year here on YouTube, but
03:31 -> it's a new theme this year. Do I want to
03:35 -> change things up or could I do a 100
03:38 -> pages of creative reflection? Could I
03:39 -> practice what I preach? So all these
03:42 -> things came together to put me into some
03:45 -> deep journaling and personal inquiry
03:48 -> conversations with my husband Brad
03:50 -> around what does it mean to be an
03:53 -> Olympic artist and what does it mean for
03:55 -> me personally to be an Olympic artist.
03:58 -> So here's some ideas. I'm going to be
04:00 -> reading from my notes today because I
04:02 -> want to stay on topic and not talk
04:05 -> forever and get to the creative
04:07 -> reflection pages process for today,
04:09 -> which is going to be a really fun
04:11 -> Olympic inspired
04:14 -> perspective on how we can shift our
04:18 -> identity around what does it mean to be
04:20 -> an artist. So if I were an Olympic
04:23 -> artist, it means that I treat my art
04:25 -> like a sport, not a hobby, not a mood,
04:28 -> not something that I squeeze in that I
04:31 -> train to.
04:33 -> And it for me it's not about
04:35 -> competition. It's not about winning.
04:37 -> It's about the process, right? And so
04:39 -> it's not about there's some goal at the
04:43 -> end other than I my commitment to
04:46 -> mastery, my commitment to self-discovery
04:50 -> and consistently growing as an artist.
04:54 -> The other thing I love about thinking
04:57 -> about our art practice
04:59 -> as an Olympic artist is that it teaches
05:02 -> us to separate practice from
05:04 -> performance. Like I'm listening to the
05:06 -> announcers during the men's shortskate
05:10 -> program and talking about how the
05:14 -> performers showed up in practice that
05:18 -> day. Were they on their game? Were they
05:20 -> off their game? Top talking about
05:21 -> athletes that one skate is all they get
05:25 -> and one fall makes or breaks the
05:28 -> performance or the score for that day.
05:31 -> But what we're not seeing on the Olympic
05:36 -> screen is the hours and hours and hours
05:39 -> of rigorous training on the ice and off
05:42 -> the ice, on the ski hill and off on the
05:45 -> snowboard or running stairs. I think I
05:49 -> saw one snowboarder that was like
05:51 -> jumping
05:52 -> upstairs as part of her training. And
05:56 -> what I see with so many women that want
06:00 -> to bring creativity back into their
06:02 -> life, especially if they've spent
06:05 -> decades saying, "I'll make time for it
06:08 -> when I retire." I hear this one all the
06:10 -> time. Oh, I'll have time for that when I
06:11 -> retire. Well, from my perspective,
06:16 -> it was more something that felt so
06:19 -> essential to my own survival and my own
06:22 -> thriving in my 50s, late 40s, early 50s.
06:27 -> And I realized that the more I made time
06:30 -> for art, the more consistent that I was,
06:33 -> the more I fell in love with the
06:35 -> process, not the product. The more fun I
06:38 -> had, the more fun I had, the more I
06:40 -> wanted to continue and the better I
06:43 -> became to the point where now my art is
06:46 -> in a gallery. I sell my art as still
06:50 -> a hobby for me, meaning that I do it for
06:53 -> me. I don't make art to sell art. I make
06:57 -> art because it brings me great joy and
07:00 -> I'm devoted to this practice. It's not
07:03 -> my primary business. My primary business
07:05 -> is supporting women 50 plus through our
07:07 -> sisterhood of wisdom and wonder which
07:09 -> there's lots of art in that and it's the
07:12 -> another thing that brings me great joy
07:15 -> but if I hadn't been committed to my own
07:18 -> daily creative practice I don't think I
07:19 -> would have even come up with the idea
07:22 -> for that community. So becoming an
07:25 -> Olympic artist is about separating
07:27 -> practice from performance. I see so many
07:30 -> women that are afraid to put a mark on
07:32 -> the page, afraid to step into beginner
07:35 -> mind, beginner's mind, and afraid that
07:38 -> it's not going to be perfect. Well, you
07:40 -> know, if you haven't picked up a pencil
07:42 -> in 20, 30, 40, 50 years, it's not going
07:46 -> to be perfect. It requires practice and
07:49 -> it requires a lot of trial and error.
07:51 -> That was in the chapter I was reading in
07:53 -> the tiny experiment experiments book
07:56 -> this morning. She was talking about the
07:57 -> importance of trial and error because it
08:00 -> creates these beautiful loops where I
08:03 -> try something. Oh, it's not quite that.
08:05 -> Let me try something different. Oh, I'm
08:06 -> getting closer. And the same is true
08:09 -> with art. Every day that we put a mark,
08:12 -> a color, a shape, that we practice a
08:15 -> drawing or we practice a new technique
08:17 -> or a new medium that we want to
08:21 -> experiment with. the more we grow in our
08:24 -> identity as artists and I also believe
08:27 -> that our art comes in cycles right we're
08:30 -> going to have times when it's more about
08:33 -> practice times when it's more about
08:35 -> performance just like in the Olympi
08:37 -> Olympics time for rest and renewal for
08:41 -> skill building and at times when we
08:44 -> harvest those new skills to create
08:46 -> something really beautiful so committing
08:48 -> to that consistent iterative process
08:52 -> for me has been a a gamecher.
08:55 -> Even though I wouldn't have called
08:56 -> myself an Olympic artist, for the last
08:59 -> 15 years, I've had a dedicated and
09:01 -> devoted daily creative practice where if
09:04 -> I don't make some art every day, I am
09:07 -> grumpy. I am not happy. And this
09:09 -> includes when I travel. I make art on
09:12 -> planes, on trains, in buses and
09:16 -> automobiles, and wherever I am in coffee
09:19 -> shops and hotel rooms, right? We're so
09:23 -> good at throwing excuses of why we can't
09:27 -> make art every day on to our own sort of
09:32 -> mental playing field that we never even
09:34 -> get started. Right? And what I love
09:36 -> about this idea of being an Olympic
09:40 -> artist is that it has everything to do
09:42 -> with mindset training. There's an
09:45 -> American swimmer and if you you probably
09:48 -> will recognize the name Michael Phelps
09:51 -> and he talks a lot about how much mental
09:55 -> mindset training he did as well as the
09:58 -> physical training guided visualization
10:01 -> seeing himself winning the gold seeing
10:04 -> himself hitting the wall at the end of
10:06 -> the pool first. And I think it's so
10:10 -> important to start to think of ourselves
10:13 -> as an artist because what does an artist
10:15 -> do? An artist makes art. And so much of
10:19 -> this journey is about focusing not on
10:22 -> outcomes but on metrics. Just like an
10:25 -> Olympic athlete. How many hours did I
10:28 -> put in? How many how many skills have I
10:31 -> gained or improved? What techniques have
10:35 -> I learned? How many days have I
10:37 -> practiced? What risks did I take? What
10:40 -> experiments have I tried? Have I been
10:43 -> emotionally honest with myself on the
10:45 -> page since so much of my own work is
10:47 -> about my personal work is as as well as
10:50 -> the work I do in the sisterhood is about
10:53 -> emotional honesty meeting myself on the
10:55 -> page through art and creativity. And
10:59 -> it's not about likes, it's not about
11:01 -> sales, it's not about applause. I do
11:04 -> share my painting practice on social
11:07 -> media, but I have journals full of very
11:11 -> personal work using my creative
11:13 -> reflection pages process. And so when I
11:16 -> think about this shift from, oh, I'm not
11:20 -> an artist or, you know, I'm just a
11:22 -> hobbyist to I'm an Olympic artist.
11:26 -> Things change.
11:29 -> Our intention changes. our perspective
11:32 -> shifts. It helps us let go of the drama
11:36 -> of the inner critic. I don't know about
11:37 -> you, but my inner critic is so dramatic
11:41 -> and can be really loud at times and then
11:45 -> other times really quiet and sneaky and
11:47 -> subtle.
11:49 -> And when that drama starts to set in of
11:52 -> why don't I feel creative or why am I so
11:55 -> afraid of the blank page? Instead, it
11:58 -> becomes it's Wednesday. Today we draw.
12:03 -> Today we paint. Today we sew or stitch
12:07 -> or knit or dance or take photos.
12:10 -> Whatever your form of creative
12:12 -> expression is. Today we do it right.
12:16 -> Like we stop questioning ourselves and
12:18 -> telling stories that stop us from making
12:21 -> art. It helps us to build our identity
12:24 -> as an artist. Olympians don't wonder if
12:27 -> they're athletes. They are. They are
12:30 -> athletes, right? An Olympic artist
12:33 -> doesn't ask, "Am I really an artist?"
12:35 -> She trains like one. And I don't know
12:38 -> that I would have looked at what I've
12:40 -> done over the last decade or more of
12:44 -> making art every single day consistently
12:48 -> as Olympic training. But when I look at
12:51 -> what it is that I've created, what it is
12:53 -> that I've accomplished, how it makes me
12:56 -> feel to say I'm an artist and I make art
12:59 -> every day, it makes me feel like an
13:02 -> Olympic artist. It's a mindset, right?
13:04 -> It's a mindset. I wish I could transfer
13:07 -> that a little bit more sometimes to
13:10 -> movement and exercise, a little more on
13:12 -> the athletic, but I am in love with my
13:15 -> own practice, right? And I think that is
13:19 -> what it takes to be an artist is to fall
13:22 -> in love with the practice. I don't
13:25 -> always like the outcomes, but I almost
13:28 -> always have a great time getting there.
13:32 -> And some days are slow, some are sloppy.
13:35 -> Some are just conditioning. But every
13:37 -> time we show up for ourselves to the
13:41 -> canvas, to the page, to the sewing
13:43 -> machine, to the camera, it's a way of
13:46 -> saying, "I'm committed to my own journey
13:50 -> as an Olympic artist.
13:53 -> It helps us raise our standards as well,
13:56 -> not in a harsh disciplinary way, but at
13:59 -> the level of devotion,
14:02 -> the level of devotion to our own
14:04 -> creative practice. I deeply believe that
14:07 -> making art is a radical act of self-love
14:11 -> and self-care and it requires devotion
14:15 -> to stay committed
14:18 -> to that expression of self-love and
14:20 -> self-care. And there's a dignity in that
14:24 -> and a building of self-rust that I think
14:29 -> is so important and unique to the
14:32 -> creative process. Like the opposite of
14:33 -> this is true, too. We're really good at
14:36 -> saying all the reasons, I can't. I never
14:40 -> will. Oh, I couldn't possibly. And
14:43 -> there's a part of us that's saying, but
14:45 -> what if I could? And that what if I
14:48 -> could is often in intense internal
14:51 -> dialogue with uh no, you can't. It's too
14:55 -> scary. It's too overwhelming. It takes
14:57 -> too much time. It takes too many
14:58 -> supplies. The reasons we can't are
15:02 -> usually not reasonable,
15:05 -> but they're long lived. They have long
15:07 -> legs. They have stories attached to
15:09 -> them. They have beliefs and doubts and
15:11 -> fears attached to them.
15:14 -> And every Olympic athlete faces those
15:16 -> same fears, right? I think there's
15:19 -> something about the Olympic spirit that
15:21 -> so speaks to me. And I swear every time
15:25 -> anyone has an amazing performance, wins
15:28 -> any of the medals, I'm in tears. So I
15:30 -> feel like I've been crying for through
15:32 -> the first week of the Olympics. Just
15:34 -> tears of joy and emotion watching the
15:38 -> athletes compete, watching them fail,
15:41 -> watching them succeed. It's an emotional
15:43 -> journey. And I feel like my art practice
15:46 -> is that emotional journey as well. And
15:49 -> it's one that we get called to
15:53 -> into our 50s and beyond. We get called
15:57 -> to find that unique expression of
16:00 -> creativity that maybe has been buried
16:03 -> for a few years that got lost under
16:06 -> caregiving, career, raising kids, moving
16:10 -> around a lot. Um that got lost under all
16:15 -> the ways that we show up for others. And
16:18 -> there suddenly comes this point in time
16:20 -> where we're like, "Wait, what about me?
16:22 -> What about that dream? I'm going to
16:24 -> regret it if I don't make time for this
16:28 -> dream now." And
16:32 -> I don't think Olympians ask themselves
16:35 -> like, "Is it good enough?" But they ask,
16:38 -> "Did I train today? Did I do the work?
16:41 -> Did I show up to the canvas? Did I move
16:43 -> color? Did I risk something? Did I
16:46 -> listen to my own inner artist?
16:50 -> It's like gold medal energy without the
16:53 -> crowds, without the applause.
16:56 -> The other thing that I think is so
16:58 -> important about a consistent creative
17:00 -> practice and being leaning into this
17:03 -> idea of an Olympic artist is that it's
17:05 -> private,
17:07 -> right? It's the thing that we're doing
17:08 -> behind the scenes to nurture and nourish
17:12 -> ourselves. We're not doing it for anyone
17:14 -> else. I don't make art so that I have
17:17 -> something to post on social media. I
17:20 -> make art because it keeps me grounded.
17:23 -> It keeps me centered and it brings me
17:26 -> deep delight in my life to be in
17:29 -> creative process in so many different
17:32 -> ways. So I want to walk you through my
17:35 -> creative reflection pages practice. If
17:39 -> you haven't done this with me yet, there
17:41 -> is an introductory video where you can
17:46 -> go learn more about it or grab a pen and
17:50 -> a piece of paper, some crayons if you
17:52 -> got them, markers, whatever you have on
17:54 -> hand, and work through the practice with
17:57 -> me. And I'm going to quickly demo the
18:01 -> practice and then encourage you as your
18:04 -> first step to becoming an Olympic artist
18:07 -> to take your time with this. Right? I've
18:10 -> done some of my own work ahead of time
18:12 -> or these videos would be really long and
18:14 -> I can be kind of long-winded anyway. So,
18:17 -> if you're still here watching, thank
18:18 -> you. Thank you for being here. I always
18:20 -> appreciate it if you give me a thumbs up
18:22 -> on the video, subscribe to our channel,
18:26 -> leave me a comment. It's such a
18:28 -> beautiful way to just let me know that
18:30 -> you stopped by and that you're enjoying
18:32 -> what I'm sharing, right? It keeps me
18:35 -> going as a wannabe Olympic YouTuber to
18:40 -> have that conversation with you. So, let
18:42 -> me know your thoughts around being an
18:44 -> Olympic artist as well. So, the way the
18:48 -> creative reflection pages process works
18:52 -> is that it always starts with a prompt.
18:54 -> This is what I personally do instead of
18:57 -> morning pages because I found that three
19:02 -> pages of stream of consciousness writing
19:05 -> wasn't working for me and I still wanted
19:08 -> that deep connection with myself. I
19:11 -> wanted the intention, the beautiful,
19:13 -> powerful intention behind Julia
19:16 -> Cameron's work. I'm a huge fan of the
19:18 -> artist's way,
19:20 -> but the idea of those morning pages
19:22 -> didn't work for me. So this is what I
19:25 -> have been doing on a consistent basis
19:27 -> for the last decade as a way to show up
19:30 -> on the page and meet myself every day.
19:34 -> And this is less about the art part and
19:38 -> more about using a combination of
19:42 -> imagery and words to connect deeply with
19:46 -> who am I? Who am I becoming? What is it
19:50 -> that I want more of in my life? And I
19:52 -> find it's a fun way to reconnect with
19:55 -> art if you haven't made art for a while.
19:58 -> So, our prompt for today is, if there
20:00 -> were medals for artistic devotion, what
20:04 -> would I receive one for? If there were
20:07 -> medals for artistic devotion, what would
20:10 -> I receive one for?
20:13 -> And then the second step of the creative
20:16 -> reflection pages practice is to take a
20:19 -> few minutes to do some reflection and
20:23 -> write some thoughts or to go straight to
20:26 -> creative. So what I love about this
20:30 -> process, this four-step process, it
20:33 -> always starts with a prompt and then
20:35 -> it's either write or create.
20:41 -> and then it's write or create. So the
20:44 -> order of these can change. Some days I
20:47 -> don't have words and when I don't have
20:49 -> words to respond to that prompt, I find
20:52 -> that it's much easier to go straight to
20:56 -> image, right? So you have kind of a AB
21:00 -> choice here. And then the last part of
21:03 -> this is to
21:06 -> integrate meaning to take a minute to
21:09 -> look at what have I learned from this
21:12 -> quick five or 10 minute practice that's
21:14 -> so easy to fit in my day and oftentimes
21:18 -> for me I notice that from that
21:20 -> integration
21:22 -> there's usually an action that pops up.
21:25 -> So today the question, the prompt is if
21:29 -> there were medals for artistic devotion,
21:31 -> what would I receive one for? And I
21:34 -> wrote some ideas down. Um the most
21:37 -> consistent artist, right? Like most
21:40 -> number of days um that I made art
21:43 -> without
21:45 -> um missing any days. You might be that
21:49 -> most courageous beginner. I am
21:51 -> definitely a courageous beginner. I'm
21:53 -> the most devoted to my daily practice. I
21:57 -> showed up to the page, to the canvas, to
22:01 -> the journal without fail with no need
22:04 -> for audience or applause, but simply
22:07 -> because it brings me
22:10 -> such deep joy. It is such I'm devoted at
22:13 -> this point to my daily practice. So, one
22:17 -> fun way to
22:20 -> do the creative part of this or there's
22:23 -> two ways. So, you could
22:26 -> draw yourself on that Olympic podium,
22:30 -> right?
22:33 -> And get a nice stick figure. I'm going
22:35 -> to run out of room in there.
22:38 -> I love using stick figures in my art. my
22:41 -> curly hair, my glasses,
22:45 -> and here I've got the medal. And on the
22:48 -> podium I might write, what did I get
22:50 -> that medal for? And so I got the medal
22:54 -> for being devoted, most devoted
22:59 -> to daily practice.
23:05 -> So what would you give yourself a medal
23:07 -> for? Would you give yourself a medal for
23:10 -> curiosity,
23:12 -> for trying lots of two new techniques,
23:14 -> for collecting all of the supplies?
23:17 -> Right? You know, there's a million
23:19 -> different things that you could come up
23:21 -> with here to show that you're devoted to
23:24 -> the practice. And if drawing stick
23:26 -> figures feels a little daunting, you can
23:29 -> also just draw that giant
23:35 -> gold medal.
23:37 -> And what would your gold medal have on
23:40 -> it? So I think mine might have
23:45 -> devotion,
23:47 -> right? And it might have
23:54 -> some of those laurel leaves, but it's
23:57 -> also going to have a paintbrush because
24:00 -> I do love to paint.
24:03 -> And maybe it's going to have a sort of
24:06 -> pen or pencil here,
24:10 -> right? And in the center
24:14 -> is that commitment to my art, right? My
24:17 -> commitment to my process.
24:23 -> And of course,
24:26 -> I got just a plain old Crayola marker
24:28 -> here. And I just want to add a little
24:31 -> bit of color.
24:34 -> to that metal.
24:44 -> And
24:50 -> so my inner critic went, "Oh, that was
24:52 -> the wrong pink. I wanted a brighter
24:55 -> pink." But guess what? It's the pink I
24:57 -> got. So I'm gonna go with the pink. I'm
25:00 -> going to color that ribbon pink. It
25:03 -> feels like devotion for me is really
25:07 -> connected to spring. Even though here in
25:10 -> Colorado we're a long way away from
25:14 -> spring. There's that sense of expansion,
25:19 -> opening, bright colors. Of course, much
25:22 -> of my personal painting practice is
25:28 -> made of really bright colors,
25:32 -> maybe a little green. And I think a lot
25:36 -> of times we think, oh, if I have a daily
25:38 -> creative practice, it has to be so big
25:43 -> and it has to be a whole complete
25:45 -> project every day. But what if instead
25:48 -> you simply became the Olympic artist of
25:51 -> your life and you committed yourself to
25:56 -> tiny acts of devotion to your creative
25:59 -> practice. So that integrate part knowing
26:02 -> that devotion to daily practice is what
26:06 -> I'm getting that gold medal for. What
26:10 -> does that mean on a daily basis? Maybe
26:12 -> yours is, "Wow, I get the gold medal for
26:15 -> collecting art supplies." And you
26:18 -> notice, well, I'm collecting art
26:19 -> supplies, but I'm using them. So, my
26:22 -> Olympic artist knows that one action she
26:25 -> can take is every week I'm going to try
26:29 -> a different new material. So hopefully
26:32 -> this gives you some inspiring ideas to
26:36 -> just think about the concept of what
26:40 -> does it mean to be an Olympic artist who
26:43 -> is devoted to your work on a daily
26:48 -> basis. I'd love to hear what your
26:51 -> thoughts are. Again, I'm Dr. Manette
26:53 -> Ryarden. I'm the founder of Mindful
26:56 -> Patterns. You can find me at minute.com
27:00 -> with our programs and our beautiful
27:02 -> membership, the Sisterhood of Wisdom and
27:06 -> Wonder.
27:07 -> And I'll leave you with just this
27:10 -> thought. There are no crowds in your
27:12 -> studio. There's no anthem playing.
27:16 -> There's no spotlight. But every day that
27:19 -> you return to the page, you are in
27:22 -> training.
27:24 -> And sometimes the most important medal
27:26 -> is the one you give yourself. Thank you
27:29 -> so much for joining me this week. Again,
27:32 -> click that subscribe button, give me a
27:33 -> like, let me know your thoughts on being
27:36 -> Olympic artist. And the next video I'm
27:40 -> going to do is going to talk about the
27:42 -> 100 day project for 2026. What my
27:45 -> thoughts are and why it takes being an
27:48 -> Olympic artist in my head for me to
27:51 -> complete the 100 day project. Because
27:54 -> let me tell you, I've started a lot more
27:56 -> of them than I finished. And every time
27:59 -> I start, I learn something about myself.
28:02 -> So, I'll share more about that in the
28:03 -> next