There is a lot of stress in our daily lives:

• Buzzing to work on time
• Paying the bottomless stack of bills
• Making rent/mortgage (or even worse, short selling the house or going through a foreclosure)
• Cleaning the house (that you work soooo hard for)
• Walking the dog...and making time for your own excercise
• Surviving meetings and grueling deadlines
• Driving crazy, crowded freeways and dealing with road rage
• Making sure the kids are fed and aren't fighting (and they have better done their homework!)

And simply, just making everyone (and I mean everyone) happy...

But I made myself a promise over a year ago. I would not let the (negative) stresses of life get to me. It is not an easy task. It's a hard habit to break...to not react so quickly and emotionally to the daily stresses of our lives.

So I picked up my camera and started shooting. I started looking for moments that make my heart smile. Heart disease runs in my family, so this creative outlet seemed to be the best cure. After years of putting career first and art second, I also rekindled my love for art journaling...simple sketches for now (because, um, didn't you see the list of things I have to do?) and I'll see where it evolves from there.

Call it selfish, call it denial, call it what you want. For me, it's about finding still, zen-like moments in this thing called life, where you can just be. And breathe...

So if you need a quick little time out...try it. It works. Just 15 minutes with a camera in hand. Or 15 minutes of doodling on a scratch piece of paper, a napkin, anything..TRY IT.

Find the time, make it happen. You'll be happy you did.