It's been a craaaaazy, busy summer. I've dropped off the radar in the blogging world, but working hard behind the scenes. I've made a (ginormous) list of things to do for my new business, goals, milestones, changing the way I 'should' be doing things. Learning about how I 'should' be doing blog posts, how I need to title them correctly, SEO keywords (puke), and the ins and outs of sales pages, opt-ins and social media networking.

it. never. ends. (and, and --- the surf has been flat. up until last weekend - YAY).

Yes, I have been learning a TON. I've launched 'Mandala Meditations'. Been featured on almost half-a-dozen websites. Been through Marie Forleo's B-School, and now going through Laura Roeder's Creating Fame, alongside Ash Ambrige & Rachel Rodger's Small Business Body Guard. All that, on top of helping run my dear hub's tiny empire that is Channel Islands Landscape & Design.

Not trying to rub it in (and, obviously, not being anal about grammatical rules). Just trying to make a point. Only way to move forward and create change is to take action, right?

It's get's cray. And it gets overwhelming. But, it's in those moments --- you know the ones where you just can't think straight? The ones where, 'for the life me, I can't find my car keys' when they're right in your hands kinds of moments? --- those moments always force me to bring it back in.

Bring it back home. Centered. Calm.

Grounded.

So, the thing that's been keeping me sane (especially, since the Pacific ocean has been flatter than a pancake), is my love for creating. I have a handful of art journals and sketchbooks, and they have been my recourse --- not to escape from any danger, or anything like that --- but to protect myself from the overwhelm of entrepreneurial burn-out. Cuz, I don't want to burn out. I like this stuff too much. You might even say I'm protecting myself from becoming a workaholic...it's an easy trap to fall into, especially when your work is something you've fallen in love with. An addiction, almost.

What the heck does this have to do with the weekly photo challenge, you ask?

About the photo. It was one of the first photo prompts of the year that I created for The Purpose Project 2013. We were focusing on our first chakra, our root chakra. As a creative coach, I like to encourage the artist to connect the art making with life lessons...so for me, in moments of overwhelm, I find solace in connecting with nature and art making.

And it's helped keep me sane, no matter how insane it got. A different point of view, if you will. A metaphor for this week's photo challenge. No matter how crazy things could get, you can always gain a little different perspective on things, and in turn, gain a little peace of mind when you allow your self time to get grounded.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH BEING OVERWHELMED? WHAT KINDS OF ACTIVITIES DO YOU TURN TO TO FIND PEACE AND SOLACE? PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW.

If anyone feels inclined to join me and other WordPress bloggers for weekly photo challenges, please do! Just follow the prompts for this week’s theme here: Weekly Photo Challenges. You have until the following Friday to share what you’ve come up with…Happy Shooting!

SPEAKING OF FINDING MOMENTS OF PEACE, DID YOU HEAR? I AM RUNNING ANOTHER SESSION OF 'MANDALA MEDITATIONS'. SAVE THE DATE FOR SEPT 20TH. CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO SIGN UP FOR DETAILS. REGISTRATION STARTS SOON!