Shards of wisdom, free of charge – these two five-minute practices will make your  life much happier. They are little gifts to yourself.

WASH YOUR BRUSHES
No matter how tired you are, wash you paint brushes before you go to bed. And do not even *think* about leaving them in the water because “the paint won’t dry and I can do it later”. You *know* it will ruin the bristles eventually. For you non-painters, this means straightening up your mess, however minimally – line up your tools, put the top back on the glue – YOU know what I mean.

MAKE YOUR BED
No matter how rushed or sleepy you are in the morning, make your bed. Tuck in the sheets, fluff up your pillow. You’ll get on with your day and forget that you did it, but at night when you’re ready for bed, you’ll smile and say, “I loved me enough to prepare a smooth and comfy place to sleep.” If you have had a bad day, you’ll appreciate it even more. And you’ll sleep much better.

Just to show you that I practice what I preach, here’s a photo of my brushes that I washed last night, almost didn’t, but did it anyway – boy, was I happy this morning when I went into the studio (after making my bed) to see clean brushes ready for a fresh start! It’s the little, free things in life that you do for yourself that make you want to make others happy. So, Happy Wednesday! 

Actual clean brushes in a semi-clean mason jar