Hello. I'm Bonny Snowdon, ex-corporate person and mother turned successful artist entrepreneur. It wasn't that long ago though that I lacked the confidence, vision, and support network to focus on growing my dream business. Fast forward past many life curve balls, waves of self-doubt, and so many lessons learned, and you'll see Ignite my thriving online coloured pencil artist community, a community that changes members' lives for the better and gives me freedom to live abundantly whilst doing what I love and spending quality time with my beloved family and dogs,
all whilst creating my best artwork with Coloured pencils and mentoring others to do the same. But this life wasn't always how it was for me. It used to only exist in my imagination. I've created the, It's A Bonny Old Life podcast to help increase people's confidence, share mine and my community's experience, and hope through fascinating personal stories, champion the other amazing humans in my personal,
professional, and membership community and create another channel through which I can support others to realize their dreams. If you're a passionate coloured pencil artist or an aspiring one who's looking to create their best work and a joyful life you love, you are in the right place. Grab a cuppa and a custard cream. Let's get cracking.
I want to talk to you about why your goal for the new year should be to be more creative. Now we all lead busy lives and for many of us, our busyness takes over from everything else. Things like, oh, I can't possibly do that. I don't have time. Or, oh, yes, it would be lovely to do that, but I just don't have the time. In a world where everything has been made easier for us, we still find ourselves bogged down with not having enough time for the stuff we want to do.
I can't tell you how many times I hear people saying, I've stopped drawing now because I can't fit it into my busy schedule, and my thoughts are always, gosh, that makes me really sad, that we allow ourselves to choose things that don't bring us joy over things that do. Why do we do that? New year resolutions are a thing. I know many people set resolutions,
whether it's to exercise more, lose weight, maybe stop smoking or drinking New Year's resolutions seem to be all about stopping something bad or starting something that doesn't always fill us with joy, even though it might be really good for us. I'm thinking, exercise here for me. Why not set a resolution that gets you started with something that is joyful that you look forward to doing that will have an incredible effect on your mindset and mental health,
and that will actually allow you to do all the busy things you do on a day-to-Day basis better. Creativity is known for opening up the mind. When we're being creative, we start to use different parts of our brain. We start to be able to solve problems better. We become calmer, our stress lessons. How amazing is that? Choosing to pick up a creative hobby in 2024 or carrying on with one is an incredibly wise choice.
It will benefit not only you, but those around you. Using the excuse of not having enough time is just that an excuse. Everyone has the ability to be able to prioritize what they do on a day-to-day basis, and I guarantee that there will be things you do that you don't need to, and time available for creativity, even if it's just five minutes,
it will still have a huge impact on your life. When I first started drawing, I had a full-time job with a daily two hour commute. I was married, had three children, horses, and a dog. I was busy up early to sort children and horses. Then get myself to work at the end of a busy day, get home to sort out children and horses,
make tea, do all the stuff I needed to do, and only then did I have time to sit and draw. I could have genuinely made the excuse of having no time, but I decided that creativity was a priority for me, so I made time. I stopped doing things that didn't benefit me. Ironing is one of them total waste of my time,
quite honestly, and I haven't ironed anything since 2016. If I hadn't prioritized my creativity, there is no way I would be where I am today. I would probably still be working nine to five in a job that didn't really fulfill me. Make time for things that are important to you. Life is short. Fill it with things that make you happy.
Yes, we have to work to pay the bills, but we aren't working 24 hours a day. If you have an inkling that you want to be more creative, then do it. Make 2024 the year you put yourself first and add creativity into your life. You won't regret it.
I really hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of my It's A Bonny Old Life podcast. If you did, I'd be so grateful to you for emailing me or texting a link to the show or sharing it on social media with those you know who might like it too. My mission with this podcast is all about sharing mine and my community's experience and hope by telling your fascinating personal stories, championing the other amazing humans in my personal, professional, and membership community,
and to create another channel through which I can support you to realize your coloured pencil and life dreams. If you haven't done so yet, please help me on my mission to spread positivity and joy throughout the Coloured Pencil world by following me on my socials at Bonny Snowdon Academy or by getting on my list at bonnysnowdonacademy.com. And remember, I truly believe if I can live the life of my dreams doing what I love,
then you can too. We just need to keep championing and supporting each other along the way in order to make it happen. Till next time.
