Heart of Color with Michelle (Ms. Pippa Penrose)

Today, I sit down with Michelle, a former coaching client, longtime art educator, and new author  (Heart of Color: A Gentle Look at Vincent Van Gogh) to talk about what happens when you finally stop living inside the “box” of other people’s expectations and start building a life that has room for your real self.

If you are inspired by stories of creativity, courage, or starting over, this conversation is for you.

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Transcript

Welcome And Michelle’s Journey

SPEAKER_01 0:00

A deep change in the way that we live requires a deep change in the way that we think. I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently. This episode really inspired me. I literally just got done talking with Michelle. I had the opportunity to reconnect with her. She was one of my clients back from 2012, like my early days of coaching. And to be able to follow up with her story and share it with you makes my heart so happy. Get ready to open your heart and mind. Reflect on your own dreams, and may her courage inspire yours. Meet my friend, Michelle. Welcome to Differently. I have a very special guest today. Michelle is joining me. And Michelle and I, oh my gosh, Michelle, we I think we decided we met in like 2012. So we she's a past client and dear friend. And I'm so excited to have you.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Thank you, Carla. I'm excited to be here today. And yes, we um met in I think 2012 when you were starting out. And I was an art educator at a school that had health fair. And I stopped at your booth and just love the idea of you being a life coach. Um, because I just don't really like the word therapist, but and I love to write. So uh the journey with you was just great. And at that time of my life, um, the support and um wonderful guidance you gave me was really great, and how you um pointed out things I probably wouldn't have known that I was writing or saying or doing, and it really um led me through that time in my life. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

You're so welcome. It's been such a joy. And and I think we, I mean, I think we've reconnected a few times. Um, and then recently you show I think popped into a one of the classes that I offer, and it was so fun to see you again and reconnect and discover that you were publishing a children's book, which you had talked about in our journey a long time ago, and we'll we'll get to that part. Um, but let's go back, paint a little picture for people of kind of where you were when we met and like where you find yourself in this moment.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Yes. Uh when I met you, I was um working 10-hour days and I was loving my job. And I didn't have many adult conversations though, because I taught children from the age of five to nine uh all day long. And then I would stay in the classroom. And when I left the classroom, I was um not able to connect with other adults, if you will. It's not that I didn't have friends, but everybody was busy, and I found myself going home and going to the grocery store and not having much of a foundation outside of the classroom. And my gift is to teach, and I loved it, and it did fill my soul and my heart. It was just the pieces outside of the classroom and also with my family at the time, my father and my brother. Um, I was hoping to have a more enriched relationship with them. It just uh I was in some kind of box and how they perceived me, and I was so um I was trying to change that perspective, but at the end of the day, I just had to accept who they were and accept who I was and move forward from that. And that journey actually strengthened me, which at first it probably felt like I was being weakened, but I wasn't, and you pointed that out to me in such a gracious way, and it led me to be brave and to come to the idea that I could rip off a big band-aid and move to Wisconsin, where uh as a child I had a foundation here. My uncle lived here, and I always in the back of my mind thought I could build myself um a community and or just have a home to put some roots down. When I lived in Arizona, I was moving all of the time and I was never unpacking anything, literally. And I love when you say unpack it. So now I've unpacked everything.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

I love that. Yeah, I still say that on my coaching call. I love you too, but I love it to unpack because there's always things to unpack.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Always unpacking. And I have most things unpacked. I do still have a few bins, but um, but I was able to When did you move? When did you move make that leap and move? I right uh soon after uh COVID. Um because I then at that time too I felt even more isolated because everybody was isolated, and what kept me going was you know, teaching, of course. But then my life kind of flashed in front of me a little bit, and I thought, oh my goodness, I um better get going. And so I moved. Um it came up pretty quickly. I had an opportunity to have a home here with a friend, and so I thought I better try. And and also I wanted to help out um a friend too that was in need and a uh not a biological family member, but um family. And so I ended up thinking, okay, where's my purpose in life right now? I've I've been a teacher, I've done this, and I really wanted to bring what I had in Arizona here, but I couldn't do that. But I at least I I thought I could um have the dream of being here uh come alive and see what it would feel like because I thought about it a lot, as you know, and I moved in 22, and so I've been here four years already.

unknown 5:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

I know so I want to go back to a couple things you said that I think are so important. One is you mentioned that you felt like you were in a box, like a box of how they perceived you. Is that what you're talking about?

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Yeah, I mean, I guess we do that, everybody does that, but um, in some shape or form, I suppose. Um, but I I felt the box because I didn't spend enough time with my um father and brother for them to know me. They they wanted to see me as a person. My father always wanted me me to get married, and you know, and he thought that would be, you know, the that would what would be make me successful, I guess, and in his in his mind. Um, although the funny thing is I'm a lot like him.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Yeah, that happens too. Right. We discover that later.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Yeah. And I love the gifts he gave me. I mean, he gave me um a wonderful mind. My mother gave me my beautiful heart. And um, my brother and I, you know, lived a lifestyle growing up where we were surviving all the time. So we probably didn't have time to become a brother and sister, so to speak. Um, which maybe is why we, you know, had that in front of us when we got older. But I I guess the box was um, you know, this is Michelle, this is what she does, and she laughs strange, and I don't like when she shrieks or yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Whatever it may be, or whatever it may be. And and what you think it was may not be exactly what it was, but I think that it's such a good point to bring up because of what you said that we all feel that in some way. And I think especially with our our roots and our family of origin, um, I know going back to see family, like even still, like I don't think they really get what I do or like really who I am now. And um that's not uncommon that it's I think it's hard for people that shared that period of time of life with us to see us in a new way. And I I read something that was talking about genuine love, and it said, excuse me, genuine love requires concentration and effort, and it takes time to know people and like what a gift it is, the people that we do have in our life that take that time to get to know you again, you know, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

And I found that when I returned to Wisconsin because uh many of my friend family, so to speak, um, I hadn't seen all of the time. I mean, we knew of each other, you know, from high school or you know, even seventh grade, but uh I didn't have time with them, you know, since then because I had left. And and when I came back, I started to spend time with them. And then I also had the opportunity to get to know them again and the qualities that you know they have now as adults, you know, as opposed to when we were in uh younger, you know, in high school. And um, I would see them once a year and I kept in touch with them, and but I really didn't know them anymore, and they didn't really know me anymore. But now we've had these rich experiences together. And a friend of mine said, you know, if you hadn't come back to Wisconsin, you wouldn't be sitting here having this rich experience with me right now.

The Moment She Chose Wisconsin

SPEAKER_01 9:06

So yeah, it's so true. Which brings me to the second thing I wanted to go back to was I do remember that you had that dream in your heart and that you like were on the fence for a long time, you know, and and this is another thing that I see so often in my own life and in conversations with clients. Like we do sit on the fence often for years, you know, debating whether to do something. But you said like your life flashed before you and you made that move. What was, I mean, I'm sure there were lots of things that went into the catalyst, right? It wasn't a one-time thing, but what was the sort of last piece that took you over the fence?

SPEAKER_00 9:48

That's a great question. Um the last piece that took me over the fence was imagining myself in uh you know, 10 years down the road and walking out of my classroom and looking outside that door and going, okay, what now? And and looking out to a landscape that was more or less empty, right? Because I didn't see where I would be, what would I do, what would I have. I mean, I would have the rich experience of being in the classroom, which I still had loved all the way up till the decision was made. And um when I had to rip off the band-aid, it was very emotional and um I experienced a lot of grief, but I um I had to be brave. I'm almost getting emotional about it. Um, because I wanted to see um the I wanted to see the foundation I could possibly create for myself in a grounded um environment. And I knew that I needed that. My soul was telling me that all of the time. I was grounded in my job. I loved it, and I probably would have stayed it 20 more years, but um, but just it was outside that door. I um I couldn't see it anymore. And the other um funny thing, I mean, uh God loved my landlord, but he kept saying I was the perfect tenant, right? And I he came into the kitchen one day and it was right after the whole explosion of COVID. And he said, Well, I'm gonna raise your rent$500 because I can't. Wow. Wow, okay. That was like another nudge, like, okay, right, sometimes we need those, right? And then next year I could be another$500, and you know, and I just thought, my goodness. Um, so yeah, I and so I put out literally the bat signal, if you want to call it that, to my friends here. And when that occurred, and I thought, okay, if God wants me to be in Wisconsin, then something will, you know, come yeah, make way. And and it did, and it was a great opportunity. And if I hadn't taken it, I wouldn't be here today, and I probably wouldn't be able to do it today. I mean, it would wow, and that's the truth. And albeit, I mean, when I arrived, was there a lot of joy and you know accelerated uh feelings? Yes, but was there grief? Yes, yeah, yeah, just the loss of my previous life, um, not the loss, but I decided to do it. It wasn't necessarily loss, but it but I didn't, I wasn't um prepared for that. I wasn't prepared for the um feelings of, oh my gosh, did I make the right decision? You know, did I make a mistake? Did I let go of something I loved and here I am? And everything was new. It regardless if I was back in a place that I wanted to be for so long, everything was new again. Um, where I lived was new, you know, the people around me was new. Um, my friends that I had for many years, it was new again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

So I find that those we moved um from our 25-year home where we raised our kids a couple of years ago. And I remember like after we had gotten here, I was like doing some, I was repotting a plant. And um as I took that old the plant from its old pot into the new soil, it just like I got how I was feeling. Like that's how I felt, like it was uncomfortable and I was all exposed, but I was in a new pot. And like there was also like an uh um it it woke up my life in so many ways. And I think that is important to repot yourself.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

That is so amazing that you said that because I uh I think it was it's been two years. So a couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to plant some trees, and I thought on the side of the house where there was no fence and it was kind of exposed. So I thought, ooh, um, you know, I'll go pick some trees out. And it was so interesting because just to even choose a tree, right? Well, what tree would you like? And yes, you know, so these um wonderful landscapers came to plant the trees, and I will tell you the overwhelming feeling of seeing these trees being planted into the ground, and all of a sudden I felt so elated. I think I I finally two years later was like, Oh my gosh, you know, I have some roots. Look at these roots that are in the trees that I chose. And I um I actually named each tree after one of my elders, like my grandmother and my father, and my mother. I love that, and my uncles. And um, and it all was inspired because I I had lost a tree in a snowstorm, and so that one had to go. And I thought, well, I'll replace that tree. Okay, well, why not get some more trees?

SPEAKER_01 14:53

I love that so much. The the trees and the roots. Yeah, sometimes we want to rush that process, you know, but it's it wouldn't be the same had we not taken the time to grow the roots, and that's beautiful. So this has also led you on a new journey and another leap. So I would love for you to share with us about that.

Writing Heart Of Color Into Reality

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Yes. Um, well, that I'm I think this opportunity of being here, I haven't been in the classroom necessarily, uh obviously as much as I was in Arizona. And I always had a dream about being a children's book author. And I've had it since fourth grade, I think.

unknown 15:35

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

And and that's the truth. And I can remember the day when that was um sparked literally um in my soul. And um my mother tell us about that. Yeah, the spark. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Yeah, my mother And also you were an art teacher. I don't know if you've said that, but I just want the listener to know like you were an art teacher, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

And that started spontaneously too. But um, I I feel that my journey has been um very fluid in that regard. Uh, but in fourth grade, um, my mother and my brother and I, we would uh jump in the car and we traveled a lot and um went coast to coast, and uh she knew that I loved to write. And so she took me to one of the you know, campy kind of drugstores that you know that had little bits and pieces, and there I found a journal. And I thought, oh, and it was one of those with a lock and key and everything. But um, I remember it was a bunch of little flowers and my favorite color purple, and and it had lines in it. And I felt so special to be able to write in this journal. And I literally would just write about my day, right? I woke up at eight o'clock and yeah, and mom and I are gonna go drive to California now, or you know. So that started it, and then and and then and she always encouraged me to write. And I have so many um bins and bins of journals, but um, and that was amazing because I really needed to write. And uh my um intention was to become a children's book author because this a friend of mine actually said one day, just out of the blue, Well, I'm writing a book. And I thought, oh, what's that? You know, and you know, my grandmother always read me children's books, and I always would imagine the pictures and um, you know, and the words. And and my aunt Lillian was an English teacher, so she encouraged me to write. And I always thought, someday I'm gonna write a children's book, and I know it's gonna come alive, and I just don't know when it is. Well, one day in my beautiful home in Wisconsin, I was looking out the window, and my neighbor grows these 20-foot sunflowers.

unknown 17:46

They're really tall.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Love those.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

It was yeah, late summer, and I peeked out the window, and suddenly what came to me was a title for a book called The Last Sun or The Tallest Sunflower. And I wanted to write it about Vincent Van Gogh because he loves sunflowers. So I saw the flower and I went and I wrote this framework for the children's book, and that was in uh 2024. And I had it in my, you know, um, in my laptop, and I'd written it, and I thought someday I'm gonna find somebody to illustrate it because I didn't want to illustrate it myself, even though I probably could have, but I wanted my words to be in their purest form and then have somebody else possibly interpret them and you know, collaborate with them. Uh, so it sat on my computer for two years, and then um I just like you, just how we um kept meeting up on your podcast, I had a friend who's an artist in Arizona sending out her um weekly blogs and our monthly blogs, and she said, I'm gonna illustrate a children's book. Um, I'm gonna try it because she's a painter. And I thought, oh, I'll write her. And that was uh in 2025, just last year in the summer. So I reached out to her. I said, I have a children's book, would you like to illustrate it? And she said, Oh my gosh, that would be a great project. And I and she goes, Well, let's talk on this day. Well, it turns out our first conversation on the phone was on the day that um the book is about Vincent Van Gogh. It was on the day that he had passed away that we first spoke.

unknown 19:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Like you just realized that after. No, she said, Do you know that this is the day that he passed away? Oh my gosh. And I thought, oh my gosh, you know, and then at the end of the conversation, she said, Well, actually, I'm gonna be in Chicago in a couple of weeks. Why don't we meet at the Art Institute? And I thought, that's only an hour and a half for me. So we met at the Art Institute and um in Chicago, and there's a portrait, um, a self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh there. So we took a picture of ourselves in front of the self-portrait, and then I also bought her um a magnet of that portrait to give her to take home to, you know, yeah, to start our journey. And it was amazing. We got to have lunch and we got to talk about um the project, and that's where the seed was planted, and then uh we got everything organized and then started to meet. Um and our ideas were you know in sync, and she I let her run with it and interpret my words, and it turned out to be a really beautiful book. And the other um interesting thing, the title, which was originally the tallest sunflower, um, I think I told you this when you're doing something silly like washing dishes, sometimes ideas come in. Yes. I'm washing the dishes, and all of a sudden, heart of color came into my mind. And I I told um the illustrator that I said, you know, I had this other thought. And then that prompted um the cover art and it prompted um to have a heart on every single page that the children could find. And so we ended up calling it um heart of color a gentle look at Vincent Van Gogh.

unknown 21:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Oh my gosh, Michelle, when you just said that, like heart of color, my friend, that is you. Like that's when I think of you, like that is you, and she's you guys can't see her, but she's sitting in front of me with a beautiful coral scarf today. And like that, that is you. And I'm so glad that you're putting this out into the world and that you didn't give up and that you nurtured and cultivated that dream in your heart for a long time, and we have to do that because nobody else has can see that, only you. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Thank you so much. I'm I'm that's means so much to me, and it's exactly it. I didn't give up. And there were many times when I thought, you know, this isn't enough, or oh, that was that's the kindest thing you could ever say. Thank you so much. Um it's just true. It's just true. Why that maybe God said, Hey, that add heart of color as the title. Oh, and you know, that is it's so connected to everything, isn't it? Um, yeah. I um my my one thing going back to my dear father, he said one day, just out of the blue, he said, You have your mother's heart. Oh and her heart was um amazing and colorful. Yeah, exactly. It really was. And in the dedication, I honored that. Um because it began with her and um and her ability to just have joy no matter what was going on.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Yeah, that's beautiful. Wow. Woo! That surprised me.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Surprised me too. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Um so share a little bit about the story because I know that that I think you had shared with me, like you taught about Van Gogh for a lot of years. You taught children and you saw something, and something that something inspired your story. And of course, we want people to go get a copy. Yes, of course. And we'll share that later.

Giving Van Gogh A Kinder Story

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Okay. Yes, I uh being an art educator for 22 years, I decided to teach um art history, but I simplified the stories about the artists for the children to have a more um clear understanding and also to make it more fun for them. And every time I uh talked about Vincent Van Gogh, I mentioned how amazing that it was that he painted 800 paintings in only 10 years and that he, you know, painted every single day and um and that he didn't feel well sometimes. And you know, and they wouldn't be very curious because they didn't know much about him. Well, then uh they would go home and somebody would say, Oh, that's the guy that cut his ear off. And you know, of course that's not what I would tell them. And then they would come in the classroom and be very proud of themselves that they knew something about him. And I thought that was really unfortunate, um, not because you know they were told that, but just that um this amazing painter that we um honor today, and you know, his work is in museums and it's all over um, you know, magnets for if you will, and journals and his images are everywhere. And why not have his the image of him be also beautiful, like his paintings? And why can't we um let go of you know whatever he was feeling or whatever happened in his life? And it goes back to again uh being in that box, like the perceptions we have of, oh yeah, I know that, and that's all you know. Um, and you have to allow yourself to say, is that true? And can we let that go? Or is that all? Right. Is that all? And it's so multifaceted. And then it prompted me because I was teaching it in the classroom. I decided to take a little tour, a solo tour to places in France where he painted. And I wanted to get closer to what I didn't know that you traveled on your research. Yeah, I did. Well, this was um beautiful, but but yeah, it was the beginning of the journey, right? And the foundation for what I have now um about his story, and it was a wonderful um journey. I met people along the way, and and it opened up my own eyes just to see the physical landscapes and the physical places. So I went to the place uh which they called um in the history books. If somebody's listening and oh, well, you know, she doesn't know anything about him like that he stayed in a quote unquote asylum. But when I went there, it was the most beautiful prepare I'd ever seen. It didn't look like an asylum at all. Wow. Uh the tour guide even said that at the time when he was there, the nuns um didn't feel that he was harmful at all. And they would just let him wander the grounds in the daytime and let him paint because they knew that he needed to paint. And literally all around the grounds, there were um areas that still looked like that he just stood there and painted it because you know, the trees and how he painted the trees, and you could just see the way that he um saw that and saw nature and perceived nature, and um that was the most profound um stop, really, um, that I found in that tour. And then I went to um the place where the night cafe that he painted was, and that's still there. And I sat in one of the chairs and um and said, Here's you, Bango. Wow. Yeah. And you know, and then you're on trains in France, and you know, it was a time when the sunflowers were all blooming, and I just imagined, you know, what it must have been like, and and how he must have been out there in one of the pages of my book. I have him painting in a sunflower field from morning till night, and um, and how warm it must have been, or you know, yeah. But he had the motivation to do that.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

So and then you told me about right, how he had was a writer and that part of his life.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Oh my goodness, yeah. I went to um an exhibition in New York at the library, and there were cases and cases and cases of letters to Theo, his brother, and they were beautifully written and penning, and they had sketches and very detailed writing. Um, and I just thought, you know, it he must have it was a form of journaling uh for him and to record what he was seeing and what he was feeling. And he wrote so many that one of the postmen um in a village he lived in um, you know, befriended him and Van Gogh painted a portrait of him. I love that because they saw each other often. And if you think about that, I mean, this is you know, the 1800s, and that he was writing that many letters, and uh that Theo was his um, you know, his conduit for his um life and describing his life. And again, they were so beautifully written, and I just remember the penmanship and that he was right, you know, drawing sketches there too. Um yeah, so it's just that is so beautiful. Isn't it? I I know I just and because I think um again, like the reason I write too, I mean, sometimes you don't see you know actual people and he didn't have a lot of friends in his life, unfortunately. Um, but he knew that he could write to his brother, and thank goodness he had that person in his life.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

Yeah, and the connection that was made with the postman, like I just think that's such a reminder of the little um not so little, maybe, but those connections in our life that maybe we don't even think about that we're making, you know, that are a part of you know, that every day or however frequently he was sending those letters. How beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Yes, very beautiful. And in our lives today, I mean, how simple is that, right? Just to see the simplicity of um, you know, oftentimes we put people on these big pedestals. Oh, you know, they're doing this and they're so successful in this and that. And and you forget about the just the groundwork of life, right? Yeah, people that, you know, um might be your server at a restaurant, or um, you know, the um the person at the post office, literally.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Yeah, or I see Bob walking his dog almost every day. You know what I mean? It's just like a little passing, a little exchange um that you just don't know how much that matters to us or to the other person, or you just don't know what you're building. Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Yeah, and or hope to you to you someday for whatever reason. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Wow, I think that's so I I mean, I think I already know the answer to this, but I I just there's where are you in the story? And I think you've kind of already said it a little bit. Yeah. Where do you find yourself in his story? And that's for the listener too.

School Launch And Bloom Kindness

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Yes. Well, if you're listening, where I find myself in the story, I think it's um his courage and perseverance, regardless of whatever social paradigm that could have been in his lifetime and even now, uh, that he continued to paint even when he didn't feel well. And, you know, I haven't felt very well many times, you know. Yeah. This big adjustment in my life and being here in Wisconsin and making that big change and not being in my comfort zone anymore. And um the reinvention of my life is in the story because I stayed with it and I followed through. Um, I'm a little bit of a free spirit, and sometimes I, you know, have ideas, and I always I always say, and I always said, um, oh my gosh, I have all these ideas, but I don't know how to get them out there. And and finally all of the things, you know, hooked together. And uh Van Gogh had no idea that his paintings were gonna, you know, be everywhere in you know, this present day, but he continued and he persevered, and thank goodness he did. And I think that's the biggest part in the story. It's really about um overcoming limitations um and stepping out of your box. And um, I really want listeners to know that this book is really truly about also kindness and compassion and empathy um to see outside of the parameters of what is physically in front of you or what is presented. Uh, it could, you know, it goes further than that. So beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

Well, and you have an opportunity where you're gonna be back here and reading your story. So share about that.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

Yes, I'm really excited. I'm so grateful and appreciative. I reached out to the school that I uh was a teacher at for 14 years, and I told the administrator, I said, you know, this story was really planted in the classroom here, and I would love to share it with you. And so I'm going to be a guest author, and I'll be reading to roughly 110 children for the launch of the book. And I'm so excited because it's in an environment that I'm uh attached to and comfortable with, and I love the community, and so I'm going to be a guest author, and I'll be reading it on April uh 27th. It's coming up. And I'm hoping that what will come out of it, that the fresh look at Vincent Van Gogh and the story will be um again planted and presented to these wonderful children. And the color illustrations I think are really beautiful, and I think they'll really enjoy. Um, on each page, there's a yellow heart they have to find. And the book is small, but I'm going to be projecting it as well. And then after the um story is read, uh, we're gonna do an art project where everybody's gonna draw their own unique sunflower and then put that on the library. I love that. Oh, it's gonna be really great. Uh, and so when I, you know, I'm done for the day, you still have a reminder that I was there and that the sunflowers will be on on the library window. I have so much support there. And the librarian is really kind. And I I remember her, of course. I worked with her, and so we've been going back and forth and um collaborating and making sure that all the details are covered. And um, yeah, I'm just uh really great.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

Beautiful celebration and kind of full circle moment to do this. Oh my gosh, that is so beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Yes, um, it is full circle. It is so exciting, and I love the community. I mean, there's many people that still work there that I worked with, so I just thrilled to be able to bring the gift that I can bring and um share it.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Is that something that you'll be able to take to other schools?

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Yes, I hope so. Um, I'll be reaching out. I have that um as part of the journey to get the book out and um call other schools to encourage uh the it's not necessarily character development, but it is in a way. It's a message about kindness and empathy. And um I also uh have a bookmark that says Bloom Kindness. And so I'm hoping that um on October 22nd, which is actually the celebration of color day, and I just to um maybe have uh celebrations, you know, um at schools where everybody could, you know, bring a yellow flower, uh, give it to somebody, or um have some kind of a moment where they are kind to somebody that they wouldn't speak to otherwise. Or wow.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

So this is a movement, Michelle. Yeah, yeah. If you're listening, yeah, if you're listening and you have any connections to schools or things like that, like reach out to Michelle and let's support her journey. That is so beautiful, my friend. I'm excited. I didn't know that part, yeah. And I didn't know the part about the sunflower art project that follows.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Yeah, I I just thought it would be really fun for them because I love drawing sunflowers. It's a little bit uh about that too. But um, yeah, it gives them the opportunity to be an artist as well.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Um, you know, since I am speaking about an artist and well, and it's also a story of creativity and following your dreams and courage and taking risk because that's your story.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

Exactly. You know, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I do have a piece in the book that says, um, in the introduction, it says, um, it is very brave to be an artist, and it's also very brave to be kind. Oh, yes, I love that part. It's so true. Yeah, I used to share that with the children in the classroom. I said, I know that you know, sometimes they would feel worried about to make a mark on the paper. And I said, you know, it's really brave to be an artist, and it's okay. And every part of what you're gonna do on that paper is part of you. It's not, you know, I can guide you, but you don't have to make the perfect heart, or you don't have to draw the perfect sunflower, it's about you, and that's you know, exactly what every artist is. That's why we have art and that's why we have creativity.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Wow. My husband started painting. I didn't know this was in him the last couple of years. And I've learned so much just hearing him talk about his process because he talks about how he's had to learn to play again, like how hard it is to start. And he talks about just throwing paint. And when I'm struggling in my business or something, he'll just say, Stop thinking about it, just go throw paint. And like it is hard, but it is yeah, it is, it's been so inspiring and it's helped me in many, many ways. So I'm Michelle, I'm so honored to share your story and your book um as it's launching and just to see this journey, friend. Oh my gosh, that you've taken. It's an honor to witness.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Oh, thank you. It's an honor to be here, really. I really appreciate you. And um, and I what a wonderful story about your husband. And I was uh listening to somebody yesterday, and they said, you know, don't let me just make sure, no matter what happens, keep your childish innocence, your childlike innocence, and isn't that just true? To keep your childlike and um not to forget that. And I think that's why I connect with children because often it's a little more childlike than I am adult-like.

What Differently Means To Her

SPEAKER_01 39:01

I love that so much. It's so true. We can they help us remember too. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so as we close, I have one more question for you, which is what does differently mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Yes, uh I thought about this a lot, and I think um differently is it's about being different, right? I um and not to be afraid to be a little bit different. And um the the uniqueness that we each have. I mean, there's obviously we all have well, not all, but you know, it's it's the physical um person that we are, but then there's the uniqueness business that's inside of you, right? I like that. And to be different is we're born different. Everybody's born different and um just a little bit different. And it's okay. Um you don't have to close that off, and you don't have to, you know, um just go with the crowd or um have to be with a crowd. It can be okay to release yourself and allow your gifts to come forward, and whatever those gifts are, they're gonna naturally be different. So I love being and it's never too late, yeah. And I don't actively try to be different, like, oh well, I'm gonna, you know, color my hair purple today, and you know, because I want to be different. It's although I've had purple hair before, but but I um I just know that um my differences are my gifts. That's what God gave me, and um that's that's really it. That's you know, our differences are seeing the world differently is um is what I was born with. That's my soul.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

What a perfect note to end on, friend. I thank you so much for sharing your story and please tell everybody where they can go get a copy of your beautiful book.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

Yes, it's going to be um as of May for or no, May 7th, excuse me. Uh, you can find my book on artful art f u l-spark.com. And it is my website that has also um teaching videos on it. And the book is also going to be on there where you can purchase it and then it will be sent to you directly.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Beautiful. Go get a copy of Michelle's book. Michelle, thank you so much. My heart is full from this conversation, and I hope yours is too. Um, and those of you listening, I hope that um I just I just know that this conversation had to have touched you in some way. So thank you, Michelle, from the bottom of my heart, and I'm so excited about this for you. I can't wait to see where it goes, and maybe you'll be coming back and sharing more stories.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

Oh, absolutely. I have many more.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

I can't wait.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Thank you, Carla, from the bottom of my heart, and my heart is full as well. And you are just a wonderful human being, and I'm so grateful that you believed in me to be here today. Thank you so much. You're so welcome.

One Takeaway And A Free Class

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Have a beautiful day, everyone. Hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. Before you move on with your day, pause and capture one thought or takeaway that stood out to you. Write it down so it doesn't get lost in the noise. And if you're ready to go deeper, come join me in my free monthly class, conversation and guided writing to help you see things differently and move forward with clarity. Save your spot carlareeves.com forward slash free class.