June 13th 2025

Shoutout to Damiano Baschiera for this amazing photo reference! The view is just…. amazing… Like what a shot… This looks like a fairy tale; it doesn’t even look real. This is why I love landscapes. I love nature. I love Earth. I love the views. I especially love the color composition in this photo. The greens and blues really caught my attention. Just the way this was framed really hits different. The people on the boat really puts the perspective on how vast this landscape is. It just makes the mountain look HUGE. It just feels peaceful to be there. The water is so beautiful too. I can’t imagine riding a boat down there. I would just lay down and admire my surroundings.

I knew that this was going to be a hard piece to draw due to the amount of textures that this photo had, but I had to do it anyway because the scenery is just amazing. Not gonna lie, I was struggling half way haha. I lowkey ran out of patience and energy halfway in the process. It just felt like I had no energy to continue. I don’t know why. Well I do know why haha and it’s because I didn’t have any energy. I literally just had to stop working on it in order to gain back my energy to create. The water was something new to me and it was tough. Creating reflections and blending it all in took some time. The trees took a lot of detailing to create too. Overall, it was a challenging piece to draw, but I definitely learned a lot from it. Thank you Damiano Baschiera for this amazing photo reference once again! :)

Speaking of not having the energy to continue… I want to talk about the importance of rest. Rest is so important…. I cannot emphasize that enough. Especially when I was drawing this piece, if I didn’t stop to rest, I don’t think I would’ve finished it. Unfortunately… we live in a society where we need to keep up or else we will be left behind. It is truly sad… and I wish it wasn’t this way… but we can only try to do our best in this present moment to take care of ourselves in the process. Without us, there will be no future.

When we take a moment to truly rest, we allow ourselves to be stronger and be more resilient against life. We are able to do more things and really take a step back to see what is missing in our life. Do I just need to take more breaks? Maybe I just need to take deep breaths. Maybe that 30 minute nap will help me. Anything that you do to take a break from reality is rest and it truly matters. It can be rest where you don’t want to do anything and that is okay. It can be rest where you want to have fun and suddenly things don’t matter. Anything that brings you joy to uplift your mood or give you a sense of peace is rest. Anything that will help bring you back to your baseline is rest.

Maybe I just needed to listen to that song, put it on repeat, and do my little dance. Maybe I just needed to be a little bit silly or goofy. Have fun with it! Have fun when you take breaks or when you rest :) Laugh a lot whenever you can! The smallest things in our lives can truly give us the joy to keep on going. Give yourself some moments to not be so serious and let loose. You can’t always stay focused all the time. Give yourself some moments to escape reality and enjoy your being.

I do however, not recommend resorting to bad habits or bad coping mechanisms to escape reality. I feel that we have natural feelings that we can evoke by just releasing fears and limitations. When I say natural feelings, I am talking about natural feelings of joy, excitement, happiness, etc. It is done through action and self expression. Physical exercise can be one of them. Singing is one of them. Any activity where you can fully express yourself through action is the best thing you can do. There are just better ways to naturally relieve stress and sometimes it just takes courage to try something new to bring it to fruition.

Try a new hobby. Read a new book. Journal what you are feeling. It can be anything. If you don’t have time, or if you’re limited to your space, find something you can do with yourself. Maybe crack a joke. Shake your body. Stretch. Breathe. Close your eyes. Put your head down. Anything to give you a sense of relief or peace. Anything that will give you joy in the moment. Anything to just give you a push to keep on going because it truly matters. It is rest that you need.

The best way to bring out your joy is connecting with your inner child. What did you like to do when you were a little kid? A little kid with no responsibilities and no care in the world? How did it feel like in that moment? Bring that feeling towards within yourself and live within it just for a couple of seconds. Just be in that moment and feel how you feel. Feel the joy you had. Feel the responsibilities go away. You will feel like a child again. Happy and carefree :) You can bring this feeling with you throughout your day. Reconnecting and connecting to it as needed when you find breaks for yourself.

It is important to know what type of rest you need. There are different types of rest; mental rest, physical rest, emotional rest, spiritual rest, and many more. Give yourself the right type of rest to keep on going. Really sit down and ask yourself what you really need in this present moment. Maybe it’s everything. As long as you give yourself the time and space to rest. Commit to it. Cherish it. Soak it all in. Go deep within yourself. Really detach yourself from everything. The faster you rest, the quicker you get to do things you want to do. But you have to fully commit to it. You can’t cut corners when it comes to rest. Otherwise, you won’t get the full benefits from it. You only get out what you put in.

Rest is the only time when we can truly grow. Let me say that again… rest is the ONLY time when we can truly grow. Without rest, we are not able to grow at all. It’s like going to the gym to workout so hard, but to gain nothing because we didn’t rest. Muscle is built only through the recovery of the muscle tissues. Without rest, you won’t gain anything. If we just keep on working and working, we will eventually burn out. When we get to the point of burn out, it leads to bad decisions and longer periods of rest. When we just take a moment to pause, or to take a break from whatever we are doing, we keep ourselves on the path. When we take consistent rest whenever we can, we give ourselves the fuel to keep on going along the way. Taking a small break is way better than crashing out, trust me.

When we fully rest, we are able to think more clearly. We are able to see the larger picture of things. Sometimes we get tunnel vision in the things that we do that we forget to take care of ourselves in the process. The reality is… nothing will continue if you don’t have yourself in the first place. You need to be able to have the energy to do the things you want to do. That thing you are creating or working towards will not come into fruition if it wasn't for you. Without you, there is no outcome. Without you, there is no progress. You are the only person that can create it so you have to take care of yourself. It all starts within the energy in you. You are the catalyst to everything that you do.

When we neglect rest, we truly neglect ourselves. We neglect where our source and energy originally comes from…. from ourselves. By resting, we are truly honoring ourselves. We are creating ourselves to be stronger. To be wiser. To be smarter. It is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of true strength. You may be weak for a moment, but when you rest, you gain your power back. You are actually at your weakest when you don’t rest at all. There will come a point where you can’t continue if you don’t rest. Don’t wait for life to humble you. Take the moment now to rest and recover. Only then you are able to take your next few steps. Your next few steps to becoming a better and stronger version of yourself.

Because whenever we rest, we truly honor ourselves. We honor ourselves to simply be at our best :)

Thank you so much for reading <3

I love you so much and stay safe!!!