Better Life Archives - Page 6 of 14 - Miranda van den Heuvel

Flow

Miranda2022-11-12T23:49:04+02:00October 7th, 2022|

What does flow mean to you? When are things flowing? When are they not? Why? How does it feel? Where in your body do you feel it? For me it is waves. When things flow, it feels natural, moving, powerful, not resisting, moving around and over things instead of pushing them away. So I started my collage with a page of wave scribbles and added flowers and some doodles. Because flow is pretty and feels natural (like flowers). Life comes and goes in waves. Up and down. Coming and going. The more we [...]

Opinion

Miranda2022-11-12T23:49:29+02:00October 2nd, 2022|

It started around the time when the pandemic began. So many things were new, unsure, frightening. Everyone had an opinion. So did I. Or so I thought. It seemed to be a solid opinion. Until it started to sway. Doubts, friends' opinions, news, fear. All of it seemed to influence my opinion. And I found it quite stressful to have it change on me almost daily. So for a while I decided not to have an opinion and just follow the given. It was so freeing. It did require to not engage into conversation [...]

Equinox

Miranda2022-11-12T23:49:49+02:00September 23rd, 2022|

When the day is as long as the night I am reminded of balance Night /Day Darkness / Light Fire / Water Sorrow / Joy Without one we would not know the other I painted this painting called Equinox around the spring Equinox in 2020 when the whole world felt suddenly unbalanced. It reminded me that even in chaos there is balance. Because without chaos there is no order either. I hope you find balance in your life as we move into Autumn season! [...]

Routine

Miranda2022-11-12T23:50:08+02:00September 14th, 2022|

After 4 months of taking care of my health, I returned to work this week. It feels good. Life has a certain structure again. A routine has returned. I always thought a routine was boring. It meant repetition and I was more the kind of 'let's do nee things' girl. I've come to realize that routine is quite useful. It creates structure. It helps you get out of bed. It saves time. It is safe. It helps you get shit done. It sets a timetable. It requires boundaries. It doesn't ask questions. Now, too [...]

Art teaches

Miranda2022-11-12T23:50:28+02:00September 9th, 2022|

When I create, there is always such an element of self. I can only create from within, from my feelings, my experience, my love/hate, my messages, my needs, my perceptions, my understanding, my views,... Every piece of art, every collage, every doodle, represents a little (or big) piece of me. Yet it is also not me. It is a translation. A story that needs telling. An image that needs drawing. A feeling that needs being felt. A message that needs to be heard. I always knew there was a healing el [...]

Vacation

Miranda2022-11-12T23:51:47+02:00September 6th, 2022|

Vacation Days of sleeping in and doing nothing Days of getting up early to hike, mountainbike or visit sights Days of beach and watching your kids have fun Days of endless reading Days of trying out restaurants Days of staying in and cooking pasta Days of taking a boat onto the sea Days of squabbling with your teenagers Days of making memories Days of enjoying being away A day of looking forward to go home *** Last day on gorgeous Madeira. I for sure will be back. Just so I can explore this bea [...]

Miranda’s favorite books – August 2022

Miranda2022-11-12T23:52:27+02:00August 23rd, 2022|

I have been reading A LOT recently. As I was on sick leave for a while with nothing much to do, books were my go to entertainment. So today I'm sharing my recent reads with you. Click on the picture to go straight to Amazon. If you do not want to wait for a post like this one, I write reviews of the books I read them on my instagram profile. Happy reading. The Book of Longings @suemonkkidd ✨✨✨✨✨ (5/5) This book has been sitting on my Kindle shelf for a while. The reason being that the stor [...]

Laugh

Miranda2022-11-12T23:52:57+02:00August 17th, 2022|

In the basement there is a swing. It has a red seat and blue ropes hanging from the ceiling, right next to and along the basement staircase. The basement also houses my father's workshop. Every day after dinner, he will go down and spend time fixing some device or other. He puts on some music from the 70ies on a cassette tape, like Massachusetts from the Bee Gees, and I can hear his toiling noises adding an interesting background to the song. I am swinging. The simple joy of moving back and for [...]

Both sides of clouds

Miranda2022-11-12T23:53:22+02:00August 6th, 2022|

Today I made a collage in my art journal prompted by my art therapy course about 'Dark clouds above'. Click to enlarge The prompt immediately reminded me of Joni Mitchell's song 'Both sides now' where she sings about clouds, love and life and how you they show you their dark and light sides, their happy smiles and their tears and tell you that you don't know clouds, love or life at all. But through it all there is a journey, lessons, growth. There is sunshine after the rain and laughter throu [...]

Art journaling

Miranda2022-08-07T11:48:27+02:00August 1st, 2022|

Art journaling is the art of opening up a journal or notebook and just let your thoughts, images and creativity flow. It can be with paint, crayons, mixed media, collage... It can be in black and white or full of colors. It can be about your day or about what's on your mind. It can be done with a plan or intuitively. It can be small or big. It can be in a journal or on canvas. It can be any way you want. There is no pressure. There is no end goal. There is no need for beauty. It flows. It deligh [...]