Doodle Card

 

Create the future you want to see.
自分が見たい未来を創り出そう。

 

My deep resentment against people who insulted me was always my biggest problem—until just recently. It’s no longer a problem though.

Our brain doesn’t stop remembering what happened in the past. So whenever I feel angry about someone who was rude to me, I talk to myself:

“What I’ve experienced in my life is vital for me to create the future I want. I’m grateful for everything that has happened to me, no matter what it seems.”

It works—at least for me. This affirmation makes me feel like I’m free from the bitterness I suffered with for a long time, and gives me the power to move forward with my life.

Perhaps being non-judgmental about what happens is the key; no matter how good or bad something seems to be, there is a way to use it for a good purpose.

 

 

Act like a kid.
子供のように行動しよう。

 

Yesterday I checked my Doodle Cards archive and saw what I did a year ago. My ‘old’ Doodle Cards were much bolder and powerful than what I’ve created recently.

I started drawing again in May last year. Then I started posting my doodles on Instagram and got 5-10 Likes at a maximum. But at that time I really enjoyed drawing like a kid. I just focused on and had fun with drawing, and didn’t care what others think. I noticed that, over months, I might have lost a sense of this kind of excitement.

From time to time, we have to remind ourselves of the excitement of acting like a kid. We have to remember how we feel when we pour our energy and focus into what we do now.

If you don’t know where to start, you should probably start from these three small things:

• Laugh more often.
• Ask why more often.
• Express yourself more boldly.

These are not difficult things to do; but it’s quite easy to forget or ignore them. For grown-ups, acting like a kid is one of the skills to be brushed up.

 

 

Head off to fear.
恐れに向かっていこう。

 

I couldn’t sleep last night because of fear. But I was grateful that my fear made me awake at night again.

Fear is not something we should avoid. Fear is something we live with and dance with. If there is no fear, we have no growth.

 

 

Our creativity is unlimited.
私たちの創造性に限界はない。

 

My businesses are gaining momentum, and I often consider whether to stop creating and posting daily doodles on Instagram so that I can save time. Ironically though, my business is growing because of the creativity I developed through my daily doodling.

The quality of my daily Doodle Cards is way below the average of my works. That’s because I always focus on my intuitive inspiration, not the quality of my work, without worrying about what others say or react. Sometimes people like my doodles, sometimes don’t, and the most of the time, they don’t care at all. That’s fine—that’s what creativity is all about.

Because of my daily creative practice, the fear of rejection is getting much smaller than before. That makes me bolder, and helps me generate crazy ideas—and some people do love crazy ideas. I shouldn’t stop doodling, should I? 🙂

 

 

Hear your soul.
魂に耳を傾けよう。

 

We want to believe that we like (or love) what we do. But that’s not necessarily true.

Two decades ago, I thought I loved accounting and finance. I also thought I was lucky enough to have a decent job in that field. But that was completely wrong—what I really love is in fact creating something well-designed or well-organized. I was too afraid to admit that my accounting and finance job was far from it, because that means I had to accept that I made a completely wrong choice of my career. I kept trying to believe that accounting and finance was my thing—and such a false storytelling finally led me to a nervous breakdown.

Many people obsessively focus on the belief of ‘do what you love, love what you do.’ The opposite of this belief—do what you hate, hate what you do—will certainly drive us mad, but this is the reality we face from time to time.

The problem is, we are not always willing to accept that we do what we hate or we hate what we do. We worry that accepting the fact would let us down or make us worthless. But it’s completely opposite; when our ego surrenders, our soul starts telling us what we really love and shows us the way to get there. What we need to do is just listen to it and follow it.