The Art of Self-Acceptance

Or, How I Stopped Giving My Creations the Stink Eye

Have you ever looked at something you created—anything, really, a painting, a video, a project—and immediately zeroed in on what’s wrong with it? Like a well-worn groove in the brain, a habitual flicker of dissatisfaction? That’s me. Or at least, that’s been me for far too long. There’s a chain-smoking malcontent dragging its feet across my gray matter, giving every creation the stink eye. And honestly? I’m over it. The low energy of it. The never-enoughness of it. I’m done.

So today, I set an intention: to accept myself completely—and everything I create.

But first, where I’m coming from.

Seeing Differently by Alma Cox

The creative process itself keeps me out of thinking—out of my head, which keeps me out of suffering. The making, the losing track of time, the pushing of paint, the sculpting of ideas—these moment-to-moment acts of creation press a long pause on my overthinking. When I’m fully immersed in the process, the malcontent wanders for a bit into an ice cream parlor. So, I create a lot. Because the more I create, the less I suffer.

Thank goddess creativity is infinite, because my mind can be a black hole of negativity. No offense, brain—I do love you, I just don’t always love what you say. But creativity is my lifeline. Discovery and freedom, my drugs of choice. Give me something to create without a plan, and I’m Julie Andrews twirling in the hills of Austria, singing, The hills are alive...

So I had to ask myself: How do I keep that joy going, after the creating is done?

Inside Look Video: The inspiration for Seeing Things Differently:

Enter: the heart. The seat of the soul. The cave where my tenderest feelings live, blinking up at me in the dark. I entered that space and set my intention down like a tiny ember of hope—an S.O.S. for my mind’s not-enoughness.

And do you know what my heart said? Fake it till you make it.

Not exactly the poetic wisdom I expected. Where was the white dove with a tiny scroll in its beak, delivering a message in calligraphy? But instead, these words arrived like a download. Actually, an upload—heart to head:

Yes, it really is that easy. Look at the next thing you create and say, I accept you as you are. I even like you. In time, it will feel natural. And you will feel love. Do this every day, a few times a day, and with things you have already created, too.

It was like a prescription. And it totally made sense.

Her Heart Is A Wild Garden by Alma Cox

Have you heard of Mirror Work? Louise Hay’s brilliant self-acceptance practice? You look into your own eyes in the mirror and say, I love you. I accept you. You are enough. It rewires the brain. Words have power. Energy. Vibration. Your cells hear them. Why wouldn’t the same be true for the things we create?

Because really, my mind has been projecting non-acceptance onto my creations like a mirror. Just like looking in the mirror and criticizing my body—seeing flaws instead of miracles. Like the fact that my body breathes on its own, without me asking it to.

So I’m trying it. Right now. With something I made this morning.

I accept you.

I like you.

And already it’s not feeling so fake.

One thing I’m learning is that what I offer is valuable. That my creations—even the imperfect ones—hold something worth sharing. Maybe they don’t need to be ‘better’ to be enough. Maybe they already are.

If this resonates with you, try it today. Pick something you made—anything—and say to it, 'I accept you. I like you.' Just see how it feels. No pressure, no perfection—just curiosity. Maybe the more we practice art-acceptance, the more natural self-acceptance becomes. And wouldn’t that be a kind of freedom?

New Offering: Skillshare Class

Discover how to turn emotions like insecurity, doubt, and fear into powerful creative expression—and reconnect with your self-love through art. Paint a room for your heart. Learn more.💗🎨

Soul’s YES List:

Novel: The Garden of Lost and Found, by Harriet Evans. Yes to art, a multi-generational story, set in Victorian and modern-day England. 💗

Video: Learning To Choose Me, on the YouTube channel, Reflections of Life. SO GOOD!

Book: You Can Heal Your Life, by Louise Hay. Mentioned above.

Painted Journeys Video

Look at your art in new ways! In the Painted Journeys video below, see how I combine sketchbook paintings with loosely painted backgrounds to create the digital art below. Enjoy!

You Are Home Within Yourself by Alma Cox

Thank you for watching and for supporting my work. It is truly a joy for me to bring you art content every month. 💗