The Lighten Your Vibe Coloring Book

Introduction

Let’s say the good stuff! Let’s talk about the wonderfulness of the world! Let’s name it! Let’s say it out loud when we love someone or something. Amazing stuff is going on all the time! Life is extraordinary! We don’t have to let it go by without noticing it! We can open our eyes and our arms and receive it – and that’s what we’re doing every time we talk about it. When we compliment someone or celebrate something we’re giving JOY a voice in the world. We are making joy more real for everyone. Give yourself the right to be happy. Give yourself permission to notice all the goodness, and live surrounded by all that love.

When I was a kid I could see that people stopped themselves from saying the good stuff. They didn’t like to point out all the wonderful things about themselves – or even about other people. It was obvious to me that not enough compliments and love were being said out loud! I decided I would say it whenever I had a nice thought about someone. I took it upon myself to make that my job! In fact, it became a career! As an Expresses Arts Therapist, intuitive counselor, and now as an inspirational cartoonist, I’ve always focused on helping people realize how amazing they are!

When I was an Expressive Arts Therapist, I had an office that overlooked a busy intersection. The office had a huge window that commuters couldn’t help but notice as they drove by! It was a perfect opportunity to say the good stuff! I put up signs that reminded people that they are wonderful. And that life is beautiful and conspiring in their favor! Many people called to say that the message I put up that week was exactly what they needed to hear, or to thank me for taking the time to provide ongoing upliftment to the community. My favorite call was from a mother who said she and her daughter passed by the window sign every day as she drove her daughter to school. She asked me if I would please email her a list of every sign I’d ever put in that window, because the messages were sparking meaningful conversations between her and her daughter. I loved that the window signs were literally helping people talk about positive ways to see themselves and the universe we live in!

Eventually I moved out of that office and couldn’t put the signs up anymore. But by then I had a large email list of people that I was sending pictures of the signs to. And I’d started writing blogs to accompany each inspirational message. Once I didn’t have the window, it was easier to just sketch out the week’s uplifting message and scan it into the computer for use in the blogs. It felt more friendly and personal than just typing the message into the email. And it was fun to draw a smiley face or a flower or some little decorative border around the words. I really enjoyed that part of creating the email “signs.” Because I liked it so much, I spent more and more time drawing those embellishments every week. The images I drew to support each message became so elaborate that they began to add – and even expand on – the words themselves. Those joy-filled, hand-drawn signs eventually turned into the coloring book in your hands! I love that my young impulse to say the good stuff has evolved in such a fun, unforeseeable way!

What I love about the format of a coloring book is that it’s not just me telling you that you’re awesome. It’s YOU telling you. Reading positive quotes is certainly wonderful! But using crayons and paper to color in positive statements allows you receive those messages on whole new levels. You meditate on them. Absorb them. And literally imprint them into your body as well as your mind.

This coloring book reminds you over and over again that you are an extraordinary person! And it invites you to color in those reminders as affirmations of your own brilliant goodness! You get to take matters into your own hands and practice celebrating yourself and life! Coloring itself feels good and is relaxing and fun. Even more than that, when you color these positive statements about yourself and life, you are taking concrete steps toward self-love and expanded thinking! It will encourage you to consider the positive and to say the positive, which will help you create an experience of more possibility and joy!

Have fun coloring, saying and living all that good stuff!

Sky-high thanks for giving me another opportunity to celebrate you, me, and this amazing experience of being alive!

Christina Brittain

October 2015