When I lived in southern Sweden, there was a girl who was a year above me in the writers program at Fridhems Folkhögskola. She lived in Helsingborg. Above her bed, she had a painting she had painted herself. It was an explosion of white, black, red, and I think maybe a little touch of purple. In the middle of this vomit of color she had written in white: Where the hell is my sensation?. The painting was positioned so that it was the first thing she saw when she woke in the morning. It was like a visual wake-up call, impossible to snooze.

Where the hell is your sensation?

Where the hell is your painting above your bed?

Where the hell is your rope that you can use to pull yourself out of bed all the mornings laced with shitty weather?

It's easy. You do not need to know how to paint. It is a vomit of color. It can be anything. You can paint whatever you want, or write the first thing that pops into your head. The main thing is that it triggers you.

a) Find a quote that gets you going. There are lots of people have said good things. One of them is photographer Christer Strömholm. There have even been books published containing nothing but his wise words. Then you have Oscar Wilde, Maya Angelou, Cesar Vallejo or Madonna. Check them out depending on who you dig and what gets you going. Maybe you yourself, your grandmother or your best friend have said or written anything that you feel is a solid as a rock. Take whichever quote you like best.

b) Buy a canvas, some bright colors - it should be colors you like, not colors that are beautiful - and a brush. You don’t need a stand. Better to spend any extra money on a bigger canvas.

c) Paint. Write. Let dry.

d) Put up the painting so that it's the first thing you see when you wake up. The right angle is important.