Saturday, January 26, 2008
WITW - Week 3, A Sense of Perspective
Friday, January 25, 2008
Don't Think, Just Do It!
The issue I wanted to explore was balance because this was a topic that had come up in my bible study group this morning as we discussed Mary and Martha. I really feel a lack of balance in my life right now. I seem to go between doing too much to doing nothing at all and I would like to find a steadier balance.
Doing the collage was a lot of fun! To tell you the truth, if I have ever done one before it was so long ago that I can't remember anything about it. I was quite pleased when I was finished, and was even more pleased when my daughter admired it! She is a very artistic young lady, and I felt very good getting her stamp of approval.
Anyway, I did somelthing that I have to admit I was a little afraid of doing because I didn't think I would be any good at it. I had fun, and enjoyed the results. So, Yeah ME!!!!
Monday, January 21, 2008
WITW-Week 2, a sense of proportion
1. Morning pages - I have had no problems doing these, and am still enjoying them a lot. I even did them first thing the morning I had to get up before 6 to take my daughter early for a field trip. I tend to vent/worry mostly, sometimes just ramble about the day before, and what I want to get done today. I see that I often want to more than is possible in a day and see that maybe it would be all right to lower my expectations a bit and not push so hard all the time. Some time management would probably help also!
2. Artist Date - I did do it but I didn't really enjoy it so much. I went thrift shopping, but there were people everywhere and I had a bit of a headache. I really wasn't having fun, so I went home and putzed around with some sewing. I did have a great time the day before at the fabric store looking through the decorator fabrics for some stuff for a job I'm working on. I really think that was more of an Artist Date than what I planned!
3. I did one walk this week, and that wasn't exceptionally great either. I was upset about a situation and thought about that the entire time. I did have it pretty much worked out in my head when I got home and took action on the situation, but was not happy about how it affected the enjoyment of the time outside. It was such a lovely day and I really wanted to enjoy it and savor it more.
4. Issues, who me have issues? My biggest issue is worrying what other people will think about me doing something different, or changing. I need to not worry about such things so much!
The best thing I did this week was a started working on my dear Jane quilt again. I haven't touched it in over a year, and had a great time the last few evenings working on a block. I decided that before I can get on the computer I need to make a block. That way I get something productive done and don't feel guilty about wasting my time - plus I've enjoyed the challenge! I'm working out how to get the blocks scanned and up on my blog, so maybe I'll work on that some more tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Walking in This World - Check in #1
This post is my check in for Walking in This World - a book whose sub-title makes it pretty self explanatory ~The Practical Art of Creativity. There are several things we are expected to do regularly throughout this book, a weekly walk, an artist date, and three pages of writing every morning. Plus different exercises each week to make us think a little more. Each week I will be checking in on the weekends about my progress through the book - So for week One:
Morning Pages: I did three pages each morning. This is actually one of my favorite things. Most of my pages are of little importance, just thinking aloud about the day, venting about irritations, plans about what I need to do. I enjoy it a lot, and it's very freeing that I don't have to write about anything of significance. It really helps me get a handle on my day, see more clearly why things are bugging me, and sometimes I think about it and say - oh grow up and get over it already!
Artist Date: I had quite a struggle with this! Planned to do it Tuesday afterenoon - got called in to work. Planned to go Wed. after work, had to work late. Finally got up and out of the house on Thursday and went! I went to a used bookstore that has opened up recently just around the corner from the quilt shop. It was so nice, very clean, everything all nicely arranged alphabetically, and great prices! I bought two books by Madeleine L'Engle, Jane Eyre, and Shardik. After that I went to the library, just browsed around and found a few more books to take home with me, including one that I've thought of a lot. I read House of Stairs as a teen-ager and it's one one those books that really stuck in my head, and I've often thought of re-reading it to see if it was really that good or not. So, I did borrow it and re-read it. Still a very interesting book, somewhat like a twilight zone episode to tell the truth, but I see why it appealed to me so much. Anyway, I had a fine time, and can't wait to try something else this week - Friday is free, so I'm aiming to go to the thrift store and see what cool stuff I can find! Fun!
My weekly walk was also a struggle due to bad weather, but Friday, I bundled up, braved the rain, and went out. It did indeed rain on me for the entire time, but it wasn't unpleasant because I was well prepared. It was wonderful to hear the sound of the water running through the streets - it was very quiet and pleasant. I dressed well so I was comfortable. I usually like to walk with my music, but left if behind for this day so I could listen to my thoughts better. I really enjoyed it, and would like to try to take more walks, even if the weather isn't perfect. I really felt very relaxed and at peace afterwards.
One of the issues that really affected me this week, was a sense of being overwhelmed by a lot of things to do that I really didn't want to do. So I procrastinated, and made myself too busy to do the things I should have been doing and caused myself a lot of stress over the weekend which really was unneccesary. I think some of this issue may actually be hormonal, but as they say, knowledge is power, and I really should not allow myself to get so stressed out over these things. I just need to get busy and do what I need to do and get it over with instead of putting it off and stressing out! I honestly think part of it is a control issue. If I feel out of control, I simply shut down in order to feel like I do have control, but then things get really out of hand. Does that make any sense at all?
Anyway, onwards, I am off to deal with the things on my plate for today! Sorry for being late, and I'll try to do better this week!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Back To Work
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Welcome 2008
And I listed the last of the previous batch of postcards and pot holders on my etsy shop! A great day to start off the year - tomorrow won't be as much fun. I have to go to work, and set up eye, dental and dr appointments for the spring. Oh well, not every day is a holiday!