The past weekend was a very strange mix. Saturday was beyond gorgeous. It felt like summer. Sunday was cold and windy with threatening storm clouds. I met a friend in the park for a walk and we both wished we'd gone the day before.
These are three of the four packages I am determined to mail this week. The largest one at left is for my grandsons and I did mail it yesterday. With all three, the box was chosen because it was closest in size to the gift and in all three cases, there was extra room. Which I had to fill. Of course. The one in the middle is for the friend I do a book club with every second Monday and the smallest one...
... is for the ring I've been making for another friend since before October when I packed up my metalworking studio ready to move. The style is from a workshop about rustic rings and it's very rustic considering how out of practice I am. I can't even remember the name of the stone. Right now, I've added a patina to the copper and am ready to set the stone... and then put the ring in the package... and tape it shut... and send it on its way.
The fourth package will be the birthday gift for my friend Mary that's not quite finished. I've been working on it every morning and it's making tremendous progress. I have high hopes that I can drop the three remaining packages at the post office Thursday morning on my way to an appointment.
The fourth package will be the birthday gift for my friend Mary that's not quite finished. I've been working on it every morning and it's making tremendous progress. I have high hopes that I can drop the three remaining packages at the post office Thursday morning on my way to an appointment.
Yesterday, I picked up two more BIG loads of rock and they're stacked on my driveway ready to be put in place this morning. I'm hoping that's it but if not, I'll be visiting this pile at least one more time. I try to get as many rocks as possible from the bottom of the pile without climbing up so I don't accidentally trigger a slide. Yesterday, the guys watching on the security cameras in the office must have seen me climbing a bit too high because one of them came around with a machine and shifted the pile for me. How sweet.
I was journal writing at my kitchen table the other morning and stopped to take a picture of this violet. The way the sun was shining through the leaves was too gorgeous to ignore. Small, simple pleasures like this are such a gift - so important to stop and notice.
Monday was my first appointment with my new coach - Chris. We spent an hour and a half talking about the answers to a questionnaire she'd sent after our initial consultation on April 1st. The last question (paraphrased) asks how will you know that you got your money's worth. Between the 1st and the 19th, my mind did so much sifting and sorting that I'm pretty sure I have already gotten my money's worth and we're just getting started.
Recently, I wrote a post called Stop Flirting With Painting where I talked about picking up and putting down the concept of surface design for a really long time and about wanting to make a decision to either be in or out. I shared it as an example in our discussion and Chris asked how I knew I was done and I said it was about the energy. What I felt painting was push energy where I was trying to make things happen as opposed to a pull energy where there was no choice but to move forward, to learn, and to do more.
Although I've worked with a coach in the past, for some reason this time felt hugely pivotal. I'm still not entirely sure why but I think it's a combination of three things. My age and wanting to maximize the next decade. My ongoing prayer for ever increasing holistic health which includes balanced living. And, wanting that pull that tells me my time, money, and energy are well invested. To that end...
... another thing I have stopped flirting with and put down is any possible return to writing books, developing patterns, and teaching workshops. Like painting, I have picked this up and put it down for way too long. Like painting, it has push and not pull energy. Like painting, it was time to be done. It wasn't an easy decision and even so, it feels good and permanent because when you're picking something up and then putting it down, you're always quitting or not quitting. Truly quitting shifts things entirely and it leads to the question of if not that, then what? I am looking forward to working with Chris to develop that answer. She sent me this quote...
Recently, I wrote a post called Stop Flirting With Painting where I talked about picking up and putting down the concept of surface design for a really long time and about wanting to make a decision to either be in or out. I shared it as an example in our discussion and Chris asked how I knew I was done and I said it was about the energy. What I felt painting was push energy where I was trying to make things happen as opposed to a pull energy where there was no choice but to move forward, to learn, and to do more.
Although I've worked with a coach in the past, for some reason this time felt hugely pivotal. I'm still not entirely sure why but I think it's a combination of three things. My age and wanting to maximize the next decade. My ongoing prayer for ever increasing holistic health which includes balanced living. And, wanting that pull that tells me my time, money, and energy are well invested. To that end...
... another thing I have stopped flirting with and put down is any possible return to writing books, developing patterns, and teaching workshops. Like painting, I have picked this up and put it down for way too long. Like painting, it has push and not pull energy. Like painting, it was time to be done. It wasn't an easy decision and even so, it feels good and permanent because when you're picking something up and then putting it down, you're always quitting or not quitting. Truly quitting shifts things entirely and it leads to the question of if not that, then what? I am looking forward to working with Chris to develop that answer. She sent me this quote...
In case anyone else out there who as devoted their adult life to making art and creating art communities/opportunities needs to hear this, there are HUNDREDS of paths to making a literary/artist life. Some are high octane business models. Some are collaborative community building models. Some are kind of more solo, weave your art into your daily life between taking care of your kids, models. Some paths are bold hustle. Some paths are academic, or industry-bound, or self-made. Some paths provide financial success. Some paths connections to others. Some paths fame. Some private or collective sustainability, others personal or collective spiritual or consciousness growth. Some paths save your life a day at a time. ALL of them are legitimate and beautiful. - Lidia Yuknavitch
The creative path that I've been walking has come to a pivotal fork in the road. Rather than the path I'd intended to take, I've turned in a different direction where there are now unknown treasures around the next corner to explore. That's exciting. That's pull energy.
What does your creative path look like?
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - how each no leads to a yes
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