Category: not walking anywhere

A New Year Ahead Without Resolving Anything

I apologize, once more, for the delay in posting here. It’s been a rough few weeks of holidays and it isn’t over yet. Soon, soon.

And so what about resolutions for the new year? Who is and who isn’t doing them? I can tell you that I’m opting out. No resolutions for me. Why? Because I never do them. Everyone wants to lose weight, exercise more, be a better person, and on. I could try to do so many things and fall flat a month from now so I’m not going to bother thinking about it.

The one thing I will do is break my day into 15 to 20 minutes chunks of time. As this past year has shown me, I can do anything for 15 minutes. Whether it’s organizing/cleaning my space, painting, or some other activity, I can slowly get something done and finished if I make tiny goals. The huge to-do list will be tackled that way. One thing at a time and in small bites.

Last year I read Walking in This World, by Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way. I loved every minute of reading the latter, never walked with the former, which I had hoped would become a habit. Nope! Didn’t happen. So forget it. If I start walking it will be a miracle. And I would have to wake up at 5A.M. to get everything in before my granddaughter comes for the day. I read somewhere that I could walk out of my house for 7 minutes and return, making the trip 15 minutes of walking. I can’t get to do that either. I know, I’m a slug. I own the next installment of this series of anti-resistance courses so let’s see where that goes.

Same thing with painting, but I think I need to move on past the 20 minutes I had allotted myself. Maybe I can try it on a larger work? Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it. Twenty minutes was working out well and maybe I will just keep it just like that.

If I can cross off some things from the to-do list once a month I’ll be thrilled. Small goals, one at a time should become my mantra.

Like posting here on the blog. I have so much to put out here, but by the time I have time I realize I didn’t take photos, forgot my thoughts, I’m too tired to type or think. But if I could be awake for 15 minutes, maybe something can show itself here.

As far as being a better person? I think I’m the best I’m going to be right now. Maybe when I grow up I’ll decide to be someone else, but for now you’re stuck with me.

Tasks I Forgot About While NOT Walking in This World

Peonies in the front garden this morning

As I think about the week ahead I’m trying to chose some small thing as an artist’s date.  Yeah, I’m still reading Walking in This World, but for me they should have titled this book Not Walking in The World in One Easy Step: Don’t Bother At All.  Sounds good? 

Before I went on to the next chapter in “Not” Walking, I revisited these suggested tasks to combat the feeling of restlessness.  Sometimes we don’t know what we feel like doing, where to go, how to proceed in our creativity and elsewhere.  Nothing feels right and we need to be alert to experience that change.  It’s like an itch we can’t scratch, but somehow ideas snap up.  Mind you, if we sit in front of the easel and wait to scratch the itch it may never happen.  Art does not exist in a vacuum.  The answer, according to this course, seems to lie in artist’s dates where we can get a breath of fresh air and recharge. 

Here’s the list of tasks I forgot about:

  1. Visit a quiet church and sit in the back for a few minutes.  Sitting tucked in a pew brings calm, humility and a sense of faith.
  2. Visit a large plant store or greenspace which can give a sense of another world where plants can show us their secret life.
  3. Visit a forest or a park to sense a difference rhythm of life.
  4. Seek out a fine Oriental carpet store for a sense of the sacred in the patterns.  This will remind us of the beauty in our own life.
  5. Drop in a travel shop for a sense of adventure.  An imaginary trip could be strangely calming. 

I’m going to add one more to this list which is to visit a large book store or the library, two of my favorite places.  The library is even better if it’s large, quiet and has stacks I can hide in so I can grab a pile of books and flip through them sitting on the floor. 

Chosing one of these tasks is on my agenda this week.  I’ll let you know when it happens…or not.