Monday, November 16, 2009

Random Things I Want to Do in Toronto

I am all about lists and this week I am in Toronto.  No kids.  No hubby.  It’s a work thing. 

Toronto

I must confess that while I should be enjoying the king size bed and not having to cook, I am stressed out about leaving the chicklets for a week.  To make matters even more stressful, littlest chicklet developed a large swelling on the side of her neck right before I was about to leave. If her dad hadn’t promised to bring her to the doctor right away I don’t think I could have left. (She’s fine. She has antibiotics for a throat infection).

Back to my list…

This won’t be a list of historical landmarks I want to visit nor some high falutin’ cultural events, although those things are great too.  I just want to do a few interesting things on my own that I usually don’t get the chance to do.

  1. Visit Anthropolgie.  Yeah baby!!
  2. Check out at least one art supply store.
  3. Uninterrupted reading time alone in my hotel room.
  4. Look for a BIG magazine store to scout out mags I can’t find at home.
  5. See an old school friend.  Well she’s not old but our school is.

 

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Joy Diet – Menu Item #9 Laughter

laughing

I read the chapter in Beck’s book about laughter and initially thought, “OK, that’s a no-brainer.  Who doesn’t want to laugh more?”

I took Beck’s advice and tried to  count the number of times a day I laugh.  It had to be out loud; inside my head didn’t count. Sadly, I really don’t laugh as much as I thought I did. I definitely laugh less than 30 times each day.  Hmm… not good. 

Next step, pay attention to what makes me laugh.  I thought I was unpredictable.  My tastes in laughter cannot be classified, I thought.  Wrong again. 

After much soul searching, I have determined that the following things make me laugh:

  1. The sound of my littlest chicklet “gut laughing”.
  2. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
  3. Children’s Letters to God
  4. The World According to Student Bloopers
  5. Brian Regan

I will indulge daily.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wishcasting Wednesday – What Do You Wish to Dare?

“I am looking for a dare to be great situation.” 

That’s a quote from LLoyd Dobler, the main character in the 1989 movie, Say Anything.  Today, I am wishing for a dare to be great situation and hoping that when it rolls around I will recognize it and rise to the challenge.

By the way, this wonderful movie is being released this month on DVD/Blu Ray to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original movie release.  Even though that makes me feel really old, I intend to pick up a copy and watch it again.  It makes me happy.

I am totally and completely serious!

wishcasting-150

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Let’s Play – The Joy Diet – Menu Item #7

I googled the quote “Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.” and was surprised to see that it’s attributed to Confucius.  It seems such a modern concept.playing parachute

In this chapter of The Joy Diet, Beck encourages us to conceptualize our real careers.  She gives us some ideas for figuring out what our real careers are. I am not sure I know what my real career is … yet. I do know this. There are three strong elements to my real career: art, working from home, and teaching.  I also know what the biggest impediments are to exploring my real career. My issues are fear and lack of time.  I fear what my life will be like if I am suddenly making less money than I do now.   One of the passages in the book, that addresses this issue, and really spoke to me, in particular was, “My real career has always been, and will always be, whatever action my heart and soul need to take.  What I do for a living is just part of the structure I build to support myself.”  So the message is…. I can do both.  That’s great.  Except for one thing … the laws of space and time.  I feel like I need to “keep my day job” to pay the bills but four kids also take up a great deal of time. 

Today, for example, middle chicklet has a hockey game today at 7:00 a.m., two oldest chicklets have a Remembrance Day Service at 9:40 a.m., smallest chicklet has a hockey practice at 9:45 a.m., middle chicklet has a second hockey game out of town at noon.  Of course, somewhere in all of that we have to squeeze in eating, grocery shopping, and other routine activities.  I am truly not making excuses.  I just have to be realistic and figure out a plan to make this work.

I would like to backtrack a bit.  Menu Item #5 was Risk.  Every day, do at least one frightening thing that contributes to the fulfillment of your desires.  I have definitely not been doing a frightening thing every day but there has been one intimidating task looming.  For several years I have wanted to join the local art club.  There are a couple of reasons why this is so intimidating. The biggest issue is that if I join an art club, I’m putting it “out there” that I consider what I do to be art.  This is a major hurdle for me.

Hey everyone – look at me – I’m an artist!  I feel brazen and vulnerable at the same time. That’s a very uncomfortable feeling.  Anyways, yesterday I forced myself to go to a local art show put on by the Art Club and I talked to several of the artists.  I asked questions about the art club and joining the art club.  It’s definitely a first step.  My next step is to actually go to one of the meetings… stay tuned.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wishcasting Wednesday

This is the first time I have ever participated in Wishcasting Wednesday. My wish feels so big I can barely get it down without hyperventilating. I would love to go to Squam Art Workshops next year. OK there it is. I have officially sent my intention out into the universe ...

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Who Knew?

OK so I haven't finished the first project I started for this challenge but I felt the creative urge to start a second project. I thought that if I felt inspired enough to have two projects underway I better just run with that. My second project feels like a blank slate right now with so much possibility. Last night while the chicklets were working on their homework, I took out my supplies and just started working along with them right there in the kitchen. It was fun. I always thought artistic endeavours had to be a solitary activity. I am so happy that isn't the case because getting a lot of time alone, on a regular basis, just isn't going to happen for me. If I only learned that one thing during this challenge, it will have been so worth it. But this is just the beginning...

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Go Big or Go Home

I didn’t have to start a big project for the Art Every Day Month Challenge (AEDM) but I did.  I’m so excited about it.  It’s a mixed media collage piece. I can’t wait to start painting on it.  This is what I’ve got so far…

collage_1

It seems serendipitous that I used to do paper scrapbooking and now I scrap digitally. Whatever will I do with the treasure trove of scrapbooking paper that I have amassed over the past seven years?  Hmm…..

Not What I Expected

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I started today and it wasn’t what I expected.

Leah over at Creative Every Day is hosting a challenge for the month of November.  It’s called the Art Every Day Month Challenge (AEDM)).  The idea is to create something each and every day for the entire month.  It may sound daunting but the aim is not to stress ourselves trying to get artistic endeavours completed but to purposefully set some time aside to enjoy the process of creating each day during November. 

I have never considered myself an artist. Over the years I have tried quilting, photography, pottery, jewellery making and scrapbooking.  I thought of myself as “crafty” more than anything else but lately all that has started to change.  I can hear a still small voice.  That voice is saying, “You are an artist.  You always have been.  You will be happier when you accept this.” That voice keeps getting louder and more insistent.  So, I’ve been reading books and blogs about the artistic process, watching videos, and taking online courses but until now I haven’t actually started an art project.  I keep asking myself if it’s possible to have lived for forty-two years and only realize NOW that I want to be an artist. How is that possible?

I started today and it wasn’t what I expected.

I made a huge mess in my kitchen, the chicklets were in and out, needing my help with this and that, my time was limited, supper was looming and still I was happy.  Very happy.  I’m glad I didn’t wait for the perfect day, the perfect light, the perfect space… I would still be waiting instead of creating … thanks Leah for helping me get started.  I don’t know where this path is going to lead but at least I took the first step …

Pictures tomorrow.