Change is a-coming!!

So ... a little art in every day ... not so much lately.

I'm dusting off my studio table after several months of inactivity. I let so many things keep me

from creating in the studio this year. Some have been very good things - family things that were wonderful to be present for. Some were necessary household things that we all have to make time for. Some were actually creative things that I was involved in outside my little home studio (which I may post on in the future?).

Mostly, however, I've stopped being accountable to myself about the importance to me

of a little art in every day.

 

But it's time for that to change.

When I was a young girl, growing up in a large household on the farm, every Saturday was house cleaning day. My sisters and I would have to get up early (often being awakened before 8am to the sound of the vacuum cleaner - my mother's not-so-subtle hint at what day of the week it was!) and help my mom thoroughly clean house. No Saturday morning cartoons, no games, no play, no arts and crafts, no going outside until the cleaning jobs were all finished. We were usually able to work together well enough to finish by early afternoon and were then free to choose our amusements until chore and dinner prep.

I used to look forward to baking and creating art on those afternoons.

I'd pour through the cookbooks for new recipes to try. (I baked my first loaf of braided Challah bread when I was about 13.) I'd also spend hours in my room coloring or cutting up construction paper and

glueing together collages, dioramas, and any other 3D art.

Both are still great pleasures for me. Both are creative things I still look forward to doing

'once my real work is finished'.

On the farm -- with its never-ending list of chores to accomplish 24/7, and in the household I began when I married my sweetheart -- when we were busily having and raising our four children, this order of priorities was quite necessary. Increasingly though, with the independence of my children,

I think that order of priorities is a bit backwards for me.

The 'real work' I'd like to be doing is the creative work.

 

What would happen if I flipped my priorities around?

What would happen if I treated my creative skills with respect and allowed them to fill more hours of my day than ... say, laundry?

What would happen if I allowed myself to learn more and dive a little deeper into art?

For the longest time I've been placing my art at the bottom of the To Do list. I've only allowed myself time for it if and when all other tasks are finished. I now realize this is a mistake.

I need art in my every day routine. It energizes me, uplifts me, calms me, strengthens me to

do the unpleasant and mundane things I have to do.

I should be doing more of it.

I will do more of it.
 

Change is coming!