Monday Post ~ November 28, 2011
“Let everyone climb on their roofs and sing their notes. Sing loud!” ~Rumi
What are your plans for creative practice this week? Given the specifics of your schedule, decide on a realistic goal or a milestone to reach for. A goal as simple as “I will be creative for 10 minutes every day” or “I will gesso three canvases” is what it’s all about. And if you aren’t in goal-setting mode, remember that regular creative practice is what it’s all about. Just show up and do the work.
Share your goal(s) as a comment to this post, and let us know how things went with your creative plans for last week, if you posted to last week’s Monday Post.
Suggestion: When you’re deciding on your creative intentions, it’s a good idea to think about WHEN you’re going to write those 2,000 words or paint that canvas. Try to schedule the time slots in your calendar (if you keep one), understanding that flexibility may be required. If things don’t happen when you wanted them to, that’s OK. Give yourself a gentle push with one hand, but pat yourself kindly on the shoulder with the other if you don’t reach your goal for a given week. Sometimes it’s easier, sometimes it’s harder. Ride whatever you’ve got.
It’s also useful to have a sense of your minimum requirements (come hell or high water I’m going to write 100 words) while keeping a lookout for sudden opportunities to do more. You know, the day that the baby takes a monster nap or your partner takes the kids out to run errands and you find yourself with an unexpected “extra” half hour. Grab that time for yourself. You can catch up on the dishes and the laundry later. If you keep something creative in the back of your mind for those sudden opportunities, you’ll be more likely to use them to your advantage — rather than squandering your precious bonus moments on Facebook or vacuuming out the sofa cushions.
Studio Mothers: Life & Art 
i have blogged every day in november for nablopomo ….. and i think i’m going to go ahead and do it for december … just because i can …
today i have plans to spend MINIMUM 30 minutes in my art room cleaning it … it’s gotten to such a state that it’s a barely functioning space …. and i have a commission that i will start tomorrow and finish this week …
you rock, e!
time for a plan! i’ve been winging it the last few weeks and feel like a little structure is in order or else all of December will be sucked up into the Christmas vacuum. It doesn’t help that my paid work is requiring extra attention (the nerve!)
This week:
Run 3X
Finish Advent Calender for kids
Order bottles & create labels for herbal immunity kit
Create my daily “schedule” on paper
Mitten knitting project
Set up nature Advent table w/ kids
Intention Journaling
Call someone
If I do all that I’ll be stoked!
Jane
last week’s goals: survive in-law invasion and ubercook. ~check and check.
tomorrow is my writing group – chip at the end of this manuscript draft for a few hours. ~check and though not a lot, happy with result., time was shortened due to needing to get labwork done on one of my kids.
this week’s primary creative goal: same old same old: at least another little chapter edited, if not through to the end.
should also put the last two veg garden plots to bed for winter.
Last week was good, but left me in a bit of a tailspin. This week I’m going to focus on getting several lingering tasks crossed off of my list and try to make some brainspace for Christmas.
Last week’s goals:
* Art Every Day Month project [yes, tho not daily]
* CCA homework for one class plus reading [yes]
* Journaling [yes]
This week’s goals:
* Art Every Day Month project [daily, with posts every other day or so–may use these windows for writing too]
* Revise essay for new nonfiction writers’ group [meeting Thurs]
* Complete draft of newsletter and send [T]
* CCA homework for one class plus reading [Th]
* Prepare for CCA supervised coaching sessions
* Start working on my handmade ornament for upcoming holiday party
* Journaling [daily target]
* Yoga or run x4
I haven’t posted for 2 weeks but I have been working. I have posted regularly on the art every day month project, blogged several times, written a little more than I would have thought possible in my daily journal. I mean, pages and pages of the stuff is just pouring out of me. It runs over into my yoga time because it is hard to stop the flow and sometimes I don’t want to. All this despite a family emergency that arrived unbidden as they always do, and I’m feeling pretty good about my creative life in November. Let’s see how I do with the Christmas rush.
1. finish the little panel, choose one of the Ustrasana poses and draw/ transfer it onto the panel and paint over, add color and definition. Remember that it doesn’t matter if it sucks so be prepared to take some risks.
2 Beginning the December panel- choose a surface, and I’m thinking about planning to make use of an old frame so consider the size carefully. This one is Dive. Have someone take pictures of me dropping back to kapotasana so I can study the arms. Draw the kimono pattern by hand, using chakras in place of the wheels. Practice drawing all seven chakras.
3. Continue blogging- I have my first follower who doesn’t already know me! (and of course I am very grateful for my friends who follow as well 🙂
4. Continue journalling. What has worked well lately is if I use the intention journalling format and print out a list of my goals for the day and revisit it in the middle of the day when things get busy and I lose the thread of what my original intention is.
5. Stay calm.
November itself has just sucked the juice right out of me. It seems I have been busy with everything related to paid work, and meta-art stuff instead of actually *making* things. The plus is I got my new kiln and got it set up, so there is beadmaking in my near future! Here were my goals from last week:
Work on the loooong Doctor Who scarf I am knitting for my daughter for Christmas. [worked on it, still only 25% of the way thru]
Complete a rather sizeable wholesale order of glass cupcake bead pendants and rings.[not even started yet]
Bake! [oh yeah! Done!]
Visit the ancient Egyptian exhibit at our museum with my oldest daughter [DONE, and it was fabulous!]
Choose a new book to read. [nope]
For this week:
Work on that scarf!
Refill the creative well with some ‘alone’ time
Make beads (on Wednesday)
Put together food, favors, decorations and games for my almost-6-year-old’s Fairy party in a week and a half (ack!)
Breathe
Hi!
Last week went a bit off-track when I got a lightning-fast tummy bug on Wednesday (blech). But let’s see…my goals were:
-move my body every day (yes, apart from Wed-Sat)
-write 3 blog posts (yes)
-tweak my website(s) (no)
-try to crochet again (yes! I made an adorable stuffed turtle!)
-take another mama-break (yes! I went out for tea with my cousin and her new baby)
-reread Isadora Duncan’s autobiography for 15 minutes every day (almost every day)
This week my goals are:
-complete a Christmas present (I have 3 or 4 ideas so far)
-write 3 blog posts (more, assuming that Reverb11 is happening)
-move my body every day (ideally, I’d like to move with Xander each day AND do some yoga on my own once he goes to bed)
-look up Christmas craft ideas to do with Xander each day in December (and start doing them, seeing as December starts this week…how the heck did THAT happen?!)
-take a mama-break for at least 2 hours
-read Isadora for 15 minutes/day