Your Creative Intentions: The Monday Post ~ January 28, 2013
Now is the time to recommit to a regular creativity practice. Regularity — a daily practice, if possible — is one of the best ways to stay in touch with how you make meaning. Can a regular creative practice be part of your intentions for 2013?
What are your plans for creative practice this week? Given the specifics of your schedule, decide on a realistic intention or practice plan — and ink that time in your calendar. The scheduling part is important, because as you know, if you try to “fit it in” around the edges, it generally won’t happen. An intention as simple as “I will write for 20 minutes every morning after breakfast” or “I will sketch a new still life on Wednesday evening” is what it’s all about.
Share your intentions or goals 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. We use a broad brush in defining creativity, so don’t be shy. We also often include well-being practices that support creativity, such as exercise and journaling.
Putting your intentions on “paper” helps you get clear on what you want to do — and sharing those intentions with this community leverages the motivation of an accountability group. Join us!
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Studio Mothers: Life & Art 
January 28, 2013
Last week:
1. buy a new plate for Elegy- go to Quill and Press- no
2. Work on the brainstorming for the 5 year plan, finish up that part- still in progress but I did work on it
3. Order or make the calendar, why is this part hard? Calendars sold out, I made one for the week
4. Submit work for the FAWC call for art, that’s easy because all I have to do is email jpegs from the week in P-town in August- done!
5. Make a plan for what I’m going to submit for the CAA members juried show, Elegy or a few from the yoga series? Consider using pieces that are done or nearly done.- I ordered 2 cradled panels to work on a few kapotasana variations, but I still might submit older work. I’m not sure I’m ready for this show, honestly. Fear of rejection? You bet.
6. Continue working on memoir, find a working title? Developing the over-all arc of the story- submitted a section for the 5PM writing group
7. Post for the yoga blog- yes
8. Continue working on a sequence and a workshop description for classes/new workshops- worked on updating my yoga teacher bio instead, met with new studio owner who I’ll be working for to sign papers and review policies, schedule, etc.
This week:
1. Go to the Quill and Press for more plates
2. Finish the 5 year plan, begin breaking it up into one year segments
3. Make another one week calendar, I used plain white paper and 5 different color post-it notes for different areas of my life: yoga, art, home care, kid’s activities, gallery, etc. I ran out of colors and had to double up!
4. Concord Art Association Deadline: bring finished work Wednesday February 13th. The panels should arrive this week. So here’s the thing, work like crazy on the 2 new panels, and don’t worry about whether they’re good enough to submit. New work needs space to grow. But maybe they will be, just work on them anyway and have a back up plan, what do I submit if they don’t work out? Does it need to be framed? If so, order or scrounge up some frames. The panels won’t need framing since they’re cradled.
5. Ellen’s great idea to draw an object everyday for the month. Today, Monday, pick an object for the remainder of January. There’s a great tea cup with a spoon and a teabag tag hanging out on my table right now. I had the idea that kitchen ware would go along with my theme of nourish this year, pots and pans, etc….
6. Continue working on memoir, currently reading Mary Karr’s Liar’s Club as research. It’s really inspiring, so much detail. Incorporate more detail into this week’s writing. Head toward the goal of coming up with a title, list of chapters??
7. Post for the art blog, I could alternate posts, one week for yoga, one week for art. I also want ot sign up for a web workshop that an artist I know is running at the end of February. But it’s on a night that I work.
8. Yoga: continue working on vinyasa sequences for classes. This week: Start a third sequence. Just start it. Personal practice goals: practice every day Monday through Friday and Sunday.
If you saw my calendar with the post-its, you would probably laugh at the absurdity of it all. It’s clearly very full, and I was sick this weekend and had to clear my schedule on Sunday to rest. Watched Downton Abbey, first 2 episodes. Anyway, one thing that has been a source of stress for me is how busy I am. I start thinking how much I have to do and my head starts spinning at the sheer impossibility. And yet, when I sit down and rationally think about what I could let go of, there’s nothing I want to let go of. So for now, instead of making big progress in any one area, I have to figure out how to be content with slow incremental progress in a number of areas. I am also figuring out that my life is full, relax and go with it. If I really need to clear the calendar, I can. But meanwhile, I love it all, so here we go!
BTW, reducing my coffee intake from 3-4 cups to 1-2 cups is doing wonders for my anxiety levels. I’ve known this intuitively for some time, but now that I’m making the transition from caffeine to herbal tea, it’s like the fog is clearing.
Damn, girl!! That’s a helluva a list! AWESOME!
On an editorial deadline this week, so not a lot of wiggle room. Plus, the youngest has no school on Thursday or Friday, so I’m hoping that my husband (who is still at home, doing a great job as the part-time manny), will pick up extra slack.
Daily writing practice streak: up to 47 days in a row of logging at least 500 words daily in my WIP. The chain is so long now that I’m seriously motivated not to let it break.
Last week’s creative/well-being intentions:
* Daily morning centering practice w/Morning Pages and intention journaling [yes]
* Daily writing practice [yes]
* Complete installment of short story for “5PM Friday” weekly accountability group [yes]
* Work on Creative Times newsletter [yes]
* Write a blog post [yes–reprint from newsletter]
* Yoga x3 [yes]
* Reading [yes but not daily]
* Another installment of Project Life catch-up [no]
This week’s creative/well-being intentions:
* Daily morning centering practice w/Morning Pages and intention journaling
* Daily writing practice
* Complete installment of short story for “5PM Friday” weekly accountability group [daily]
* Prepare short story for submission to lit mag
* Write a blog post [T]
* Yoga x3 [M/W/Sat]
* Reading [daily]
* Another installment of Project Life catch-up [afternoons w/kids]
* Work on month plan for February
i’ve been doing many hours in my studio … painting and puttering ….staying artistically on track in 2013 … this week i commit to being completely prepared for saturday’s artshow drop off by TUESDAY night …anything else will be gravy..
last week: is full of half school days, due to exams, and end of week, crazy three day road trip to boston to take k to his berklee audition! (2 road days, one audition day). so maybe get at least one more submission letter out before trip. got walloped with cold from hell over end of last week and couldn’t string a thought together, let alone write well. slowing down my expectations. it’s ok, life happens.
^: i got out 4 queries, drove a gazillion miles, #1’s audition went well, saw friends,came home and saw #2 through the snow delayed wrestling tournament yesterday, then essentially passed out.
this week: rewrite (total revamp) sermon during designated tues morning writing time. tomorrow, back to query letter schedule and find time during rest of week, if possible, to look back into nano wrimo project and see what i can do with that.
I will find time to write something, somewhere every day – dusting off the often-ignored journal, going back to that in-progress story, and making sure to post on my blog (quite related to this very topic – justalittlepractice.wordpress.com) twice each week. At least.