Mental Reframing

Some of my chocolate wrappers. Just some.

I had an opportunity to attend a two-part workshop this week, How to Tidy Up Your Life led by Lalita Ballesteros. The principles she talked about there were based from Marie Kondo’s work, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I’ve read Kondo’s books but have never really put any of her suggestions into place. Lalita asked a question during the workshop this week that got me thinking and and appreciating the possibilities of a decluttered life.

The question was to not think about what you want to get rid of, but in a future life where you can picture the you you want to be and the lifestyle you want, what do you want to have with you?

I began thinking about the chocolate wrappers I’ve been drawing. I have such a large, untidy and unwieldy pile of them. Two weeks ago, I thought about decluttering and for one week I would draw one and at the end of the session, I’d throw away the wrapper. That was great for one week. Seven wrappers gone.

Unfortunately, my large, unwieldy pile still remains, not looking that much diminished. After the workshop this week, and considering this question of what do I want to have in the future with regards to my wrappers, I realized I want a sketchbook filled with drawings of chocolate wrappers. And once that sketchbook is complete, I don’t need to collect any more wrappers.

Identifying a boundary and limit to the extent of my project, has made me surprisingly pleased and happy. The paper clutter has been resolved for that thing. I will draw the wrappers that I like and when my sketchbook is done, no more wrappers are needed. I found this a really helpful reframing.

If you think about who you want to be and the life you’d like to lead, what things will you bring with you? What have you outgrown and no longer need?

Knowing Yourself

Knowing Yourself

Taking on a personal challenge or beginning a new habit can exciting. Just think of the possibilities! The change! And then, old habits show up. One thing that can help with learning that new skill or practicing the new habit is to be aware of what you already do. Be willing to have some stumbling on the learning path.

I've had more free time recently because I finished up my Amsterdam Dailies. One thing I've been wanting to do is to pare down my collection of chocolate bar wrappers. I collect them so I can draw them. The pile is a bit out of control though. I like to be fairly tidy, so I came up with a mini art and house-cleaning challenge for myself.

For one week, I will work on one wrapper a day, limit my time to about 30 minutes and see if I could get the essence of the wrapper design down on the page. One session per wrapper and the end of it, the wrapper goes out.

At the end of this mini-challenge week I wanted to have seven drawings done and have the pile of my wrappers be seven less. Repeat the week challenge as necessary over time.

Last night was my fifth drawing and my fifth wrapper. So far so good. Except that I went on auto-pilot. I enjoyed my drawing. I loved the wonky lettering. The colors were wonderful. The shapes not very complicated. And when the timer went off, I was not done.

Figuring out how to draw and color a complete picture in a short period of time is a skill. What a challenge!

If time is not an issue, I’m good at paying attention to details and rendering fairly accurately. For my mini challenge though, I have to experiment and try new things. I need to mix things up. Maybe I use fewer colors, use only pen, skip some details, work on a smaller piece or only a part, try mostly paint and little ink or pencil, use pencil instead of paint, or something else entirely.

Sharing this story is not to say that you can’t or shouldn’t continue to do the things that you enjoy and are good at, or that you need to beat yourself up if the new skill isn't smooth from the start (please don't). Rather, it’s being aware of how you usually approach things and figure out what parts of what you usually do will work and what new strategies to try out. Keep at it and be gentle with yourself.

What’s a challenge or habit you’ve taken on recently? What are you learning?

Generosity of Artists

Today was a treat in multiple meanings of the word. in late May I sent off a package of chocolate with one of my cards to a friend because her birthday was coming up. I had learned she didn’t have local access to Theo’s chocolate, a Seattle based chocolate company, and we had been talking about their chocolate. She reciprocated in mid-June for my birthday but unfortunately I never got the package. It seemed that it had gotten lost or perhaps was mis-delivered somewhere.

Birthday chocolates and card from an artist friend

Yesterday, I found out that she tried again and once again I hadn’t gotten it. Disappointing, and yet unlikely to have happened twice. We figured out what happened. She had sent the packages to the place I had shipped her package from. I called them this morning and yay! the boxes were there!

So I got two birthday packages to enjoy with chocolate and hand painted cards. My friend is a talented urban sketcher and watercolorist. Look for @lylopa on Instagram. Her work is beautiful. I regularly drool over it on instagram. And now I have two of her sketches to admire and look at.

I also have chocolate to draw!

One of the lovely things that happens with artists is often trading work with one another. One person likes something of another artist and often trades of work happen. It’s a great way to be generous and yet also receive.

Sharing and having more art because of it. What a great thing!

100 Days of Creating! Ready, Set, Go!

I signed up for Seth Godin’s The Creative’s Workshop yesterday. I am both excited and wondering what exactly I have gotten myself in for.

“This is a workshop for writers, painters, playwrights, sculptors, musicians, stand up comics, designers, coaches and anyone else who has a craft and a point of view. It’s for people who have a job doing this work for an organization, or for indies who want to do it on their own.

“In this workshop, you’ll learn to find your voice, to do work that a professional can stand behind, to make a living while making a difference.” Seth Godin on The Creative’s Workshop

The students are creatives from all walks of life, from all over the world. I’ve just been on the class site for over 24 hours and already the range of topics is astounding! In addition to responding to fellow classmates and what inspires you from their stories and comments, the course encourages you to do the Dailies and the Prompts.

Dailies are everyday posts about what you’ve been creating and working on. They can be rough, they can be incomplete, but the challenge is to show up and do them daily for 100 days. More if you want to. The Prompts get sent out three times a week. Since those are external, it can be a challenge to respond, but new ideas can be generated form getting out of your comfort zone.

I signed up because I want to push myself creatively to see what I can do next and because I wanted to meet creatives across disciplines, see what holds them back, what inspires them and what do they do in this workshop. The last day to sign up is February 18th. Join in on the challenge to take your creativity to new places!

My first Daily for the Creative’s Workshop Day 1/100. Chocolate Wrappers, ink and watercolor in my sketchbook.