I'm doing this blog post on the hoof...i'm so over planning anything...life is too unpredictable...this morning, in the moment is the way to go. What else can we do!? My only way of keeping going through this weird life we are living is to set myself a few small goals...things that I can feel I have achieved each day. Sometimes they are just little things...like getting through my water allowance for the day...some days its finishing a painting. Whatever happens out in the world I can manage a few things to feel better.
The time will pass anyway x
This quote feels appropriate to me today. It's true we can't go wherever we want to right now, but we can still find things to work towards that will help us enjoy life more when we are free to roam again.
This week a 10 year Facebook memory came up for me, showing the first time I exhibited a painting in a joint show in Melbourne. It reminded me how quickly that time had passed and also helped me realise how far my painting journey had come in that time. That exhibition seemed like no time ago at all. This anniversary also helped me value myself and my work as an artist, personally recognising how much time and effort I have put into growing my creative pursuits and quietly celebrating with myself how much I had achieved.
Last year was the first year that I made a profit from selling my artworks. That is a lot of time to invest in something that you love to do with the hope of making a living as an artist. Not forgetting all the years of learning and creating prior to that show! Blimey that's a long time. As artists we certainly don't create for the money. Everyday that I get to paint I still feel excited and so fortunate and it really was so worth all the work and sacrifice.
I guess what I am trying to say is start working towards that dream you have for a different life, even if it is small steps and small daily goals. One of my goals was to feel more healthy. We are 8 weeks into a healthier way of eating and are already enjoying the feeling of being several kilos lighter. It's certainly tough eating well, especially with the stress of lockdowns, but we just keep thinking of the Summer ahead and how we want to feel then. The time will pass anyway.
I will keep painting, because that is what helps me get by. Creativity has truly saved my life and kept me slightly sane over the years. Yes, it is often hard work, with a lot of soul searching, but it has helped me change my perspective and bear this life inside these four walls a little more comfortably.
Stuff I've been doing to survive
Baking this week x
The heathy eating plan is still going well...though the last couple of weeks of lockdown have been challenging. I have followed this great Instagram account for sometime, Wholefood Simply. I just bought the book and there are so many wonderful recipes for sweet treats made without wheat and refined sugar. Take a look at the website for some free recipes. This week I made this!
QUICK AND EASY CHOC RASPBERRY SLICE
Book of the week x
A New York Times Notable Book (2020)
Best Book of 2020: Guardian, Financial Times, Literary Hub, and NPR
Drawing on Maggie O'Farrell's long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare's most enigmatic play, HAMNET is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.
Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.
Award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell's new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes, and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.
Podcast of the week x
6 Tips for Dealing with Burnout
This episode from The Accidental Creative podcast talks about creative burnout, but really all the tips work for life in general.
It has been a long year, and many are experiencing some level of burnout. It's taken everything we hav
e to deliver our expectations over the past year, and as we now return to a sense of 'normal', the uncertainty and expectations are likely to rise even more. This episode offers six tips for dealing with those moments you feel overwhelmed and burned out.
1. Pause and organize
2. Clear the decks
3. Re-prioritize
4. Time block
5. Care physically
6. Re-root in your productive passion
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