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30 Days of Blog Lovin’ ~ Day #4

Day 4 and what a day it has been. This morning was a complete write off. It was a slow start this morning after a late night last night, I finished up around 2am but couldn’t get to sleep until nearly 3am. So it was a weary start to say the least.

The Eye of the Beholder by Michelle Grant
Anyway I have been working through this book called the Artist Way by Julia Cameron. It is all about discovering and recovering your creative self. A part of it involves writing 3 A4 pages every morning when you get up. Another part involves taking yourself on artists dates by yourself. It is designed to go through each chapter over 12 weeks, but I am in a group on facebook who are doing each chapter over 12 months. I have had many insights in doing this book and many breakthroughs so far this year. This book is definitely helping me to find my creative self and me. To keep your creative soul full you need to keep filling the well by treating yourself. It can be the smallest thing like sketching outdoors or visiting a gallery, reading a book or going for a massage. Really does make all the difference. I don’t do that part often enough but I can tell when I need a break, and its nice to do those little things guilt free. Anyway this is way off track from where I was heading but I just had to explain what my morning pages were to finish today’s story.
Jelly Fish work in progress
Well after the struggle to get up, I grabbed my cup of green tea and lemon that I start every day with and went back to my bed where I do my morning pages. I just got settled and started writing when Don comes in with his laptop and wants to chat about this and that and how to do this and that on his puter. It is harder for me to write with the interruptions. So I get up and go and start cooking my eggs and tomato for breaky and write a little more while that is cooking, now Don is out in the kitchen with me and now he wants to sort stuff we have going on with our solar panels and then stuff about our financial adviser amongst other things, so inbetween eating breakfast and finding paperwork and other things my morning pages have gone by the way side.  (I just read this back and it sounds like I was trying to run away from Don, I know he just wants to spend time with me too, I will have to let him know he will have my full attention after I have done my morning pages, they just help me to clear my head for the day first) After I cleaned up and got dressed I headed into my office.

I got a couple of orders and calls finalized before I got a visitor. Then before I knew it is was lunch time. So from all the distractions in every direction from the moment I got up I am feeling extremely scatterbrained and have no idea what I am focusing on now. Don and Wil went for a drive and I took the opportunity to have some alone time and clear my head, So I meditated for 20 mins and that did the trick. It just helped me get back into the moment of what had to be done in the here and now! But I still feel like I haven’t achieved much today. I did get all my orders finalized and I did get more resin embellishments made. But I still haven’t finished videoing my class kit : And one of my big light bulbs I use for videoing blew tonight, so I wont be able to do any more tonight. I have to order these photography bulbs in because they don’t stock them in town. 🙁
Work in Progress
I constantly feel like I am a day behind on my own schedule. I know the procrastination demon has a lot to play in that.  I think I found one of my time wasters today that I didn’t realize before, and that is I usually catch up on facebook and emails while I have a cuppa, but what I didn’t realize before or just chose to blissfully ignore is that my cuppa breaks usually end up with going from this link to the next and the next because that is interesting and that is something new to learn etc etc, but before I know it an hour has gone by and the last of my cuppa is cold. Hmmm think I have to make some changes there, I think I need to have coffee breaks away from the computer. Take a good 20 min break and enjoy my cuppa then get back to work.

Most of my work days start at 10am after I do a couple of jobs around the house and go through to midnight or 1am usually, I know that is not balanced and inbetween that is cooking tea and feeding animals and collecting eggs etc. I need to start walking again, that helps me to stay a bit more balanced too! I love working from home and having that flexibility but it is a lot harder to have a work life balance. Its lucky I love what I do, I just wish I was more efficient on the actual business side of things!  

So I have nothing really insightful or exciting to talk about tonight, so I am sorry if I have bored you.
I think I need an early night, I have been feeling sleep deprived all day. Well anytime between 11 and 12 is an early night for me! LOL Since it is already 10.15pm, prob a bit late for an early early night!

I have a little sticky not on my computer screen that says focus, I think I need 20 of them around my screen and I think I am going to work with a timer tomorrow and really pay close attention to where my time is going. I always feel like I never stop but I am not getting the results for the work it feels like I am doing! So tomorrow is operation knuckle down and cross a few things off my to do list.
Another work in progress.
 I started all the art work in this post at a workshop I went to last Saturday with a local artist Lynnie, the background techniques were created with shaving cream and inks, it was a lot of fun. And a perfect day for filling my creative well!! The Jellyfish still needs something more done to it I think and I have no idea what the yellow one or the other one is going to turn into! This was a great class to just let go and see what comes up, this is something I still struggle with!

In the next week do something just for you on your own, try something new or just take some time out, go and fill your creative well!!! I would love to hear what you have done to treat yourself, I would also love any new ideas you might have for me to fill my creative well too 🙂

Wishing you a fabulous day tomorrow!! xx

Comments

Patricia
Reply

Lol…It did sound as if you were running away from Don and I could just imagine it in my mind! I am very certain that time has shrunk over the ages though…I also feel as if I was able to do much more a few years back opposed to today’s time…and I don’t even have children in the house any more! I love the yellow back ground and am eager to see what will become of it…Till tomorrow…
Patricia

ANUPAMA CHOUDARY
Reply

Hi Michelle! I discovered Artist’s Way a decade ago when I was going through difficult circumstances. To say that the morning pages and artist dates turned my life around would be an understatement. I still read it from time to time especially the chapter on money…LOL! I do my stream of consciousness pages religiously to this day only I don’t stick to the morning part always. Thank you for writing this post…I think I will curl myself up on my sofa today and read it all over again 🙂
xoxo
Anupama
p.s. Larissa Albernaz is another artist who is hooked on to this!

Michelle Grant
Reply

Thank you Anupama, it definitely is life changing hey! xxx

Debbie Kingston
Reply

Writing three A4 pages daily??? Wow, that’s commitment. If it was me it would have one word on each page. Well done for keeping up with that 🙂

Don’t know how you can stay up that late. I’m dead by 9pm ! hehehehe…

Michelle Grant
Reply

Yeah I know, Commitment seems to be something I am getting better at this year, the morning pages and this 30 blog challenge and more!

I am dead by 9 some nights too, just don’t get to bed by then too often. lol

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