As I mentioned before, I’m working toward more art and less housework by reading The Artist’s Way. Remembering to do the tasks is an effort. It’s not that the tasks are difficult, not in any way. I just can’t remember to do them. I think about it while I’m writing the Morning Pages, which is 3 pages of journaling and has become a habit I’m enjoying.
Being able to empty my thoughts on paper has helped declutter my brain-junk. You know all that yapping that goes on in there? Well, I’ve got alot of it. Do this, did you do that, why, is it, isn’t it, you idiot, and on. Journaling helps that, but somehow the tasks escape me.
This week I allowed myself time and now I’m in Week 8, “Recovering a Sense of Strength.” As I read yesterday I was having “Aha!” moments. The author writes, “Creativity occurs in the moment..” She suggests that we not pay attention to the final form and don’t ignore the fact that “creativity lies not in the done, but in the doing.”
So I’m reading this thinking about my post yesterday and how I wrote the point of my painting was the process not the result! I really didn’t care about the painting I ended up with. The objective was the action of painting, using the materials and tools, getting the thoughts on the paper in color.
The idea that you need to have something to show for your effort stops that excitement to create. Focusing on the process allows that little sense of adventure. If I let myself think I have to come up with a masterpiece, I’m done. Just playing with the paint or cleaning the desk area helped me to take a small step rather than a scary leap!
To read these ideas in a book that just yesterday were my thoughts was a revelation to me. I feel like I’m on the right track. Another painting session is on the horizon, as long as I’m not distracted by laundry, which is a whole other ball of wax.
I read The Artists Way several years ago. While I found it helpful, the daily pages were not. Recently I’ve started keeping an art journal and I think, for me, it is accomplishing what the daily pages were supposed to do.
I’m glad it is helping you.
I used to keep a daily sketching/writing book so these pages may turn into that eventually. Thanks for commenting!