It’s been way too log since my last post because life has been “crazy busy”. I had to make some choices because that ebb and flow thing I wrote about? It showed up in a big way.
Making Choices
After a training gig in Toronto, I enjoyed a couple of weeks at home in Nova Scotia and then headed to Ohio for our granddaughter’s high school graduation. I brought sketching supplies with me and found time to enjoy the gardens during the ten days we were there.
I wanted quality time with my family but I’m also committed to my creative practice. That meant each day I made personal choices about where I would spend a few quiet creative minutes.
Kid Adventures
On the first of June, we headed back to Nova Scotia with three grand-kids for a month of adventure. They loved it here, beach combing, shell collecting and hiking the shoreline. I loved giving my grand-kids the freedom I knew as a child.
In between entertaining, I still made choices for creative time. I finished the edits of an anthology I’m part of and sent it off to the publisher. Then, over the course of a few days, I prepared twenty pieces of my original art for The Art Shack opening. (Hanging my pictures in a gallery for the first time is pretty exciting!)
Finally, last week I completed a new painting – Rockin’ the Story – in between sight-seeing with my son and his family. (I’ll share the process of creating this one and why I chose the title in my next post.)
Frankly, there simply wasn’t enough time to entertain, create AND write about it as well. That forced me to make conscious choices about where I spent my time so the blog went quiet.
I’m sure your own creative journey has busy times when something has to give because, after all, you’re only human. Don’t regret those choices you make. Choose what you feel is right for that particular set of circumstances and just let the rest go. No second-guessing. In my case, I chose family time and sprinkled creative time around it.
Back On The Air
My family all left yesterday morning and, while that feels bittersweet, I’m happy to be blogging again. Stay tuned!
I truly thought your new pebble painting was a photo. Great stones and sand. Well done girlfriend!
Thank you so much! Coming from you that’s a huge compliment and you made my day.
The title of this post alone is worth sharing! Thank you Aprille.
Thanks, Karen! And so glad you stopped by.
I love your stone painting! And I can relate to the creative practice. I want to be doing that more, yet the balance is the challenge. When there’s work it’s difficult to allow me to play with my art supplies. I need to break that for those few minutes a day you mentioned.
Thanks, Sheri. And I totally get the difficulty of that balance, especially for an entrepreneur like yourself. Sadly, we’ve been taught not to value time that doesn’t produce $ but even 15 minutes of creative play will make you more productive in the other areas of your life. What works for me is to make time for the creative stuff BEFORE I get into my work day. Once I start working…