About that Plan....

So I'm not a planner. Is that a surprise? Or rather, I do have plans, I do like to "plan" but in the end, when I'm working on plans for things I want to have happen in my life, they tend to be nebulous.

Like, "This year I want to make my business successful so I can quit working a day job." Or my favorite, "I'm going to lose 40 lbs." Ummmmm, exactly how am I going to do that? You know what they say about intentions. Mine are always great, but I don't follow them up. I have been traditionally very resistant to doing the things that other people say work, such as setting goals (writing it down,) and keeping a food diary and workout journal.

So, rather than wait for January to make a bunch of "resolutions" about my life, I've decided to take advice from others this year and do some actual, tangible planning.

#1: found a blog I like, actually from a link my sister put on Pinterest, called Blogilates. It's a cute girl doing a hybrid pilates style workout. She has a calendar of workouts to do, and a fitness journal, that you can print out and use each month for $1.99. Seemed worth it to me, so I bought it.

#2. decided to invest in Leonie's Planner. The calendar is pretty cute. It's the Planner, however, that caught my eye. There are lots of pages in it that really make you stop, think, and write it out- what you are thinking, and what you want.

So, I'm going to print them both out and put them in a 3-ring binder together.

My goals, moving into 2013, are to:

1. Finally lose the stubborn 40 lbs or so I've been holding on to for 10 years. I really don't need it anymore, thank you very much.

2. Make real, clear, practical goals for my various businesses and follow through. I'll be planning what I want to accomplish during 2013, and what outcomes I want to see by the end of the year.

3. Find a voice for my blog, and write regularly.

Why so Curious?

curiosity [ˌkjʊərɪˈɒsɪtɪ]

n pl -ties

1. an eager desire to know; inquisitiveness

2.

a.  the quality of being curious; strangeness

b.  (as modifier) the ring had curiosity value only

3. something strange or fascinating

4. a rare or strange object; curio

5. Obsolete fastidiousness

The use of the word "strange" in that definition is interesting, isn't it? I never thought it was strange that I wanted to learn everything about a subject.

I remember times that I would get an idea, go to the library, check out 20 books, read them all in one weekend, and deem myself to have learned enough on the subject to either want to continue with more k knowledge, or be done with it. Most times I did this it was because I had a business idea, or an idea that I wanted to do something for money- not necessarily "start a business," but to make or do something that I could get paid for.

Cake decorating, children's party planning, gardening, all kinds of art, mural painting, paper crafting...most of these explorations were creative in some way. But the thing is, I totally immersed myself in the process of learning all I could about it before deciding if it was a worthy pursuit.

I even followed this process in college- when friends offered me LSD and one offered to "babysit" me while I went on my first trip. So what was my first step? I spent an afternoon in the college library and read 5 books on the effects of LSD. And decided NOT to try it myself.

Luckily for me, I am a very fast reader. I can read quickly, comprehend, internalize, and learn what I have read. That got me through all of my schooling rather well- I was always a straight-A student with very little studying, because reading or hearing something once was enough for me. I don't have to do something to learn it. So sometimes I lack a little bit of compassion for people who need that step...it's been a great expansion of my skills in being a classroom teacher myself!

Passionate Curiosity has led me to many wonderful experiences in life. I consider myself a person who takes calculated risks- I learn about something I think I want to do, and weigh the options, and in most cases, try new things. I will try any food- once. I will also try anything I deem non-life-threatening usually without reservation. I have moved cross-country with no job into a house I rented on the internet...I have lived in 5 states, and in 11 cities. I have changed careers several times, and still don't really know where I'll end up. I don't usually do life-threatening things. Sky Diving is not on my bucket list. But I do love roller-coasters and ride them whenever I get the chance!

Do you have it in you to be passionately curious? Because if you allow yourself to feel curiosity more than you feel fear, you will allow yourself to have some pretty interesting experiences.

Creative Fluency

Here's a concept for you- a very important one. It's called "fluency." You might associate this with language, as in "I speak fluent French," and you would be correct. If you really think about the word, it means that you understand and speak quickly and clearly, without having to muddle through.

And how do we build fluency? By immersion, and practice.

On to the story that inspired me to write about it...

Wendigo died last Saturday. Some people would say "passed away," but the truth is, he died and I helped. I have personally put three pets to sleep now (my husband helped too) and it is terrible every time, because it really does feel like you are killing them. Even though it is the humane thing to do, the end result is- they are dead, and you pulled the "trigger." It's a horrible guilty place to be. Poor little guy had no fight left in him, the cancer had riddled his body. So we came home to a house that felt empty. The danger is- we have two other kitties, and not to ignore them because of our grief.

When our dog, Kasha, died four years ago, I gathered up some mementos with great intentions of creating a memorial piece of artwork. That sits unfinished.

When we came home from the vet on Saturday, I knew I wanted to create something for my husband, for us, to remember him. We decided yellow was a good color for Wendigo (the color of his eyes) and he is white, so I chose an assortment of yellow and white papers and a 12 inch canvas. I used lots of other stuff, but basically created a canvas collage that now hangs in our den above the 5 foot cat tower that he used to sleep on. Now our old girl, Tigerlily, has taken over the top level of the tower.

I have been in a constant state of CREATE since moving to Austin. My supplies are out in the living room, and I do a live show almost every Tuesday morning at 8 am. Plus I've been writing a book, which involves a lot more creating and photography than my usual routine.

The point is this- I had an idea and carried it through to completion within hours, not weeks, months, years...It is because I have been PRACTICING constantly and have developed the creative fluency that helped me state, inside my soul, what kind of art I wanted to make, how I wanted to execute it, and I was able to quickly and easily make what I had pictured in my mind.

This is very different than anything in my past- when I would think about it, maybe sketch it, dig around various boxes of art supplies, take things out...put them back, start, tuck a canvas half-painted back away, and not finish. Heck, I hardly got started.

PLEASE- do yourself the immense favor of doing something creative as often as you can! When you are in a state of creative flow, ideas come more quickly and their execution is easier. You become your idea, and are able to see it through. Creative Fluency is the opposite of Creative Block, and it is a skill just like any language or instrument. Practice, and it will be at your fingertips, or the tip of your tongue.