It's been a weird few days, but I'm happy to report, they have been productive and "attitude" altering. I'm in quite a funk at work, and am in dire need of an attitude adjustment. Creatively, I'm soooooo distracted. Friday night was the culmination of a lot of it so I spent the majority of the afternoon and Friday night trying to get over it so I could enjoy my weekend. I am not responsible for other people's actions, I am only responsible for my own – but darn it, it's hard to not react to how other people behave! Hoping that this week will be much better.
Saturday was much, much better – spent the day at Archiver's with the girls. We were pretty low key and quiet – which is unusual, but it could have something to do with the fact we were at two different tables. It was a productive day, though. I managed to eek out two "explosion" boxes which I will photograph and post later in the week. If I may say so, they turned out really nicely. We were planning on a midnight movie, too, but we were all so tired, we just headed home.
Sunday was a much needed pajama day. I turned my phone off, slept and watched a little TV. I didn't even open the blinds during the day. It was pretty slovenly J but my brain finally shut down and I felt like I could control my thoughts again.
Rebecca Sower had a great post on her blog on Monday about having an "unplugged" day. It definitely reiterates all that I've felt the past couple of weeks and I think for the next month I am going to give it a try. Here's what she wrote:
Lately I have found that all things 'plugged in' bring big distractions to my creative process, my focus. All it takes is for the phone to ring or my email notification signal to sound and, whether I respond or not, I'm already distracted. I need to prove to myself that I can, for at least one day, step away and disconnect. One day.
What to do with a day of no blog-surfing, no television, and no phone calls? Some ideas . . .
· Imagine an art gallery called and asked you to bring a piece by to exhibit; that should push and stretch your creativity. What you will end up with is a piece that at the very least you'll be proud to hang in your home.
· Finish some or all of the kits you've purchased, those you had to have but they sit unopened/unfinished on your shelf.
· Create a piece or a few that you will send in for publication consideration to a magazine. I promise you will never be in a magazine if you don't submit something.
· Make cards. Make cards for birthdays, celebrations, occasions, everything. Pile up a big pile and then you will have cards on hand. I've done this before and let me tell you, it's worth it!
· Journal. Write, write, write. Pull out a box of photos and write something for as many as you can. Get lost in the process of it.
· Pull out all those magazines where you've marked projects you'd really like to make for gifts or for yourself, your home. Get started.
· Make it a technique day. All of us have techniques that we'd like to try or perfect (that dang soldering still gives me fits). Use this day to practice to perfection one technique or to learn several new ones.
· Play and make art all day with your kids.
· Take your camera out and snap photos all day. Try out all the settings, learn new techniques, practice being amazing behind the lens.
Notice the trend in all the above? At the end of the day, you have something to show for your day. Blog-surfing is fun and inspiring, but at the end of the day do you ever think that maybe-just-maybe you could've done something a little more substantial with your time?
So, think this over. If you plan to join me one day this week (any day that works for you), drop me a comment and let me know. Then post on your blog and challenge your readers to do the same if you'd like.
Some thoughts: Don't place too-high expectations on yourself; relax and roll with it, no pressure. If your workspace is completely trashed (like mine), try to straighten up the night before so you won't have to spend half a day cleaning up. Music is something you may want to make an exception for; if you're highly inspired by music as you create, play it. If you're a working girl, you may want to set aside two evenings instead of one full day. I plan to completely unplug the computer and the phone...just running over now and then to check emails is still a big distraction; remember, the idea is to focus and immerse in the creative process.
Next Monday, let's all come back together and post photos of what we did with our unplugged day on our blogs. That'll be fun, don't you think?
Now, my initial thought is "No way can I not turn on the television!" The computer I can handle – but not the television. That's not true, though. So, I'm going to start slowly with one night a week and I'll spend that time doing something creative. Yikes – now that I've written it, I have to do it!
