Progress report Q2: 2013 goals

“Don’t go anywhere.  I beg you; the Moon you are looking for is inside you.” ~Rumi

I am quite the taskmaster and it’s getting on my nerves.  I’m an over-achiever at heart but I’m doing too much (I wrote a post on this over a year ago and obviously it’s still an issue) and a girl’s got to have some downtime, you know.  My daily to-do lists have been novels in and of themselves.  Nobody could ever feel they were accomplishing anything.  So I will be addressing this pronto.

Remember my 2013 goals? Yeah, me neither! Apparently I accidentally deleted my Q1 progress report so I’ll be publishing it again today.  I still have the e-mail so I can do that!

SUCCESS

• When I begin to feel negative, switch the focus to what is good.  I immensely enjoyed Julia Fehrenbacher’s Getting Naked e-course. Turns out we each have a secret garden of abundance within and all we need to do is tap into it! She opened my heart in so many ways… to love, to gratitude, and to self-acceptance.  I took a lot of deep breaths and really savored the community we formed.  I still haven’t fully processed everything I learned from her and from the other women in the group.  It was simply wonder-filled.
• Time to create just about every day.  Thanks to my daughter spending her mornings in preschool or camp, I’m able to do this.  It is soooooo important to me and to my happiness level.  A peek at my desk today …
• DO BIG THINGS (well, big for me)!  Take risks… because you just never know.  I reached out to people I was intimidated by and it turns out (gasp!) that they are human.  I’m still shocked by this!  Hopefully in my next progress report, I will be able to tell you that I submitted some photography for publication.  I’m working on becoming braver in this regard.  I believe that I am on a path and that, even though I can’t see around the bend, opportunities will arise to help lead me along.  Does that make sense to anyone?
• Participate in Life Book 2013 and a few other classes (but not too many).  I have been doing LOTS OF ART! I took Christy Tomlinson’s Behind the Art course (see posts here) and now I’m taking Junelle Jacobson’s Wild Art Summer workshop.  Such fun.  I realized that creating art is MY THING! I’ve been searching for MY THING since I was in my single digits.  This is a huge revelation.
• Minimize whenever possible.  All our household clutter is getting on my nerves and I spend a lot of time returning objects to their correct places.  I am trying in every way I can to simplify what we own.  The less we own the less there is to straighten up.  Now there are fewer things in our closets, drawers, and rooms, though there’s a long way to go.  OMG, one morning I went into our playroom and gathered up so much paper! Lady Jane keeps straws, plastic, and every little scrap of trash and holds onto it for dear life.
• Try try try not to compare myself to others or my art to others’ art.  Instead, I am trusting that everyone is creatively different and focusing on what I can learn from everyone I admire.
• Take two overnight trips with my husband sans kiddo. We had a wonderful few days in New Orleans and will plan another time away for the fall.
• Participate in One Little Word (my word is “stillness”) and post an update here each month.  You can read those here.  I think my word next year will be “cherish“… I like the idea of protecting and taking care of myself and I’m not so good at self-care.

NEEDS WORK

• I said I wanted to edit and upload the rest of my art photography to the fine art site.  I still may, but I have sort of revised my photography goals.  I am taking pictures for me and for fun!
• Not an original goal, but I need to help my daughter become a bit more independent.  She is still my shadow and this momma needs some space.
• Update this site with category links, new pages, plugins, etc.  I haven’t done much, but I updated the list of all the fun workshops I’ve been taking.  I do have a new header from one of my mixed-media pieces – you like? And now you can view all the “Behind the Art” posts right here.  So that’s something.

• Most important: I hope I’m improving in this area.  I want to connect with you!  If you care enough to subscribe to these posts and even leave a comment, then I want to know more about you.  A main goal is to CONNECT with you this year (follow your blogs, interact more, etc).  When it comes down to it, these connections we form are the substance of life.  I value them very highly and aim to treasure them.

Goals for the next few months: more of the same, but with fewer tasks in each day.  Read books, do more art, finish some house decorating projects.

Tell me, what would you be interested in seeing or reading more of here? Please share what you like or what you want more of in the comments! I treasure hearing from you.