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It’s December 2018. The landscape is dusted with snow to bring home the fact that it is indeed winter and if I had any doubts: the temperature has dipped to a bone-chilling – 21 C. I know, I know, the images are beautiful and yes, they take your breath away!

On December 6th, 2011 I started this blog and today I am posting for the 822nd time. I realize that I have been less active with posting this year but it is definitely not due to a lack of creative output in my life.

Nothing makes me more self-conscious and feel inadequate than when someone I meet up with proclaims “You haven’t done much lately!” Well, if you judge my creative output by my posts on this blog, you are probably correct. Reflecting on that statement always makes me turn my energy to evaluating the past twelve months and I have come out feeling pretty confident and happy with life and my personal accomplishments in general.

My studio practice is back on track with a slight shift in focus but I am satisfied with where I am headed. Anticipating some changes with WordPress and a big jump in the cost for next year’s site fees, I am committed to renewing the subscription and post once a week to stay in touch (and make the site worthwhile).

I feel I am living a more balanced life these days. I no longer travel to lecture and teach. There have been a few inquiries. And I am not sure what is going on but guilds, in general, don’t seem to want to cover travel expenses. Statements like: “If you are travelling through the area let us know and you can come and do a lecture…” usually make the inquiry or negotiation a short one!

I also don’t spend 10 – 12 hours in the studio 7 days a week like I did when I first started this blog. In fact, I don’t even spend every day in the studio. I have been an advocate for creativity way before I called myself an artist. In my presentation “Choosing Creativity” I openly proclaim that one does not have to make something labelled “art” to be creative. Arrange some flowers in a vase, change the colours of your walls, or place a new tablecloth on the dining room table! How about pulling out the knitting and making a pair of socks or putting together some fabric scraps to make a new set of potholders because the old ones caught on fire while preparing Christmas dinner for the relatives? All these actions qualify as acts of creativity in my dictionary, especially if they are done with joy and mindfully!

Preparing a meal, baking a cake, changing up the seasonings in an old family favourite are all creative acts. Speaking of cooking and baking: Last January I became a pothead (as in InstantPot owner) and I spent much of the first part of the year experimenting and embracing this new-to-me way of cooking with pressure. These days I can honestly say: If my stove broke down tomorrow I would not panic and I would not miss it. We would not go hungry in this house. With mastering the electric pressure cooker I learned to convert my old recipes from slow cooker and stove-top to timesaving updated recipes. In doing so I have completely changed my way of eating in an effort to get better control of my migraines… Well, despite cutting out all processed foods, sugar and grains the migraines are holding on strong, so I finally gave in and turned to prescription meds that help, provided I take them as soon as I feel a migraine coming on. I was doing so great during our travels throughout Atlantic Canada. I only had four days of migraine pain in seven weeks, versus this month with a new record of 19 days. My quest to increase the number of pain-free days continues into 2019. The fantastic side-effect of eating this way is the weight-loss and the ease in which I am able to keep it off. Suffice it to say, I took 8″ off the waist on one pair of jeans before altering it into a knee-length skirt, all this without starving or inflicting undue pain in the gym! 😉

2019 is full of promise! Once the snow melts we will try again to sell our property. Meanwhile, my sewing machine is beckoning me to make a few more stitches before the day is over. Wishing all of you a joyful transition into 2019! Happy New Year!

 

 

31 Dec This entry was published on December 31, 2018 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Creativity Update. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.