Week 2 - Check-In

1. I did morning notes every day this week. Morning notes are so good for me. I'm highly motivated and claim John Cheever's sentiment, "The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's life and discover one's usefulness."

Reading the week's notes, I am pleasantly surprised to see they are not whiney or complaining, as I had recalled them. They are upbeat, eager, curious, grateful for much. All before my first cup of coffee! Maybe that's the secret, all defenses are down.

2. I haven't done much that could be called an Artist's Date. I don't know why this continues to be an obstacle. The best I did was browse around Border's today, picking up two books that I spent a little time reading (something of a rare treat but so lame compared to Sophie, et al.). I admit to being distracted by my cozy new sewing room. Children today have no opportunity to do nothing, have times when life is so "boring" the only thing to do is flop across the bed or under a tree and daydream. My inner child likes spending time in the new room just daydreaming.

3. Other important issues of the week:

New Sewing Room Completed. The most tangible impact on my creativity path.

Crazymakers. At this stage in my life I have answers to most of my interpersonal questions, or don't care to look for any more. But I am seeking something or I wouldn't be in this group. Thinking about crazymakers compelled me to discuss it with my sister and my one daughter most vulnerable to their respective coteries of crazymakers. Maybe they won't waste as much time on theirs as I did on mine.

Attention. One of my daughters (the one possibly subject to crazymaker abuse) has mild adult Attention Deficit Disorder (no hyperactivity aspect—she's as placid as still water, which is why it wasn't diagnosed until age 28!), and I exhausted the subject at the time she was diagnosed. I concluded most of the world has ADD. Do I have some ADD myself, or is it just that not having to meet so many deadlines grants me the luxury of meandering zigzag paths? I hope that by using The Artist's Way principles to define or give parameters to my artistic efforts, I will develop greater focus and discipline in my work. Again, I like Mr. Cheever: "Art is the triumph over chaos."

These of Julia's thoughts gave me much to think about:

1) The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

2) Survival lies in sanity, and sanity lies in paying attention.

I think some doors have been blown open for me. My mind feels like a paying slot machine—bells and music and lights, tokens flying out faster than they can be caught! (Currents of creativity or just ADD?!) I am thinking of new uses of the old artistic tools, sewing, writing, photography and now blogging. Interesting.

Too see other check-ins for November 13, try this link.