Despite the image above, this post is not about love, or romance, or anything remotely like it.
The pic is a gilded section from a ketubah I just completed and shipped off today. After days of high-intensity work to get it and some other client projects done on deadline, for much of today I found myself spinning my wheels.
Yeah, I completed some big projects (I even painted a painting this morning!) But the afternoon I was slogging through quicksand.
And what happened? Instead of allowing myself a little break, I beat myself up about not being productive enough.
I couldn’t seem to get a blog post written to save my life, so I made a video instead. Just some thoughts spinning around in my head, about spinning my wheels, and being gentle with myself.
Let me know what you think.
Thank you for this! I have been “spinning my wheels” all morning but thanks to your video, I feel better about it. I am excited about all the things on my “to -do” list and I am very grateful for that. Instead of beating myself up, I decided to see what I did get done this morning – a wonderful chat with my daughter, thank you cards to a couple of collectors, watered the plants and paid some bills. Not too bad. After lunch I will hunker down for the rest of the day. Thanks again!
Yay! I’m so glad the video was helpful Dianne! 🙂 Congrats for noticing what went well instead of beating yourself up!
Hi, Melissa.
You totally nailed it when you were talking about seeds in the ground. One of my favorite concepts is gestation. Sometimes we just need to take a break and do something totally different. Joni Mitchell talks about crop rotation. When she finishes an album, she goes back to painting, so that the music side of her can recover (like letting the nutrients in the soil rebuild).
Also, as Americans we have this darned Puritan work ethic that drives us to “accomplish” something. Blech! It’s really hard to shut out that drive for some people. In the southern hemisphere everyone is so much more relaxed about getting stuff done.
Thanks for the video chat — good to see you again, even if it’s only online.
Hey Roann! Great to see you here!
Joni Mitchell is definitely a hero of mine – another multi-passionate soul!
You’re so right about the Protestant work ethic. It’s the soup we all swim in, regardless of our individual heritage! (Perhaps I should move to the southern hemisphere for awhile… Either that or Rome.)
This spinning sensation has become a fairly regular thing for me the past few months as I’ve been tossed into a major transitional phase and am trying find the right combination of observation and assertion to determine what my next direction will/should be. What often helps me to ‘shift gears’ when I’m spinning creatively is to begin a sort/purge session in my studio. I find that it does relax me, doesn’t tax my already spinning brain too much and 9 times out of 10 I’ll be sorting away and suddenly I’m ‘playing’ with something that caught my eye in the area I was sorting and I’m off on another creative adventure.
Basically,when I quit trying so hard sometimes the inspiration finds me rather than me finding it.
Loved the video approach to the blog. It was like having a little chat with you over my coffee this morning. Being new to your blog it gave me a bit better sense of who you are to see and hear you as well.
Thanks for the great comment, Lori, and perfect timing. I find that, much as I resist it, sorting/purging is always good for me too. When my surroundings are chaotic, my mind feels chaotic too. When I tidy up the clutter, I unclutter my mind as well.
No surprise, then, to reveal that my studio is a BIG GIGANTIC MESS right now. 😉
Glad you liked the video!