A (Wo)man with a Plan

I'm not sure what to call this post. I sure have been a slacker poster and a slacker art maker. In the past few months, I have been trying to change habits. I read The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business and got some good ideas.

I've been trying to (in no particular order):

• Spend more time with the girls. They are growing up so quickly.
• Spend more time with K. Still keeping up with our Thursday night date night.
• Be in better touch with people I love. (I might have an idea how to do this. See below)
• Exercise more. I have been getting down to the basement to row multiple times per week. I was introduced to rowing by my dear college roommate Mandi, and I have fond memories of rowing in the crew room at Tufts with her and my sister. Recently though it was Frank Underwood who inspired me to get my Concept 2 out of storage and start using it.  
• Eat better. I still have that sweet tooth (see here) but I have been trying to use our winter farm share to the fullest as well. How's this for a fab recipe I made tonight?
• Buy less. I don't need more stuff. 
• Declutter more. And keep up with the house. I know I have two kids under 5, so this is something I have to accept that won't be easy. And K and I won some time with a declutterer in the HOPEsudbury auction. I got in touch with her today. That's a start! As an artist though, it's hard to get rid of things. (Might be another thing I can do with...see below)
• Read more. At least I have been listening a lot lately. And it's been helping me keep up with the cleaning and decluttering.
• Give more. I am excited that the Friends of the Goodnow Library brochure is going to be printed soon -- it's been a fun way to give back to the library.
• Spend less time on the computer. Mostly time wasters like FB and obsessively checking email or stumbling upon stuff and getting lost online for hours. (After today, I am hoping to write less on this blog, too, because I want it to be more about the art.)

And then there's the art. What this blog is all about. I have been pretty good about some of the above and I need to make the art a habit again.  I have been reading posts by Dayna and Jennifer (as I mentioned a year ago, the last time I wrote...) and have continued to be inspired by two women who also have young kiddos.

And then I read Jessie's post How to Do a Drawing a Day. I need this kick in the pants. Thanks Jessie! I know I have tried this before. But maybe I need new guidelines. Or maybe I need less structure and I need to give myself permission to change the rules if they aren't working.

So I am putting my brainstorm in the open. Here it goes. And I start tonight.

• Once a day.
• Start small. 10 minutes. I can do ten minutes. Let's see how it goes. If I want to push it up, I can.
• Length. This is key. I never thought about this. I always say a year and basically set myself up for failure. Jessie says "How long your drawing a day project goes on is up to you. Maybe it’s just a week, maybe it’s a full year. Or maybe you want to take it easy and see how it goes, like a month-to-month lease. " I love the month-to-month lease idea. Let's do it!
• Format? I'm thinking small. 4x6? I have these super inexpensive (but awesome for this project) NYJJTA frames from IKEA. I am going to put drawings I like in the frames and hang them on the wall. I'll rotate them out. It will be inspiring. Or I can send these artworks in the mail to people I want to stay in touch with. Maybe some of each? Again, this doesn't have to be set in stone.
• Sharing the project. This blog, I guess. I was thinking Instagram since it is solely photos, but the square format doesn't go with the format of my choosing. 
• Medium. I use the term drawing loosely. Enough said.

Ok, enough thinking, more doing.