Back to Basics: Goal Setting 101

From the book Walking in this World by Julia Cameron: "There seems to be an unwritten spiritual law that if we want our good (she means producing art) to increase, we must focus on appreciating and husbanding the good that we already experience.

When we want to grease the creative wheels, we do very well to muster a little elbow grease elsewhere. Mend the trousers. Hang the curtains. I do not know why hemming the droopy pant leg gives you the juice to get to the easel, but it does. I cannot tell you what it is about detoxing the mud closet that makes you see more clearly how to end a short story-or start one-but it does.

Finishing almost anything-sorting your CD collection, pumping up a bike tire, matching and mating your socks-creates both order and an inner order: "Now, start something," finishing something says."

I've found this to be so true in my life. I can't get to making art until the dishes are done or my studio is straightened. Or course, you have to know when to stop or you could spent all your time piddling away on housework and never make time for art.

I've been spinning my wheels for a long while now. I've had so much to do and places to be that I was just in survival mode. That's not how I want to live.

So for the months of January and February I've been tweaking my schedule and setting goals down on paper and out of my head. I should be finished with it all today, and what a relief! Now there's room in my head for a thought to form.

I found a great article on setting goals here: ttp://www.readingforyoursuccess.com/warren-buffetts-5-step-process-for-prioritizing-true-success-and-why-most-people-never-do-it

On that same site, I found a goal setting article which is referred to in the Warren Buffet one. I highly recommend his site, as it is very motivational and focused.

Yesterday I put my plan into action, and I got an amazing amount of things done toward my goals. And boy, does that feel good after so long a time of inaction.

*I painted the watercolor above from an instructional video. I'm pretty happy with the results. I took photos of the watercolors I've painted and are satisfied with. There are six of them. I'll post them all sooner or later and hopefully have more to go along with them.

A word about Cameron's new book, Walking in this World. This one is more from a christian perspective than her others. I'm not spending so much mental energy decoding or deciding what's legitimate for me and what to throw out as being non-christian. It's very motivational and encouraging; just what I need right now to start creating again.