In November when I started back in the routine of working 3 days a week after my illness, I decided to start my mornings by working in my sketchbook.
It all began when I wrote this poem Dear Self: A Poem About Purpose
I’ve struggled for a really long time with learning to create just for myself and for no one else. I’ve always created photographs and art that I wanted to make but I’ve also always shared everything. The images in this post are all I’ve shared of my daily(ish) art works. I’ve been sharing on instagram with the hashtag #myartview and I’ll share some in progress work or a sneak peak of a page in my art journal. But so far I haven’t shared a single full page or completed artwork.
Wow. It’s…freeing. And empowering and so nice to honestly just create for me. I’ve been working on a bunch of visual poems and I’ve contemplated creating a book to sell but I’m still not sure if I will or not.
In December, I was without an art journal for about 3 weeks and it sucked. I got by with a few other projects, covering up old paintings and doodling but it just wasn’t the same. I lost my stride. I’ll be honest and say it’s not February and I still haven’t gotten my stride back. It sucks. I think it’s also because the first journal I was working in, while it didn’t necessarily have a ‘purpose’, I was creating “Dear Self” poems over and over and over. I had an idea of what I wanted to do everyday. In my current journal, I’m just kind of playing and it’s a bit harder for me to know what to do everyday.
I can feel it when I don’t take that 15, or 30 minutes in the mornings to do something creative before I start my business work for the day. I feel less accomplished, less productive, less fulfilled. I feel like something is missing.
When I get my daily(ish) art in…I feel present, creative, energized, full of ideas and ready to tackle the day. It’s so weird how something so small can make such a large impact on our daily outlook but it can.
Share: Do you have a daily(ish) art habit? Can you notice a difference in your attitude and your productivity when you don’t take that time for art making and self care?
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