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March — Here we are again, the last day of the month, and I’m (just barely) getting this baby out! Can I blame Daylight Savings Time? One hour lost in the middle of the night shouldn’t really affect much, and yet I swear I feel it’s absence for weeks. The rumour is that Congress is going to do away with the time change in the near future — I’d be all for that. This month I spent a lot of time making art along with the complimentary activity of listening to podcasts. One of my favorites is Creative Pep Talk with Andy Pizza. In the latest episode (#359) Andy’s talking about telic vs atelic activities. That is, an activity undertaken with a specific outcome in mind (telic) vs an activity that’s done purely for the sake of doing it (atelic). For example, a hike: you start at the trailhead, and then end up back at the same trailhead and are fine with it because the purpose wasn’t to get somewhere, it was to be hiking. It’s an interesting concept and a good reminder in our results-obsessed society that if we sometimes find ourselves asking “why am I doing this?” and the only answer we come back with is “because I like doing it,” that’s ok. There’s value just in doing the thing. As Andy points out, this is particularly important to remember with creative expression — if you go into it thinking “This will be the greatest (fill in the blank) ever” you’re likely to never start, or end up so disappointed with your result, you’re too discouraged to try again. Satisfaction and consistent practice come with being in it for the joy of the creative process — the pleasure of making the thing not the promise of the resulting thing. And since we’re celebrating the joy of the creative journey —without thinking we have to end up with something to hang above the couch, let me introduce you to Art Journaling 101: An Introduction to the Practice of Visual Journaling (see below). I will be leading this class on May 5th at Bayleaf Market and would love to have you along for the ride! Safe Travels.
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