Time to get the eyes open with a cup of coffee. This really means giving oneself time to wake up. More importantly it must taste good if I am to drink it, coffee is supposed to taste like coffee as far as I am concerned. Lol, where did that come from?

I have this wonderful sense of arrival, now that my studio is set up, and my desk has its computer. I feel that at last things will fall into place for me through my determination, sticktoativeness and following through with my goals. These things, and beginning and ending projects, not taking them all on at once. Prioritizing them in order of importance. It eats up time if you do not focus and great a plan, then follow through. Too much food on the stove top and something will burn. Putting too much time in tending it all will wear you out!

Putting in an eight-hour day, if that is the amount of time you choose, for five days a week. And if you have the luxury to do so and not have that day job. This is enough studio time, or time to be writing. Breaks are vital! Keeping to this plan gives you time for family and friends, relaxing and doing the things one can do on a weekend off. The fact is you can choose how your day or the week goes. You might do just thirty hours or take the week off. This of course changes according to what you are doing.

When you create a business plan as an artist you set a goal for what you want to earn for that year, then you look at what you want to create and how much you want to sell it for. How many paintings will give you how much income, how many smaller items can you create to sell alongside your art? Things like prints of your work, cups with your art on it. Doing these things means getting out into the world and finding where they will be shown or displayed for sale. Each thing you to will move you closer to the years end financial goal. Your effort in selling your work will move you closer to this happening. Professional artist do not just create work they put the effort in to hob knob and sell it. It won’t go anywhere if you do not find out how to show others your work or get involved by teaching it. You need to talk about you do and share it with others!

In the mix you need to take the time to take care of yourself! Mentally and physically! Emotionally and spiritually! It all matters! It can feel overwhelming if you don’t realize that things do happen in the mix. And things get waylaid. But if you do but one thing that day other days will avalanche you forward! Don’t lose sight of the end game! Accomplishing one thing often leads to two or more other things. That self-talk that tells you things like “You can’t do this!” , “Is this good enough? Will people really buy it?”, “I just want to work! I can worry about selling later!” If you examine these thoughts, they bring you down. How the mind works is that it reacts to what we come to believe. The mind responds to what we are feeling and it goes there meaning to support what we think. When we think we feel! And that sense of thing being less than we want it to be hangs like a big dark rain cloud over us. We feel in our body the response of I can’t do this or I am not good enough.

But what if we test out these responses by changing the thoughts that come into our minds? Changing self-talk makes a huge difference! Do it when it comes into the mind! It will become a habit! Instead try something like: “Dam! That looks good! One down! More to go!” “Who can I reach out to today? Talking with Alice is always positive!”, “I will go to a gallery today.” And do these things. Changing what is happening does not mean taking the whole day to do it. It can be a few minutes. I can be taking a walk or doing chores then returning to the studio or desk to write.

Mediation, helps. The practice of clearing the mind gives us control of not letting all thought run rampant in the mind. Knowing the tendency of the mind helps. It helps to come from the heart and higher self. The brain is like a filing cabinet it houses all of our experiences, as files for us to call on later to understand things. The mind allows us to use these files, or to not use them but instead push them back by doing different and new things.

I find being this way helps me live better. And I will add that I get broadsided. Nothing runs smoothly. But to latch onto what is working, the things that tell me I am on the right track! These things are proving to be life changers!

I chose a new path after the love of my life died. I thought now what? I did not want to live a lonely life and fall into that, the thoughts of loss and sadness lead to feel depression and life does not feel good. More and more of the negative thought would creep in. I understood that much in my grief. How could I change things? The answer was living and thinking differently, by doing new things, by coloring my world with colors I had not used before. By reaching out to others. Thomas and I were quite happy with it being just us. He was like a walking encyclopedia! Very engaging and interesting and then poof he was gone! I set out making plans to change myself and therefore my life. I would focus on making things happen for me.

Best wishes! May love and laughter find you! Humor is a true gift to the self.