Work Transition Checkpoint: Two Weeks In

She Donned Flowers, work in progress, 8"x8" on canvas

It's been two - TWO - weeks already since I've left work. It's time for a few more random thoughts and observations on how my road to transition has been so far...

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I thought I'd spend the first two weeks cleaning up my office/studio. Nope. I spent it kicking off creative  projects, catching up on odds & ends, and making art. A lot of art. In fact, my committing to Art Every Day Month is giving me a welcome focus, maybe even bumping laundry from its spot as my top key productivity indicator <gasp>. (Check out my previous checkpoint for the deal with laundry if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

But today, first day of week 3, I spent about four hours scrubbing the office/studio and it felt. good. More on that to come in another post.

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Hubby and I did our first monthly budget sans my paycheck and it wasn't that bad. I surprised myself at how upbeat I was during the entire thing, knowing full well that I was starting to tap into the savings I'd built up.

I was upbeat right up until I started thinking about a few months down the road and where my savings would be then if I hadn't found a source of revenue. Then I started quietly freaking out at the thought of not knowing where that revenue would eventually come from.

But I caught myself before the downward spiral set in and discovered a new mantra. I gently crooned it to myself as I shuffled around the house: "It's OK to not know. It's OK to not know. It's OK to not know yet..." And then I felt better.

Steph 1. Money fears 0.

For now.

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I am practicing trust - in the Universe and in my own abilities, patience and letting go. A lot. Being still and listening to my intuition is key. I suspect faith in myself and in a Higher Power will play a large role in my transition.

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I planned to give myself the month of November to NOT think about specific revenue streams or creating work, but I'm already starting to think of possibilities. Pieces of the puzzle are becoming clearer, I'm just not sure how they all fit together. But it's OK to not know yet...

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I am loving this being-at-home thing. Seriously loving it. I already have a blissful routine going that involves morning coffee, morning pages, connecting online, writing, maybe some project work and then art-making later in the day. Sometimes I even throw in a little domesticity like dishes or dinner!

I love it. I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't.

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Till the next checkpoint...

Re-filling the Creative Well

We feel sluggish, uninterested and uninspired in our art and don't know why. We push on, but nothing we do really speaks to us.

It's time to get out and be fed.

Julia Cameron calls it the Artist Date, I call it re-filling the creative well and you may call it something else, but it essentially means the same thing: seeking inspiration so we can continue doing what we do.

We know it's important, but how many of us do it?

"An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, a.k.a. your creative child."

~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

In The Artist's Way, Ms Cameron advocates two tools to foster creativity: daily Morning Pages (stay tuned for a future post on this one someday) and the weekly Artist Date. Through morning pages we communicate creative dreams out to the Universe, through Artist Dates we receive insights and inspiration.

I totally dig that.

After nine days of pretty intense art-making and what felt like endlessly tweaking a piece in progress I craved a change of scenery and remembered Ms Cameron's words, so I a) put the piece I was tweaking aside for a few days and b) decided that it was time to get out and take in some inspiration - see what insights the Universe had to offer.

results of an invigorating artist date (parking ticket not included in the picture)

After a few hours spent at the library, a favourite thrift shop and a frou-frou funky clothing boutique my creative well overfloweth. Armed with books on artists and creative spaces, borrowed movies and some new crafting supplies I am giddy and ready to roll!

Do not underestimate the power of an Artist Date whether it's an afternoon spent lingering on the town or fifteen minutes stolen during a lunch break. After today's few hours I'm a believer.

Re-filling the creative well helps keep art-making sustainable. Period.

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What five things could you do to re-fill the creative well?