Crazymakers, Rules of the Road, and Forgetting the Outside Observer

Week Two of "The Artist's Way" had a lot to do with time, how we choose to spend it, and "crazymakers" that disregard our plans.  Well, after some investigating, I believe that I am my own crazymaker.  For instance, see the photo above?  Well, my best friend and I could not stop doing "Face in Hole" photos for hours upon end this week while we Skyped.  (If you would like to do this, go to http://www.faceinhole.com/, but they are highly addictive).  We laughed until we sweated- yes, sweated- I do believe I've found my best workout to date.  Anyway, while this was creative, it wasn't exactly being proactive about my own work and I found that sometimes I'm a bit too self-indulgent in the "Play" aspect of my life.  In my defense, the week between Christmas and New Year's is a bit like that anyway- it lends itself to inactivity and planning.  The work and responsiblity of living up to our goals begins after New Year's...needless to say I lived it up while I could and completely indulged!

The Rules of the Road listed on page 55 were fabulous, because it kind of acts as a disclaimer.  It appeals to the part of me that doesn't want to have to take responsiblity for my own blunders.  Terrible, I know, but I'm being extremely honest.  It's as if the small angel on my one shoulder and the little devil on my other shoulder are in agreement about these rules.

Julia's story about the cat who lived in the vivid blue house during her walks- "We began to have little visits, that cat and I, and then long talks of all we had in common, lonely women."- really sticks out in my head as I wonder what the people inside the blue house thought of this stranger spending so much time with their cat.  I wonder if they thought that Julia was senile, or was interested in stealing their furry family member.

This story illustrates blocking out the fear of being judged for what we do, and I experienced this this week...

I was taking a morning walk.  The air was crisp, cold and invigorating.  I was admiring the way everything was glistening due to the recent rain and then wondered if the small droplets on the bushes beside the sidewalk were frozen.  I stopped, and reached out to find out.  To my delight, they were frozen, and I pulled one off of a small branch.  I held it up to the light.  It was clear and beautiful as the light made it twinkle.

I ate it.

(In my defense, I was thinking back to when I was a kid and icicles were all the rage.)

I glanced across the street to see two men watching me.  EMBARRASSING.  For all they knew I was eating a twig, or a bug, or just senile.  I looked down to cover up my embarrassed smile and quickened my pace to get home.  I obviously would look even crazier at that point if I shouted across the road about what I was doing...so much for providing context.

Lesson learned:  Forgetting about the outside observers is necessary to create, but it can be extremely embarrassing once you find you are being watched.  The trick is to not let the fear of being judged hinder our ability to create, or effect what we create.  Which leads us back to the "Rules of the Road" on page 55.

Did anyone else have an embarrassing moment of the week?  Or what did you get from Chapter Two if you're reading "The Artist's Way"?