Work and Balance - Finding Satisfaction

Tomorrow.


Tomorrow I will be painting without having to go to my part-time job, and I've been looking forward to it all week!  Don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoy and am thankful for my part-time job.  The people have been great, I've been learning a lot so my brain has been happy, and I have yet another reason to change out of my yoga/sweatpants.  That's all very good and well.


However...


I love the days when I can paint as long as I want without having to look at the clock, and absolutely surrendering to the now.  What a gift!


When I was unemployed, I couldn't quite enjoy creating as much as one would imagine.  Instead, I was constantly stressed, somewhat depressed, and existing with a touch of anxiety at all times no matter what I was doing.  Today, I'm grateful for what I have gained due to finding work again.  Yes, I am losing time to create, but it's making the time that I am able to create so much better and more productive.  Someday, I hope that I can make art my full time occupation that pays the bills, but the meantime isn't so bad.  I am happy to say that for now, I am satisfied in a stable, balanced manner, and I haven't been able to say that for a long time.


The last few years have been a stuggle for so many of us.  I hope that you are finding out what you need and recieving the change to recieve it.  Love to all of you!

Balancing Time Spent

http://youtu.be/aYnlpaWWH4E

I simply cannot get enough of Levni Yilmaz's Tales of Mere Existence today!  My facebook friend, Cathrine, posted one today and then I was hooked.  Thank you, Cathrine!

Though, I must confess, I have probably spent too much time viewing the films on his youtube channel.  My goal of cleaning the apartment today is quickly losing time, but at least I am finding myself motivated to do more of my artwork.

Of course, I'm telling myself that I have to accomplish some cleaning first before indulging in some art time.  Will there be enough hours in the day today?

So many days are planned like this.  I feel as though I need to earn the right to spend some time creating and I think that's faulty thinking.  I plan the day with all of the stuff that I don't want to do, but need to do first, and only after all of that is accomplished can I be rewarded with what I really want to do.  This is most of the time a lose-lose scenario for motivation.  If I do happen to do all of my household chores, by the time I get to have fun I lose all motivation for it.  I'm too tired and would rather just read or watch tv.  Then I feel a type of anxiety that I wasted the day because I didn't create anything.

Adversely, sometimes I make these grandiose lists and they just sit there, as do I.  I think of things to do instead of doing anything on the list.  I'll spend too much time on the computer, or looking up cleaning/interior design shows to inspire me, or playing with our cats, or exercising or a combination of all of these plus more, and then get nothing else accomplished for the day.  Nothing on the list gets done, and again, my artistic motivation is not acted upon, ending in anxiety that I wasted the day.

This is how I functioned for several days out of the past year.  I either did what I needed to do and was left with little motivation/energy for the end of the day to enjoy creating, or it was spent without making the day count for much of anything.  This year has not been too bad so far, but I'm scared of this happening again.  Now that I see this pattern, perhaps I can stop this phenomenon through a careful plan of attack.  What plan of attack have you taken that works for you?  How do you balance your time successfully?

Did Picasso do dishes?  When did Rauschenberg do his laundry? 

Albert Einstein on the Brain

Since my last post, I have been unable to get Albert Einstein out of my head.  My curiosities are peaked about what he was really like, and I can only gain clues from pictures, quotes, and his work.  I have always been intrigued with the man- afterall, I did dress up as him for Halloween 2009 due to my admiration.  Yet recently The Artist's Way has only encouraged my fascination, as one of the tasks this week has been to list five people I admire and why.

I included Mr. Einstein in this list.  He used his brilliance to the fullest, had clarity of thought, and balanced work and play.  I stopped writing after I listed these and questioned if he indeed had balance.  What would lead me to say that?  I have no idea what his daily life was composed of, but yet this idea of the way he lived had entered into my perception.

Okay, it's obvious that the man worked.  He had so many ideas that it's truly difficult to believe that one person came up with all of these theories in a single lifetime, and yet he did.

So what makes me believe that he found time for play?  The photos for one thing- the photo of him sticking his tongue out, pictures of him laughing, riding a bike, and walking with his wife.  And how about the quotes?  They reveal a charm about him and a sense of wit.  He stressed the importance of creativity and intuition.

I'm betting that he did indeed lead a balanced life...a fulfilling life.  I really wish that I could have some sort of insight into how he did this.  I'm seriously wishing that he had written a book about this- Creating a Balanced Life by Albert Einstein- I believe that now more than ever it would be on the best sellers list.