New Year, Same Goals

Some things just take time. 

Supposedly anything worth a damn will test one's endurance and patience.  Persistance is the key, and it isn't easy.  The New Year brings renewed hope that we will conquer our goals and have the diligence to follow them through to the end.

So many of my goals have been the same as last year and the year before that.  I failed to do most of them.  It's easy to understand the jaded view points of some of my friends when it comes to the act of making resolutions.  I understand.  What is the point if it will only become a weapon that we will use in December to club ourselves with for not acheiving what we set out to accomplish? 

I have kept a journal for most of my life, and every December I usually look forward to writing a year end reflection.  It helps me think about the events, the high points, the low points, and ultimately about progress and what to strive for in the coming year.  This year I find myself rebelling and only wanting to look ahead. 

I have decided to allow this rebellion.  The trained teacher inside of me cringes at this.  "Can there be progress without taking inventory of progress?" it pleads. 

Yes, of course there can.  I was there and lived it.  I accomplished.  I failed.  I loved, laughed, cried, and yelled in anger.  I cussed like a sailor, spoke sweetly like a saint, and used cliches.  I ran from a crazy lady in NW Portland who I thought was going to kill me as she whispered in quick words about Native Americans and the Mayans.  Come to think of it, I was also told by another angered stranger that I didn't "have the balls"...it's still a mystery what exactly he was talking about...again in downtown Portland.  Evidently, I make anyone who is a little off kilter mentally a bit peeved just by my existence.

So all in all, a great year! Hahaha

I'm looking ahead to making some major changes this year, and without the baggage of unfulfilled hopes of 2012.  I left them with the year, and am moving on.  I am pretending that when I wrote them down this year it was the first time I had seen them.  How's that for trick psychology? 
Lose weight?  GREAT!  (It totally works.)

Except perhaps I should at least learn that ignoring strangers in downtown Portland isn't always a bad idea (unless I need to run from them).

Happy New Year, everyone, and I hope that you are feeling renewed and dreaming big this year!
Love to all of you!

Vision Board

This is the Vision Board I created as a kick off to 2011 along with a detail of my favorite clipping on it.  I'm going to hang it in a place that I will see daily as a reminder to stay focused and motivated.  I left some blank areas to place new goals later on.

As cheesy as this may be, it really does help me.  The only reason why I made a new one is because a lot of the old one came true- solidifying the fact that they help me!  Have you ever made one and if so, did it work for you? 

The Good in 2010: A Year in Review

Before 2011 begins tonight, I thought it was a good idea to see what I've learned or accomplished through the year...

*  Matt and I moved to Portland, Oregon (our dream city), by miraculously driving my Ford Escort across the country without dying.

*  Applied for six juried shows, made it into three of them and had my first solo exhibition.

*  Launched my website- krystalbooth.com- and began this blog with December being the best month yet.  Thank you for taking time out to visit "blank canvas"!

*  Made Thanksgiving turkey for the first time- nevermind the fact that it tasted like tuna.

*  Matt and I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time in our lives.

*  Discovered the bliss that is the bread pudding at the Beaverton Bakery.

*  Learned that Skype negates the miles that separate.

*  Made bread for the first time from scratch in my own kitchen...Samm, Matt and I began dreaming of owning a bakery until we made a batch of sourdough.  Stinktastic!!!!

*  We adopted little Ivan (kitten) and our other cat, Olive, has been blissfully thankful ever since!  (It should also be noted here that we have managed to keep two living beings alive and well for a year...).

*  Had an amazing end of the year while I was teaching- had the best year with the best students!

*  Gained three blessings through separate sets of friends having children for the first time- three newborn baby boys who are so loved already and have been graced with the best parents imaginable!

Happy New Year to all of you, and I hope that you take the time to reflect about your accomplishments this year.  Cheers to you and your families in 2011!  May this year be better than the last!

Creating Your Life

Time for creating.  Time for exercising.  Time for bathing.  Time for eating.  Time for fun.  Time for loved ones.  Time for looking for opportunities.  Time for catching up.  Time for RESOLUTIONS.

...and while writing this I just think I felt a little earthquake...a 3 second tremor.  Maybe the Creator's way of pointing out how this Earth continues to change and shift, and we need to do the same.

It's the week between Christmas and New Year's, my favorite week of the year, and it's filled with reflection and new plans for the upcoming year.  It's filled with assessment and hope.  Creating grand plans for a metamorphosis. 

In order to do this, I need a strategy of time- the ultimate schedule that will help me accomplish these new goals...without a strategy, I will look similar to the picture above.  I'm trying desperately to get organized and create a schedule that truly reflects the way I want to live.  This is not an easy task for me, because I am quite moody about time- I resist wearing a watch because I hate to see the minutes of my life flying away without meaning.  Yet, maybe I need to be reminded about time in order to get to where I want to be.  I definitely have plenty to accomplish this year.  My resolutions have yet to be nailed down, but here's a sample of what I'm looking at for 2011, which may be similar to yours:

1. Spend at least 30 hours in the studio creating (writing, painting, drawing) per week (on top of work week of job which I will find!).
2. Lose 25 pounds...not exactly pleased to see this burden return to my life...have gained some weight recently that I'm not proud of.  Need to think health, health, health!
3. Approach galleries in formal manner of appointments- I have never done this, and this is the year!
4. Show my work as often as possible!  Apply to more shows than I did in 2010, which was a great start!
5. Improve the quality of all of my relationships by being in the moment, remembering birthdays, and connecting more often through writing letters, or phone calls (not just quick emails and facebooking).
6. Put myself in more uncomfortable situations to get over fears, and get out of my comfort zone of living. "The Amazing Race" would definitely help me in this manner (would be a major catalyst for this goal), so Samm and I will definitely apply this year!  Whether or not we get a spot on the show, I know that I could accomplish this goal on a local scale as well...the show would just be a fast forward on accomplishing this.

I have put most of these on a Vision Board- it's still in the works-  I'll post a picture of it when I'm done.

The truth is I hope that 2011 will completely be the most meaningful year of all of our lives!  Cheers to filling it with laughter, love, hope, renewal, and living life in a way that reflects who we are and not what others want us to be!  Happy Holidays, and Happy 2011!  What are you planning?