I’ve been thinking a lot lately again and like before I originally thought these would end up as individual posts but I can’t seem to find the time (or more like motivation) to sit and write it all out so I am going to try this quicker version instead.
Here are part 1, part 2 and part 3.
14. Looking for the Quick Fix. This, too, has been on my mind a lot lately. We seem to have grown into a society of people looking for the quick fix. Learn Japanese in 24 hours. Become a master programmer in a week. Blah blah. These are not possible goals. Things take time. Dedication. Work. Becoming a master takes time. To me it’s a contradiction in terms. Trust me, I’d love to wake up tomorrow morning and be a master artist. Someone who can draw beautifully. But it’s not going to happen. Most of the people you see as “overnight” successes are people who are obsessively putting time and effort into their passion. Painting night and day. Writing for hours on end. Drawing again and again. When I study a new language I study for about 4-5 hours a day for months! Months. Gladwell famously mentions in his Outliers book that you need to dedicate 10,000 hours to something to master it. Break that down. An hour a day would get you 365 hours (ok 366 on leap years.) at that rate, you’d reach 10,000 in 27 years. If you do two hours a day, it’s still going to take 13.5 years. And when was the last time you put in two hours a day, every single day, into anything? I am a big proponent of “what you pay attention to blossoms.” And attention = time in our society. There are many things that are faster today. Like finding the meaning of a word or the original book a movie is based on, etc. You can google just about anything. But you still can’t shortcut life. If you want to be a good artist, writer, sports player, musician, programmer, physicist, you name it, you need to put in the time and the effort. Not just empty time either. Meaningful, purposeful time. Studying it, observing, growing, learning. I truly believe that. When I get frustrated with my sketches and how elementary they look, I remind myself I’ve put in maybe 10-20 hours so far. That’s 0.2% of 10,000. I’ve got a long way to go. Sometimes I need more perspective to bring me back to reality. It’s always about perspective. It also reminds me that where I spend my time matters. Very much.
15. Internet and blogs have brought real value into my life. I know it’s fashionable to bash blogs as a waste of time People who’ve inspired me despite not knowing them or ever having met them in person. There are people out there who share and I read and I get inspired to try things in my own life. Sometimes I succeed and discover something I never knew before or find a new passion. Sometimes it doesn’t work out but I am still thankful for having tried. But there are people who’ve tangibly changed my life. Heather is the reason I bought my first digital SLR. It prompted Jake to teach me more about photography. The camera led me to my first business. It brought on a passion I didn’t even know I had. I’d liked taking photos before but nothing like this. I learned so much about photography. Discovered a true love. I might or might not scrapbook my whole life but I will always take photos. It’s my passion and I put the hours into it, but Heather was the person who opened that world to me. She triggered it. Just by being herself. I am so grateful. Ali has inspired me in many ways but the most significant one is December Daily. Because of that album, I now always plan a million activities for my family during December. It’s become a tradition and something we all cherish so much. We owe so many of our adventures to this. So many amazing memories we will now have forever. December Daily is what triggered that for me. Ali’s pages and point of view also helped me look more closely at the everyday moments in my life. Tell our ordinary stories. This, too, has changed my life. It’s like getting to look back up on the “good old days” while they are still happening. It increases awareness, gratitude, and joy. Cathy, too, has changed my life. She is the one who triggered my “getting healthy” goal this year. Yes I am doing all the work but the trigger matters. The Nike+ made a tangible difference for me and I read about that in Cathy’s blog. Seeing her transform gave me hope. And now I have lost over 24 lbs in six months and I am the smallest size I’ve ever been in my life. More significantly I exercise every single day. With the exception of a brief hour with Heather, I’ve never met these people. We don’t regularly email or chat. But they have tangibly changed my life. If that’s not real value, I don’t know what is.
16. Self-conversation matters. I recently finished Christy’s amazing she art class and it made me realize something. As I watched her paint and stamp, I heard her say “oh that’s cute” or “i love that” often. I noticed that even if she made a mistake, she wouldn’t beat herself up about it. She’d just work with it, around it, or try to fix it. She was easy on herself. She enjoyed the process and was generally happy. When I create art, that’s not how it goes for me. I generally beat myself up a million times. I feel like I’ve ruined the piece a good ten times. I have to stop myself from stopping and chucking it away. I feel like it’s all just proof that I suck at this. It’s like I am waiting all along to be proven right that I am no good. Isn’t that terrible? Watching her made me realize that I’ve noticed others be positive, too. People enjoy the process. They build themselves up and see possibilities. I need to focus on that. Focus on patting myself in the back, cheering myself on. Being more positive. Feeling like I can do this. And giving myself permission to learn. To explore. I talked a lot about the “little girl” in my Finding Your Way class at BPC. The little one that lives inside each of us and the one who’s full of energy and hope and creativity and ideas. The one where most of the good stuff comes from. I feel like when it comes to art and mixed media I squash mine a lot and often. I am not kind to her. I need to work on this.
and there we are. that’s what’s on my mind lately.
Today was a bunch of work and a bunch of rest. Nothing too much really to say. When I went to get David, he was working on his workbooks so I snapped a shot.
So he gave me a smile.
Little boy was talking to me through the little hole again.
So I went there to snap some shots.
Jake and David were out riding bikes so he was sad.
I am feeling good today. For no reason. I’ve been putting off doing performance reviews at work. Those are never fun but other than that I’m actually on top of everything so I feel calm and like it’s ok to rest. I am also calm about the drawing stuff for a while. I need to make a plan but I am not 100% ready yet.
By the way, it’s almost April and the newsletter is ready. So are new digital downloads. This is where I remind you to join my newsletter. It’s on the upper right corner to join. I hope you do!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I mailed off my layout, yey!
2. I am grateful for another relatively uneventful day at work.
3. I am grateful for people allowing me to help, it’s such an honor to get to help.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i wrote two letters at school {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we’re reading our book
3. I am grateful that i worked on my workbook (summer activities, today).
I normally like to save sequels of books I liked for a time when I am in need of a good book but I decided to read, The Scorch Trials because I really needed something exciting to read while I exercised. And this was the perfect book.
While it wasn’t nearly as good as the Maze Runner, I did really like it and I am very much looking forward to the last one. I’m told he’s going to tell us all the details and resolve every little bit in the final book. He’d better!!
It just sucks that I have to wait patiently for it.
A lot of today was filled with frustration but then in the afternoon, I decided to take a little break and spent some time with David and Nathaniel and I am so glad I did. I feel so much better now. David and I were reading and Nathaniel was playing in the other room, each time I called him, I’d see this:
Then we went back to reading.
I realized afterwards that he was playing by the stairs.
He was having so much fun I didn’t want to stop him.
We read, worked, played and then David asked if we could go out to dinner. So we all went to dinner since it was the first non-rainy day in a long while. It was wonderful and relaxing. And tonight I might actually attempt to make a layout. Or not. Let’s see if the mood strikes. I’m thinking maybe I am too tired and might just have to relax on the couch instead.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went out to dinner.
2. I am grateful for my mom. I love you, mom.
3. I am grateful for art and inspiration.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we’re reading our book {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we went out to dinner
3. I am grateful that we worked on our spelling workbook.
And here’s another one of my weeklong pages. This one was inspired by Christy Tomlinson’s She Art Workshop. The first thing I did in this page was to cover it with a map and then put some really washed out white paint on it.
then I added a bunch of paint to the edges and put my girl on the right side:
Here’s the left page:
and the right page:
And here’s the full page:
Sorry photos are kind of bad. My camera doesn’t like these pages for some reason. But I still love making these pages.
Weekly Art Journal is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here. And you can find out more about the weeklong daily journaling here.
Well I expected today to be stressful so I sort of cornered myself before the day even began. And I made the mistake of staying up an hour longer than needed last night which made today even less bearable. While I worked all day (or pouted) the little boy played and grabbed things off my desk.
Jake came home early to get David who was a bit sad.
And didn’t really want to have photos.
So gave me a fake-ish smile.
But then the kids played and laughed together while I broke down a bit (quite stressed today). They giggled and laughed
Then little boy played with the toy David loved as a baby and it warmed my heart to see it out again.
Tonight I take it easy and rest. I will catch up in my class and be kind to myself. And go to bed early.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that beta is out. i can breathe a bit better now.
2. I am grateful for Jake’s help and patience with me.
3. I am grateful for my kids’ laughter which always reminds me what’s most important.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Mommy got flowers from the library – i volunteer for the library at his school {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i watched a soccer movie with Daddy
3. I am grateful that matthew, luke and i played star wars at school.
I had the honor of being the December 2010 Guest designer for October Afternoon. This is one of the layouts I made for them.
Journaling Reads:
I look at the two of you playing together on the floor, taking turns to add blocks to your structure and I wonder what I did to deserve this amazing life. These wonderful children. How did I get so lucky? You two are by far the greatest accomplishments of my life. I love you more than there are words to describe and I count my blessings each and every single day. June 10.
Details:
I can officially say this has been a great weekend. Much art, much family time, and laughter. What more can I ask from a weekend? I did three layouts and another page in my art journal. We took family shots:
Tickled a whole bunch.
Laughed and laughed.
Then it was quiet time (though Nathaniel never did nap.) where I did art, Jake worked and David did his workbook and played on the phone. After that we went to David’s new school (he’ll hopefully be starting a new school in the fall.).
It was quite chilly but we walked around a bit.
He played on the playground.
The little one watched.
Daddy pushed him on the swings.
the little one watched some more and kept saying “me, me, me.”
Then Jake joined David and swung some himself.
We then went to grab a bit at a bagel place and came home for family time. We played Perfection and dominoes. We laughed a lot. Now the kids are sleeping and I have a bunch of blog posts to write, emails to return and then it will be sleep time. Tomorrow is a stressful day at work and this week I have an appointment each morning so it will be more stressful than usual. But that’s ok. I feel calm right now so I am just going to enjoy that.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for another full, productive and yet relaxing day.
2. I am grateful for family time. The laughter and the joy.
3. I am grateful for my husband. I love love love him so.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went out to dinner {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we played dominoes
3. I am grateful i get to read the lego magazine in bed.
David says:
I gave this story five stars because I really liked the story about how they had the penguins as pets and I thought it was kind of funny and sweet.
I like that they named the first penguin Captain Cook, I thought that was funny. I also liked that he got to go on the boat with them at the end. I also liked the part where Captain Cook was building his nest and used all the things in the house as rocks. I like the first walk the go on in the neighborhood because the penguin keeps tangling everyone up and it’s funny.
I didn’t like the part where Captain Cook got fat and sad and then also the part where they all went to jail. Those parts were sad. I think Mr. Popper made the right choice for the penguins because they cold weather and they will be happier in the Arctic.
Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
I slept really fitfully last night and woke up with nightmares in the middle of the night. My heart was racing. Then I went back to sleep and Nathaniel started crying. So I ended up sleeping until 8:30 (thank you Jake!) and then I had to rush to exercise and take family shots. We rushed it a bit and the kids weren’t really in the mood.
At least not the little boy.
Even during tickle time, he made the most unpleasant faces.
But we did all laugh quite a bit.
Then I had my BPC chat which was great. Afterwards, Nathaniel looked at me and smiled, which is a sign he wanted me to take his shot. So I obliged of course.
he discovered this little car had doors.
that opened.
which brought much joy.
and then he tortured David for a while.
Who actually enjoyed the attention and was kind to his brother.
Then they came to attack me.
Love my boys. After that we walked over to a neighbor’s house cause she was having a bake sale to raise money for Japan. Then it was naptime for Nathaniel. David played Wii and I scrapped. Some more playing and then we went to Trader Joe’s for some shopping. Dinner and the kids are now in bed. Jake went running and I am trying to relac and decide if I might do one more layout or just some art.
That’s it from this quiet, peaceful day. Hope your Saturday was good as well.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a full, productive and yet relaxing day.
2. I am grateful for family photos. Love them.
3. I am grateful for movies which I watch as I make my layouts.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went to Miho’s house for snacks. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i got two new Wii games (a friend of Jake’s gave them to us).
3. I am grateful i got to play my new games.
jake
Jake had a long week and a tiring one but I think now that the end is near, we’re all a bit more optimistic. He helped me so very much at the beginning of this week that I don’t know how I can do my job without him. I so very much look forward to starting our new lives together and I wish and hope it’s for the very best. I am so happy to have my husband around more. He’s my best friend and he brings so much joy to our household.
karen
This week started was quite stressful. So much so that I can’t really believe all of what got done this week was just done in a week, it feels like each day was a week of its own. Alas, a tong of work got done, some layouts got done, I tried to dedicate a lot of time to my class and I journaled in my art book. I’ve had some serious downs and some good ups this week. I’m not complaining because it all ended okay but I still hope next week is quieter.
david
David had an uneventful week at school. We got his report card on Monday and he’s doing great. He is at or above grade level in all of his subjects (not that it means a lot in kindergarten). He’s been spending a lot of time on the phone but after he does all of his work and gratitudes and eats his vegetables so I am ok with that. He’s such a good boy and deserves all wonderful things. So I try to make sure he gets rewarded often.
nathaniel
Nathaniel had some good luck this week. He got into the preschool right by our house and he will be going there next year three days a week. This made me happy since it’s a small, nice school and really really close to our house. He’s been a handful lately, getting into everything and grabbing many things he knows he’s not supposed to. He looks at me as he does them, too, because he knows he’s doing something he should not be. Alas, he’s so so cute so I try to discipline him but it’s quite hard to be mean to the little boy.
Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
I made a list last night of things I needed to get done first thing in the morning. I woke up at 6am and did each of them. I was done by 9am, even with the hourlong exercise break. So by 9, I was already feeling good about my day. I spent most of the rest of the day just getting more things done but slowly, and not stressfully.
Here are some faces Nathaniel makes when he’s told he can’t touch things.
So much drama from a little little boy.
We then went to get David who came home and quickly did his chores. Wrote his gratitudes.
Smiled for mommy.
Nathaniel, in the meantime, was playing this game where he ran to the door and faked falling flat on his butt.
my funny boy.
Early evening, we had our friends Jessica and Sam with their kids come to visit. They were in town from Los Angeles and they’re some of my favorite people ever. It was so wonderful to see all the kids playing and giggling together.
After they left, Jake went into the city to meet up with a friend and I have been slowly cleaning up, resting and relaxing. Then I got the best email ever. I think I might just relax a bit and then go to sleep early so I can start my weekend all rested.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for David’s wonderful news. I feel so thankful.
2. I am grateful for the time we spent with Jess and Sam and their wonderful kids.
3. I am grateful for the weekend. I have a chat tomorrow at BPC but that’s my only commitment for the weekend. I will play with my kids, read, relax and be thankful.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we have friends coming over. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i had some mango ice cream.
3. I am grateful i got to stay up a little later than usual.
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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