Creativity.....takes courage

June Art Journal....Page One

Last week was a blur....so this week I set a specific intention:  make something - anything - just make it.  I have to admit that part of my intention was spurred on by a new online class I'm taking with Robyn Mcclendon, Art Mythos.  And the rest of my intention was drawn from the energy of the Baton Rouge planner group I belong to - those women are dynamos...two or three are pursuing their doctorates while raising a family and working at least one job.  If they can find time for creative pursuits so can I.

But then I picked up the latest copy of Ornament magazine.  The last page was a tribute to Victoria 'Tory' Hughes.  Tory was a well known artist as well as a teacher, coach, author.  She was fearlessly creative - always trying something new.  Her quote, "The way you do your art is exactly the way you do your life, because, in the end, they are the same thing." Tory was born 1958 and dead of ovarian cancer February 2018.

So it made me think about time and how we use our days and what is really important to me.  Certainly not laundry (even though there isn't a pair of clean underwear in this house today) or projects or people that simply aren't satisfying and have become obligations.

And then I saw this on someone's Facebook account - a quote from actor Viola Davis about having a thick skin for criticism and I remembered all the real and imagined fears I had about showing myself in public whether it was art or dancing or singing or whatever.  And the blowback from anybody and their cousin when I voiced an opinion or shared some creative work that wasn't their norm.  Don't you hate it when someone says you're too sensitive or over-reacting to an unkind remark or left-handed compliment? No thick skin here...I'm over my self imposed emotional calluses and its too much work to smile blandly and move on just to toss and turn later in bitterness.

Well, got that off my chest.  And spent 30 minutes in my new art journal. And made a blog post.  Yay me...and the second load of laundry is started.  Clean Underwear!