There is something magical about completing a resonant goal. When the goal is just a means to an end, attaining it can feel good for a short period of time, but all too soon you are looking for the next pinnacle to reach. However, when the goal is S.M.A.R.T., or specific, measurable, attainable, resonant and timely, it can be very fulfilling when you reach the end. I feel that the journey is as important as the goal itself. And this past month, the journey of being part of Art Every Day Month was just as important as making the commitment to create daily art.
There were many surprises in my journey towards making my art a priority in my life. I began with the intention to just create art again. Nothing more, nothing less than reigniting the flame of art, my life and breath for so many years before I became a life coach. I had no idea where it would take me and I didn’t really care. I just knew it was important and that I needed something to keep me accountable or I would find excuses to not create.
It was not easy to make art a daily habit. I thought that by linking it to my blog, it would be easier to be accountable. Instead, it made it harder for me to write my blog. I pushed it off sometimes till the end of the day, because it would take me that long to paint or draw something. There were a few days when I did not submit a blog entry, and prior to this month, I had a good daily habit of blog writing in the morning. On the flip side, my drawings, paintings, or photos sometimes informed the blog entry. And that was cool and serendipitous for me. When it worked, it felt complete, the art and the writing inextricably linked that brought my blog to a new level.
Daily creation forced me to think outside the box more than I usually do. I also got creative with my interpretation of creativity, sometimes posting my creation of leaf piles, banana bread from rotting bananas, or taking the same drawing and manipulating it in different ways for different entries. I learned how to use my iphoto program to change colors and enhance images. I reacquainted myself with the elaborate doodling I did throughout high school and college, and found that there was a new name for it, Zentangles.
One of the best outcomes of Art Every Day Month was meeting the awesome art community linked to AEDM. So many of these lovely thoughtful artists visited and commented on my blog, and I am so grateful for their loving support. I, in turn, visited and commented on their blogs, and I even made a new Facebook friend through this community. I look forward to keeping up with many of my new virtual friends. It helps to know we are not creating art in a vacuum. Rather, with love and support and understanding, we are more likely to believe in our innate talents and gifts and share them with the world.
The butterfly I created today is inspired by an inkblot series by the founder of AEDM, Leah Piken Kolidas. I feel that the process of doing art every day has awoken the butterfly within me. There are patterns and colors just waiting to emerge. Much of my art, as well as my true colors, have been quiet and suppressed for most of my life. The past few years have been an awakening for me, to my true calling as a life coach and my emergence from a marriage that held me back from my true potential. Tapping back into the artist has released even more of my potential, and it’s an essential part of who I am.
Art Every Day Month may end today, but my commitment to honoring the true artist within does not end here. This is just the beginning of my journey. As the butterfly takes flight, who knows where she will land next!
What wants to take flight in you?
