Thursday, May 31, 2012

Show Up Every Day

While captive on an airplane recently, I read the in-flight magazine from cover to cover. It had a short interview with the author, Danielle Steel, and her quote caught my eye.  She said "if there's a formula at all to what I do, its this: [I] put my butt in my chair every single day. "  Translate that to my profession and it becomes "I put my hands on the cloth every day." Not a bad idea.  I know you've heard this from me before, but it is difficult to juggle all the aspects of my "job".  As someone who has to earn a living from her art, I have to balance income producing activities (teaching and writing) with creative activities that don't have an immediate income attached.  The studio time may lead to sales and income at some point, but there is definitely a lag between creation and sale.

I confess that I don't go into the studio every day.  As my activities on the income producing side have increased, my studio time has decreased. But for the next 6 weeks, I have no excuse.  No classes until late July. Can I actually commit to spending part of every day in the studio? I don't know, but I'm going to give it a try!

4 comments:

  1. I've had issues lately with "showing up" - I'm busy and doing stuff, but not really what makes me feel I have been present when it is over at the end of the day. Anticipate better time soon.

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    1. Thanks for the added perspective, Sandra. I was interpreting "showing up" mostly in the physical sense. The mental side is just as important!

      You do have a lot on your plate now! Wishing you peace and presence.

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  2. It seems to me that if you physically show up, the magic begins to happen. Of course, one has to have the time to physically show up, right?

    How was your sabbatical? I hope you accomplished lots!

    I'm so looking forward to your book!

    xo

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    1. You are right, Judy, somehow once you start working the ideas seem to flow. As for time, don't get me started on that! Even though we all have many commitments and demands on our time, I still feel that we can make the time for the things that are important to us. We might not do so (for a variety of reasons), but in most cases we can tweak the way we use our time.

      The sabbatical was great - look for my post next week on what I did.

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