Command central, the planning spot. A sorting basket, magazines to be filed and tagged, a happy light, a calendar, a dog toy that needs repaired as well as a magnetic pin catcher with miscellaneous items that need returned to their proper place. On the far right are mini legal pads where I plot and plan.
Like many, I get caught up in the busyness of life and forget that my creative spirit weakens without purpose. This Summer has had and on and off type of spirit. After a good think, and some favorite music playing as I work, I know what it is. I have not been keeping my routines. I need that. It settles my day to complete my morning tasks, first thing, before the phone rings, the door bell chimes, or I start to hear....."what's for dinner." Like fingernails on a chalk board, being out-of-step early in the day spells a restless spirit that struggles to complete essential tasks while planning for an afternoon of creativity, discovery, and experimentation. I am now and have always been a restless soul. I am curious to a fault, once on a quest....well....I have to follow it. If it involves a new way to make a certain project I will research every source, including my extensive library, online sources, Youtube videos, and all my journals where I know I made a note somewhere! And that, dear friends, means I am off-track and my well laid plans from my Sunday afternoon planning session have gone awry!
How do I get that back? How to re-set my creative time clock?
While
this stunning garden is in Los Angeles, it evokes the calm of an
English setting. Tour your own garden, tour a friends special space, or
seek a public park or garden, to commune with nature.
As our Summer days march on, savoring the special light that only Summer mornings can provide while taking time to absorb the sounds and scents of the season, falls into the category of slowing down. For many, the Fall season is the beginning of school starting, structured sports events, and social calendars filling. We need to take this time, this once a year pause, to gather our selves into that cocoon of beauty.
How can we do that? As needle artists, cooks, home makers, family leaders, etc., we can choose to set a few minutes per day to nurture ourselves. It is time to work on a new habit, one that supports our endeavors, what ever that might be.
- Shall we set up a little corner of our favorite room to be "our" spot. A comfortable chair, a little table to hold our tea cup and a bud vase, perhaps a little basket by the chair to contain the current needlework project or book.
- Take these last few weeks of warm weather to set a little table, outside, for your mid-day meal. Take that 30 minutes or so to relax, observe the changes around you as the season wanes, and nibble some little bit to sustain you thru until dinner. Use a pretty little plate, a napkin (perhaps self made) to dress your spot. Feel the breeze, notice the changes in the sun as it passes your space.
- One of my favorite mid-week habits, particularly since the pandemic lock downs, is to jump in the car, with a thermos of coffee or tea, maybe a little snack or two in my go-bag, and drive some unknown country roads. I never cease to be amazed that I have lived in this area most of my life and there are places I have never seen! On one occasion I became rather twisted around on a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere, with a few locals coming up to the road to see just who this was trespassing in their area. I was hearing the soundtrack of the movie Deliverance in the background. Be mindful of where you explore!
- On a rare occasion I will stop by my favorite bakery and pick up one or two special treats. I don't bake much, never did, that was MIL's forte. I have been doing some local research and found 2 bakeries I have not yet visited. They are on the list.
I am sure you can think of special moments that you would enjoy to explore. Don't forget the amazing serenity of background music. When I cook I mostly play up-tempo rock and jazz. When I read there is often a classic Vivaldi or Mozart on the edges of my hearing, while I dress or bathe I am fond of French ballads. I know, it's a thing! I rarely have no idea what the context is but there is something about the harmony, the cadence, that soothes.
Time to update the "control journal." I first learned this concept years ago from the Flylady. This little notebook holds every essential phone number, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual cleaning projects. It includes the schedule that I use to contract professionals for certain maintenance tasks. That includes when to have the house cleaned outside, literally, I have a wonderful young man who spray cleans the entire house and roof while applying a solution that retards mold. Remember I live in the woods, it is a constant battle. His products do not harm vegetation or animals.
This little journal was a gift from a dear friend, now passed, to document my embroidery projects.
It is well organized, a great reference.
I have quite a few pages left in this one. Next week I will be traveling up to Somerset, Pa. to attend a class with award winning embroiderer Karen Phillips Swallon. This journal is back in the rotation ladies, ready for some new hand work projects. This endeavor falls under the heading of never stop learning. Even if this path is not one I will follow religiously, like quilting for example, it is an opportunity to learn, observe, and absorb the knowledge of someone much greater. It is a blessing at this time of year. Truly.
Just one of her designs still available on Amazon from 2009.
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