lesson of the week

“Once you realize that life can change in an instant, you can relax into a steady state of joyful expectation.”
~Kathy Freston

The past week has been spent administrating rather than creating. Tomorrow I will be back in the studio with more canvases, because the Dragonfly sold! Yippie.

I have opened a business account and sent off for sales tax registration, and am investigating “doing business as” vs. LLC filings and such fun. It feels good to be more official in my business capacity, especially with affirmations along the way. The banker was very admiring of my decision to be an entrepreneur, I received some confidence-building phone calls, and making a sale puts money in my pocket for doing what I love.

Each time I define my business on a form it affirms this artistic direction of my life, which in turn helps me think of myself as an artist/creator more.

“Being an artist means believing you are an artist; making a living as an artist requires many of the skills and professional attitudes shared by successful self-employed persons engaged in other occupations.”
~ Caroll Michels in How to Survive and Prosper as and Artist

Next week I am off to a conference that promises to be inspirational. I look forward to seeing and hearing Curly Girl, Kelly Rae Roberts, and Princess Lasertron as well as reconnecting with friends I made last year, and hopefully making new ones.

Even though my business planning is taking longer than expected (I was envisioning being “more established” before TCC), each little step counts and generates a forward-momentum.

Speaking of momentum, I’ve been working on an exercise routine. Not having a daily 20-minute walk to and from the train for 9 months is beginning to show, so I pre-viewed some videos on Netflix and picked my favorite, which is supposed to show “results” in 4 weeks. My muscles are feeling it sooner! 🙂 I also picked up jump-roping since it is inexpensive, has a low learning curve and just 10 minutes can make a difference.

As with all things in life, prioritizing and consistency are key. I am learning to allow myself those 45-50 minutes for my health without feeling like it is stealing time from something “more productive”.

With The Creative Connection Event as a marker, I am learning the following:

• Don’t push yourself too hard if you are not in a place where you wish to be, or if something is taking longer than expected.
• Don’t let “what’s not done” stand in the way of enjoying the current moment, and learn to let the future–both short-term and long-term–unfold as it will.
• Life has some interesting turns in store for us, and it is more important to live each day with appreciation than to focus on that ever-present checklist.

“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted, counts.”
~Albert Einstein as quoted in Wishing Well