What Next?

It’s been one of the hottest weeks of the year. I don’t do well in the heat. It has led me to the decision to delay starting the Alphabet Superset for a couple of reasons. Primarily I just don’t have the time at the moment due to family commitments. Now I’m sure there are many of you out there that balance this on a daily professional level or even on a personal capacity. But I am not one of those people that can juggle multiple things at once. I know, and say to myself why are you writing this blog when all the time I don’t follow through with many of the things I talk about? But part of grinding out a weekly message is to build up a consistency muscle.

All these projects require consistent effort and my idea is that if I have built that up in other efforts then it is transferable to anything. My visual Journal is now so ingrained that I don’t even think about doing it, I know that I will. Likewise with the previous efforts with Inktober. Once I got going I didn’t stop.

However, I do feel like there is a dammed force of energy wanting to get out. The decision is where to guide that energy. I am a strong believer in allowing that energy to guide, me rather than me decide where it should go. But it is hard not to get carried away with thinking that projects like AS are the right thing to do. Added to that is a dose of FOMO… I’m certainly not immune to that. I do find myself getting washed along on the waves of positivity that the birth of such a project brings. But the hardest thing to do is to sit back and listen to the inner self. There lies the answer.

It is certainly interesting to investigate one’s emotions around internet challenges. I’m sure I could read many books on the subject. For me, it seems as though I instinctively know what is right for me. This is all high fallutin’ stuff, but essentially it’s a good thing if it can fire you up to produce something. I think my brain particularly likes numerical iteration. Hence the 30-day challenges are appealing. But there has to be a spark of creativity to start with. Forcing oneself to come up with ideas, for me, doesn’t usually produce something I am happy with.

So I grind out these blog posts in the hope that I will get better at writing them. For the last six weeks I have sat down at my desk and typed out a post. Even though they are not full of “Look what I done” news. Each one is helping to build the solid base that is required to create an artistic path. I really do struggle at the moment with that concept as I don’t see myself in that category. Family members who have spent a lifetime producing, showing and selling their art are the real deal. I feel a bit of a fraud with my digital pencil and double tap. From acorns, great trees grow though! I know what I want to do, but I need to be patient. Which is something I struggle with. Coming round full circle, the decision to not get sucked into another project is the right one. It will allow the space to grow the right one, without the pressure of having to perform to the social media gods.

I just wanted to mark the change in the season as I sit here. The morning light is changing. The intensity is waning as we tilt away from the sun. I never used to appreciate autumn as I linked it to the onset of the gloom of winter. But I am increasingly aware of the quality of light and its effects on the planet and me. The planet is seemingly breathing out and that is what I am doing by not taking on more than I can do.

I will sign off this not-so-exciting episode with a picture. Partly to sex things up a bit, as just text is boring in this day and age. But also to maybe encourage, and inspire me to get out more and seek the scenic inspiration that I in all honesty take for granted. But that is a whole other story that doesn’t need starting here. Although we are heading for a period of hibernation I feel it is going to be a very creatively productive time.

Until the next time…

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