An Invitation
You Are Invited
Hey friends,
So I am now officially a week and a day away from my first show of the year. If you are not sure what I am talking about and want to know about the events I will be participating in, go to cut.ink/events. If you would like to see what I have been working on lately you should stop by Chapterhouse Coffeeshop and Gallery at 620 S. 9th Street in Philadelphia. The opening of the show will be on April 10th (Friday) from 7pm to 10pm and will remain up until June 9th. I hope to see you there!
What I am Struggling With
My Struggles
On a different note, I've been struggling through my busyness. Lately I find myself on a regular basis telling people that "I have been so busy". Problem with this is that I do not have enough done for the show. I feel like this is a common struggle for a lot of us. We get so caught up in the 'grind' that we forget to make time to do the things that we are actually passionate about.
Stay Organized and Clean
I realized that the reason I've also felt so busy and anxious about creating is that I did not create a safe and clean space to create in. This for me was a huge factor that slowed down my creative process and even kept me from generating art. I spent a majority of yesterday, after my day job, cleaning, de-cluttering and organizing my studio. This was long overdue. I cannot explain to you the huge difference it is making. My mind feels so clear and able to focus on the task at hand now instead of being distracted by the mess and disarray. I know where I can find everything I need and I know that when I am in my studio that it is 'go' time.
Sleep and Rest
The other factor that was hindering from me creating well was lack of sleep and rest. I had fallen into a habit of staying awake till 12am to 1 am and then going to bed. This was not helpful to me as I always want to wake up early and do some creative work but have such a hard time waking up. Recently my accountability partner Eric Friedensohn of Efdot studio during our meeting quoted Sean McCabe's podcast "a productive day starts with the night before." WOW! That is so true. I need to get myself together and set better practices the night before to help me when I wake up to be creatively productive. Set two or three things that I HAVE to get done. Wake up and tackle that before I do anything else, after I've gotten a full night's sleep. The clarity that I have a after my initial grogginess is amazing. I have not yet gotten distracted by the worlds stresses or looked at my phone and therefore am able to give a 100% of my focus to the tasks at hand.
So having a cleaner studio space and resting are two practices that I am putting into place to combat my constant feeling of anxiety from the lack of art and busyness.
Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. Even the people whom we admire have the same amount of time. (Another thing I heard on Sean McCabe's podcast. The podcast has a lot of good stuff and you guys should give it a try).
What are the practices that you have in place to combat the busyness you may be feeling? Are these real struggles for you? Write back if you are comfortable. I would love to hear from you guys.
