As 2011 fast approaches, I find myself looking back over the previous year and looking forward towards the new. Thumbing through last year's morning pages, I found I'd written "Lack of fear, openness to spirit and love of community" on the inside front cover. I'm not sure if it's a quote, and if it is, from whom. But it makes a good mission statement for the coming year.
Lack of fear. 2010 was an exercise in continuing despite my internal fears. Writing Freeform Peyote Beading, I considered abandoning the project at least twice a month over the nine months of active work.
"No one will like it", my inner critic wailed, "What if I finish the book and it sucks?" At each stage - writing the manuscript, laying out the pages, sending the final draft out for critiques and proofing, sending the final, final draft to Createspace, accepting the galley proof and activating the book for sale - I was tempted to simply quit. So I can't say that I was fearless, but I can say that for once, I didn't let my fears paralyze me. Let's continue that trend in 2011!
Openness to spirit. What exactly does this mean? That's one for meditation. Listen to what calls out to be created. However one defines spirit, being open - to inspiration, to serendipity, to ideas, to possibilities - is essential.
Love of community. For some time now, I've been quite insular in my art production, even with the studio space. That's one of the things I'm hoping to change in 2011. I'd like to become more active in both my local community here in Seattle, specifically with the Northwest Bead Society and the Pacific Northwest Needle Arts Guild, but also with the larger online community. I'm almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of beading blogs out there, and am happily exploring the online community.
So there are my goals for 2011. Keep on keeping on.
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