I was desperate. I didn't know what I was going to draw. I didn't know how I was going to get it done. I had so many competing objectives today. Something had to get done. Then I realized - it's not so much about getting pretty drawings out. For me it's about getting drawings done. It's about practicing. It's about keeping my commitment to myself. I did this drawing of a kettle on a whim. It has no deeper meaning than I wanted to do the work, get the job done. Sometimes you just have to be a student, a journeyman. You have to do the work necessary to get you to where you want to be sometimes you have to go where you don't want to go. A kettle, a freaking kettle. Mission accomplished - I did it.
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When I get a bit overwhelmed and I can't see things clearly I usually go for a walk. I go for a walk most days and it really does help clear my mind. Sometimes there are other people on the beaches hanging out or walking or doing something industrious.
I use these times to think and not think. They're perfect times for reflection or just letting your mind wander. Day dreams are important. A day dream may be where your next big idea comes from. It might give you the motivation you need to keep moving ahead on something you're doing now. It does all those things for me. When I go on a walk and calm my mind I also find that I sleep better and I am better company. I like the times I get to free my mind and let it wander. Sometimes you have to bear down and get the work done. That's for sure. But the time you spend watching your own breath will make you much more productive and better settled in your own skin. The other day when I was walking I spotted this guy doing just that. I hope he wasn't thinking about taxes or other such horrid things. Maybe he was just a guy with a dream and the time to let it grow. Make sure you spend time dreaming - I know I do. Here's the video of the drawing.. It kind a shows all the bumps and blips that get to the final drawing. Enjoy Some day I will be rich. Someday I will be happy. Someday I will have it all together. Someday my golf game will be better. Someday things will be better. But I find when I'm thinking "Someday" life happens all around me while I'm waiting. I couldn't wait until I could drive because things would be different then, things would be better. I couldn't wait until I graduated High School because things would be different then, things would be better. I couldn't wait until I was 21 because then I would really be an adult and things would be better. Things are as they are. Things don't get better or worse because you have reached some imaginary milestone or another. There is this fabulous boat that is most often moored at Cowpet Bay. The boat is called "Someday Came". For me, my someday is now. I will do my best to enjoy what I have now. Today is my someday and I'm going to make it a good one. It's only take me 60 years to figure this one out. Today this little drawing of "Someday Came" will hopefully remind me to be grateful for now and not wait for someday. We don't have someday. We have today. Enjoy the day. I saw a couple sailing off from St Thomas Yacht Club in a nice little sailboat. They (from what I could see in the distance) were enjoying to day. I started dreaming it was me at the helm of that Hobie and had to draw a picture of it. There is something about water that calms the soul. When I was quite young I had to good fortune to learn how to sail on weekends with my ice hockey coach Jerry Sharp, his son, Jim, and another friend of Jim's named John. I was able to participate in the outfitting of the boat and the sailing. It was a great experience for me. To this day I love seeing sail boats and when I see one I long to be on it. This weekend I was able to live vicariously though the peaceful outing this couple was having. My mother had a book called "I Must Go Down To The Seas Again"(Seitsema & Hart). When she passed away there were many things to go through and a lot of it was distributed to various organizations. That book stays with me. There is something about the sea that gets under your skin and sticks. At least it is that way for me. There is also a short poem by Spike Milligan called I Must Go Down To The Sea Again I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky; I left my shoes and socks there - I wonder if they're dry? I am not a seafarer. As a matter of fact I have the ability to get quite sea-sick with the pitch and yaw of a boat but I can still watch the water for hours and not be board. Monday's come all too quickly and I wonder where the weekend has gone. At least, today while I'm back at work, I have a memory of a weekend well spent. I wish you a good day and happy sailing. Saturday is beach day. Beach chairs, swimming shorts, maybe a beer or two. Here's a little beach chair. All it's missing is you. Would you like to join me? I started a drawing in the morning which wasn't going quite the way I wanted it to - so I changed my mind and drew this beach chair and umbrella thing. I had beaches on my mind I suppose. I had a really nice day at Cowpet Bay. Lazy day reading a book. Just started the Steven King book - Revival. I'm looking forward to it. After I got home from the beach I went for a very nice walk along Vessup Beach. My weekend is going very nicely. Hope yours is too. I used to get a bit crabby when something was gnawing at me. When my mind is preoccupied and my focus is not where it should be I get a bit anxious and sometimes that might appear to be a bit crabby. One of the problems being human is having a mind. Especially when that mind tends to wander. My mind often wants to be anyplace but where it is. It wants to go chasing after shiny things. I know my mind is like that. I've had problems with concentration my whole life. So what have I done about it. I've worked on my focus by reading, painting and drawing. I concentrate on sticking with things until they're finished. Sticking with things till their finished is very important. Sometimes I time-box things to make it more palatable. I can do something for 1/2 hour when thinking about continuing for 2 hours may be daunting. I like to set little mini goals to get things accomplished. I can be totally absorbed with mini goals. I find if I'm truly involved in mind, body and soul there is no room for anything else. Focus is a great gift. For some people it comes naturally. It's not something that's come naturally to me. It's something I've worked on all my life. I continue to work on it to this day. Focus is one of the ways I avoid being crabby. Focus lets you live in the moment and not wander off to the next thing until first thing is finished. We really have no right to be crabby. It does no good to whinge about it. Find focus and shake off crabbiness. Here's my rendition of a crab. Enjoy! I began a drawing a day on March 3rd in Doncaster, England. We were sitting around with some very good friends who were putting us up during some troubled times. As I was drawing that first picture I started thinking that I should continue this for as long as I could.
The result of that beginning are the following drawings. I've managed one a day since then. I hope you enjoy. It has been a lot of fun for me. Wish me luck on month number 2 |
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