My Word for 2014

Happy New Year! Phew! The holidays are over. It was crazy this year with the late Thanksgiving and trying to get everything done. My son's birthday is January 3rd so the craziness doesn't seem to end. He turned six and there was a big party to plan with 20 plus kids to entertain in our home. My New Year starts about a week after the 1st. So, here I am, ready to go for 2014.

Many of my artist friends have taken to choosing a word to be their guidance for the New Year instead of a resolution. I like this idea because it's more flexible. Things happen and my resolutions are broken before noon on January 2nd. But having a word as my guide, I don't feel like a failure if I mess up because it's there for me to go back to. I can always start fresh tomorrow.

For 2014 my word is "Focus". I admit I completely lack it. I am a "go with the flow" kind of gal because many things seem to pop up that take away my art time. Well, no more. This August my daughter is going to Kindergarten and that means both my kids will be in school from 8:30am until 4:15 Monday thru Friday. Wow! It totally floors me to write down that I will have almost 40 hours a week to myself to get work done! (I am also floored by the fact my kids are growing up so fast!).

So, I had this huge list of goals that I narrowed down to 5 things I want to work on in small increments before Caitlyn goes off to school and then ramp up after she is off to school.

The first goal on the list is key. I have to make art every day or none of the other things on the list will matter. Over the holiday I felt my irritation level rising. I was never in my studio making art. Presents, shopping, wrapping, decorating, school activities, cooking, relatives and a cold going through every family member really take up all your time and energy. I need to make art daily for the sake of the family. I'm quite irritating when irritated.

This week I plan on creating bite sized goals within the 5. I have a monthly calendar I can scribble into and a workbook to help me. I am actually going to write down EVERYTHING going on in our lives in the planner. For now, it's the only way I can see when I can do the things I need to do.

On a personal note I am also working on my health. I've been drinking Green Smoothies every day. I've started at one a day and hope to increase to two. They are 40% greens and 60% fruit. They taste awesome and they are healthy. A person can take only so many salads on a daily basis. These smoothies are simple and yummy. The perfect snack. This website has a lot of good recipes to try, Simplegreensmoothies.com.

I hope you will join me this year and follow along. My intention is to post more often and document my journey of growing my art business.

Thanks for stopping by!

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