Archives

The Story Behind La Sirena’s Sweet ’16 Online Art Show

Jun8

Remember how January felt?

You had all those “things” you were going to do differently.

You were ready to TAKE ON THE WORLD with your newly discovered I-can-do-it-all magical New Year’s fairy dust.

I kinda remember. Luckily, I wrote most of it down and kept it simple.

I chose one word as my mantra for the year: PLAY

This key word is what I use to reflect on and evaluate the past six months of life and business. I think I’m doing pretty good so far.

One of the ways I chose to bring more PLAY into 2016 was to host an online art show in June. I also miss working on collaborative art projects with people and thought this would also be a great way to connect/reconnect with people in a more meaningful way.

I put a call out on social media for participants and 23 said they were interested.

My theory was: by setting a concrete goal (the art show on June 15) you will be more motivated to practice or experiment with art or complete a project than you would be by simply thinking to yourself, “I want to paint more” or “I want to do more creative things this year”.

The only parameters for the project was that it needed to fall under the theme “Teenage Feeling”.

AND HERE WE ARE. IT’S JUNE! THE PROJECTS ARE IN.

13 people submitted their projects and I’m super excited to share them with you!

 

WANT IN ON NEXT YEAR’S ONLINE ART SHOW PROJECT? Sign up here so you don’t miss the next call for participants.

Start Before You’re Ready

Sep5

It’s been 5 weeks since I returned from my 4-week long West Coast tour. INSPIRATION OVERLOAD. I had so much clarification while I was on my trip. The world seemed new, fresh and optimism poured over me. I felt like I was in college again.

I had the idea that I would write and draw sooooooooooo much while there, but like usual, I didn’t make the time. There was too much going on. And living in the moment felt really refreshing. HOWEVER, I did jot down lots and lots of notes, and they are really helping me stay focused now that I’m back in the daily routine.Rereading them helps me access those feelings of hope and clarity that come so easily when you’re gazing at stars in Northern California, but not so easily when you’re trying to cram in 1001 to-do’s while your baby takes a nap. 

I look at my post-it note (titled NEW MISSIONS) every day when I wake up and every day before I go to bed, just to check in and remind myself where I’m going. And little by little I am working on each one of them.

NEW MISSIONS:
1) Start before I’m ready (That’s what I’m doing right now! I keep saying I want to wait till everything is perfect before I start working on my blog and website, but I just keep procrastinating. So here it is in all it’s imperfect glory.)

2) Surround myself with energy-boosting people, find “my” people. And the opposite – stop wasting time with energy-draining people. This applies to online and in real life.

3) If something isn’t working try doing the opposite or stop doing it. (I read the idea of doing the opposite onGretchen Rubin’s site. It’s AMAZING how much sense this makes. I can’t believe I never thought of problem solving this way before.)

4) Do more energy-boosting activities.

5) Get a house cleaner at least 1-2 times a month (This will open up more time for other activities and also give me peace of mind. I realize that having a messy house affects my mood. I really hate having a messy house. Maybe because I work from home? I’ve tried not worrying about it but that strategy hasn’t worked for me.)

6) Invest in my skills and my business

7) Bicoastal +1 (Being bicoastal is not really a new mission for me. But I have realized I would also like to add one more place a year to spend time exploring.)

(A few of these ideas first came to me from http://www.blacksburgbelle.com – I love her thoughts on time management and building a passionate-filled business.)