With the start of the New Year comes a lot of big goal energy...You know the kind I'm talking about. After the haze of the holidays, there's a jump back in to regular schedules and some serious get-back-in-it-shake-off-the-lazy head shaking (with a hefty dose of self-judgement).
With that same energy in mind I recently decided I finally had to face my studio. My studio is objectively a big mess. Papers everywhere, packing supplies everywhere, paintings everywhere, paint everywhere... in a 15 square foot room with an 8 foot square table--you get the picture, and it is not pretty! I was filled with self-judgement about this. I must not be motivated or must be inherently flawed in some way...why can't I keep this space in order??? There's something wrong with ME.
Well, as I started cleaning and unpacking the layers of mess I realized...this mess is the result of a HUGE year for me and my company. In the early days of 2024 I saved every little scrap and box, because my finances were so tight that I could only afford to buy packing materials after someone had bought a painting.
My studio table is full of pigments. Full of dried flowers and lichen and baskets of rocks. In 2024 I expanded the offerings connected to my natural pigment practice, offering workshops and investing in equipment to teach these workshops and to bring the story of these colors to trail exhibitions and in-person connections. This equipment didn't have a place to be "put away" because it didn't exist before the past year.
I've got stacks of fliers, posters, and notes from meetings with all the wonderful organizations I partnered with. This isn't a sign of disorganization, it is a sign of doing so many good things that I simply didn't have a system in place to keep track of them all. This isn't because something is wrong with me or that I am incapable of organization (hello self-judgement). This happened because before now, I didn't need a system like I do now!
So I'm learning and reflecting...
You can't go on growing indefinitely. Every once in a blue moon (or January) you need to stop and take a breath and exist between looking back and looking ahead. What is serving you and what isn't anymore? Where have you been and will you be going there again? If so, what can you do better? What can you do without?
Creative blocks come and go as a natural part of the creative process. They are part of the process of growth. Isn't it amazing, to be in the midst of chaos, when it is made of hopes and dreams come true?
Happy Trails,
-Mira
Artist, Growing in Process
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