"Just A Doodle: #12"
Not long ago, I emailed my dear friend and fellow blogger, Jill Buckley, to whine a little. I was lamenting the fact that the routines of life were interfering with my ability to make art quilts as often as I’d like to; I can’t seem to figure out how to get everything else done, like laundry and dishes and cleaning and exercising and grocery shopping and buying underwear (a hateful task), not to mention spending quality time with hubby, who does so many of the mundane tasks around here and who is feeling a bit neglected lately.
“What am I doing wrong?” I asked Jill.
“What am I doing wrong?” I asked Jill.
I received a beautiful and thoughtful email in return; Jill wrote:
“I guess you have to ask yourself what YOU want to be doing. Are you happy with the amount of artwork you are currently producing? Why do you create?”
Jill told me that she spent many years working incredibly long hours being excessively productive, and that now she is content “just letting it happen. Did I accomplish much today? No, not really, but I did play a little, and some new ideas are bouncing around in my noggin. One day they will leap out and become something for real.”
So I DID ask myself what I want to be doing, and the answer came back that, although I’d love to be producing more fiber art, this is my life right now, and I need to embrace it. Being a woman of a certain age and having found my passion only recently, I think I’m afraid something will take it all away.
Therefore, starting today, I am adopting The Buckley Mantra: Play each day, one at a time, and celebrate that which emerges. Do something related to fiber art, even if it’s only fondling the fabric. My best stuff will probably happen when I’m relaxed and playful (Jill’s words). Every day that I can stitch or draw or paint is a good day, and I am a lucky girl.
And I have clean underwear.
Diane
7 comments:
Those are wonderful words of advice and wisdom. We all should live by them. There are actually days that I do live by those words, but mostly not. I think it would be good to live by them more often. By the way, clean underwear is all that it is cracked up to be... good to have around. Oh, and love the doodle!
Thanks for this posting!!! It is all too true. It is so difficult to keep things going where we want them and Jill had some great words of wisdom. Thanks Diane and Thanks Jill!
I need to do laundry.........
Well first let me say that I can see that fabulous technocolour doodle taking on a whole new life in fabric and thread.
Secondly....could I ask you to be my agent?....you make it sound as though I make sense every once in a while.
Delightful doodle! Some days are going to be more productive than others. I love the idea that even just fondling the fabric counts!
I agree. It's so important to live in the "now" and embrace every moment we are lucky enough to have. It's also good to analyze our time and make conscious choices about how we spend it. And, it's important to have clean underwear! LOL
Totally enjoyed the advice, and I agree. We all have "life" around us, and if we are able to create, then that's a bonus. Have a great day.
:-) Oh yeah the underwear. If we only had 36 hours in a day. Great advise and something we can all apply to our lives. It's great to have "Jills" in our lives to keep us grounded!
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