Choices, Time, and life just a bit out of control.

Well, all right, a LOT out of control. What IS this thing called control, and do I even want it?

Too many choices, too many opportunities, and an embarrassment of riches! 

I still feel the urge to journal and paint...

I love learning, and I am a sucker for books...but I have way, way more than I'll ever be able to read, on a wide variety of subjects. 

And then there are the online courses and classes and videos and groups and seminars and docu-series and workshops and webinars and membership programs and "summits" that capture my interest or curiosity...

I am currently in two membership programs and managed to pass on another one yesterday, a supporter of two Patreons with lots of wonderful offerings I am behind on, taking a class in February that requires preparation NOW (and it's fun and fascinating so of couse I make time!), finishing up a course I was behind in, and signed up for gnomonworkshops.com for a month or two to learn some new techniques for sculpting...

...and of course there are my own projects. The sewing, the character dolls, cooking, fermenting, herbalism, tinctures, journaling, painting, meditation, qi gong, tai chi, healing modalities...

This is Faeana Fawkes, who appeared in my imagination last summer and would NOT let go...

Who knew Faeana would bring so many more along with her?!  She was the result of a meditation or a shamanic journey after 3 years of foxes appearing in my life.

She was followed by a number of others, including these two soft-sculpture stuffed foxy girls, Joyful and her sister Studious. 

And then there's sewing for myself...

 
And Joseph...

He loves his warm, cozy short robe...

 

And eco-dyeing, one of the courses I'll be taking...there's a Daily Om one, too (and another Daily Om that Joseph would like to take together)...

I AM getting better at hitting delete delete delete DELETE on lists and offerings and courses, and even book temptations, and  I'm unsubscribing right, left, and center (how DID I get on so many mailing lists?!?), but even so...my poor brain feels like a bit of tasty snack food with a bunch of seagulls gathering to nibble it madly (and noisily!) to bits.  

Awake before five this morning trying to think WHICH of the many things to do...and here it is mid-morning and I've accomplished very little.  Paralyzed by choices...and by the internet...

I can't count the times I have aimed for more focus, stillness, attention, Presence...

"Be here now," Ram Dass entreated us, many years ago.  But where is here...?

Meaningful Journaling Class...really! One of these days...and a question

Hi all...I'd appreciate your thoughts on this!  I WILL be working on the class on Meaningful Journaling again...I got sidetracked by life and other considerations, and now I find I have a question. 

I've recently taken a couple of online classes that were almost exclusively videos.  Mine are usually heavily PDF, with video supplements, these days (though I didn't used to include videos in my early classes, if you've taken those.)

I much prefer the format I use even when I'm TAKING a class, for various reasons.  Here are a few of them:

I don't want to spend that much time in front of the computer. 

I can only watch videos right here, not out on the deck or in my shed or on the go.  If I print a PDF, I can take with.

My attention wanders when a video takes too long (for me, that appears to be anything over 10 minutes, usually.)

I like to be able to easily refer back to a section or a detail or a particular point.

I like clickable links, which videos don't have.

I like good clear visuals/illustrations that are easy to find again.

I like to be able to underline or make notes, if I've printed out a lesson.

Videos often feel so slooooooooow...and I tend to scroll ahead.

When I want to review something in a video, it's harder to find again than when I simply turn a page.

There are more reasons, I'm sure, just not bringing them to mind at the moment.

So what are your thoughts?


My current classes are here, by the way: http://cathyjohnson.info/online.html

Change is in the air...

It's in the air...sometimes we have to fall back and regroup, for our peace of mind, our sanity, our soul.  Things that sounded wonderful at the time--or WERE--grow like kudzu and choke the life out of us, or out of a project.

Many of you know that I'm in the process of simplifying and refocusing...I have been, in ways, for years.  I wrote a similar blog post in September of last year, on nurturing creativity: http://cathyjohnsonart.blogspot.com/2014/08/nurturing-creativityor-killing-it.html

Heading in this direction, I no longer take commissions, I no longer paint miniature portraits, I no longer do in-person workshops.  I don't take freelance work for magazines.  The current book will be my last one for an outside publisher.  I've said yes to things that got out of hand, got horribly complex, or weren't what I'd expected.  That will stop.

Yes, even more than it has.  I want to focus on those things that matter most to me.

For the first time in a rather long time, I'm excited about a new class idea...Meaningful Journaling.  (Meaning-full Journaling?)

It may be quite some time before I have time to CREATE it, classes are complex beasts requiring hours of writing, illustration, video, and organization, so please be patient--but I'm aiming in that direction.

And I can't tell you how pleased I am by your initial response!  I'll keep you updated, and clarify more what it will be about, as time goes by.

What it will not be, is a step-by-step, how-to, demo-and-exercise class; I've done that already, in numerous formats.  It will be in-depth, personal, and a sharing of how journaling has changed my life and continues to do so.  I'll include resources and a bibliography of books that support this process--some art-related, some not.  (But as an artist, and knowing how making images can change us in amazing ways, that will be our focus.)


(And yes, this post has been sitting in my draft folder for 6 months, and the idea's been popping around in my brain for much longer...one thing at a time...)