Living The Creative Life

I have spent the past three days in my studio making Gracie's Love Story Necklace. It has felt fantastic to be locked up in my creative space, surrounded only by other artists working, amazing art everywhere I look, and my own creative ideas flowing.

I am sooooo close to finishing Gracie's Love Story Necklace. It's turning out fairly amazing. I was hoping to have it finished today, but I figure two more nights of final touches and I will be able to show it off.

Being able to spend the last three days focusing only on my creative passion, making jewelry, has felt incredible. Sometimes it is easy for me to get caught in the tunnel of "I shoulds", I should be blogging more, I should be tweeting more, I should have more facebook fans, I should have more stores, I should be doing what everyone else is doing.........It is an easy place for my mind to get stuck in, but it is a tunnel. It keeps going around in circles and the only way for me to get out is to physically do something about it. Picking myself up and moving my whole body to my studio does it. I start to tap on some metal, I start to play with some stones, sketch some designs and I remember what I am doing. I remember that life is about finding the things that you love to do and to keep doing them over and over again. It is so easy for all of us to get stuck in our "I shoulds", but those things will happen. I will get more facebook fans, I will get more stores, but to get there I need to keep doing what I love, what I'm good at, and what feeds my soul. I need to keep creating.

A fellow artist and blogger, Lori Koop shared this video link on her blog this week and I thought I would pass it along. It is Elizabeth Gilbert speaking about nurturing your creativity. I found it insightful, funny, and honest. Definitely worth the watch.

It's all secretly perfect.....

I am taking great strength from words these days.

I have a chalkboard on my bathroom wall where I have written, "The cracks in your heart let the sun shine through". I feel slightly sheepish telling you that I read the quote in Oprah's magazine in an interview that she did with Ellen DeGeneres, and Ellen actually was quoting something that Diane Sawyer said to her. All three very strong successful women, so i'm not sure why the sheepishness is there.

On my bulletin board beside my computer I have written the words, "GO. Where will you leave your footprints?, What marks are important?, Make the targets clear." These words came to me from Lori Koop's upword of the week email, which i gleefully open every Sunday morning.

In my bedroom I have some new Papaya Art with the words "You can fly if you want to" and "fly". If I could own one of everything from Papaya Art I think I would know what bliss felt like. I am also madly in love with a sketchbook they do with the words "It's All Secretly Perfect" written on it.

I believe that It's all secretly perfect....It has to be doesn't it?







Images from www.papayaart.com.