New Baby, New Year... Renewed Effort to Advance Artistically

 Its amazing how fast a year can fly past. 

At this time last year I had just began midwife appointments for my second pregnancy, and now I am a mother of two! And the baby is already in size four diapers and is a month off from starting solid foods!

She is the happiest little baby I can imagine and it is such a pleasure to be her mother. 

It is so natural to think that because I have a new baby I must be very busy, but really... since she is so happy, and since my 3 yr old is pleased with the transition, the opposite feels more true now. But back in October I was still in newborn mode and felt like I must be too busy for anything. So when the fellas and gal on 3PP talked about Cal Newport's idea of 'reinventing yourself before the new year' (an exciting way to say 'prepare now to be successful next year') I felt like I had a free pass. "I'm far too busy now to grow as an artist, maybe next time," I thought.

But then time seemed to creep by so slowly! "Maybe now is a good time after all..." I thought.

So I decided to try.

I started by setting a goal, based on some advice from Stop the Starving Artist podcast, to establish a social media presence, posting 100 times (150 stretch goal) in 2026 about my values, my mission, behind the scenes, and my artwork, then next year I would be in a position to launch that book I started forever ago. 

After I decided to take the challenge I tried to find out what Cal Newport was saying himself, since the art people were doing an Art Specific slant. From what I found, the idea is to get your life in order so that you can do your work more easily (not necessarily more work) and live a more relaxed life. It involves simplifying your daily tasks, planning daily, weekly, and monthly, and something else? It was a long video...  but anyway, I decided to start by getting a grip on my daily life, simplifying tasks and eliminating choices--since I am responsible for the home and the children, most of my day is devoted to daily tasks, and when I finish cleaning and cooking and putting the clothes away early I don't know what to do with myself because I'm not prepared to use the free time!

Upon reflection I was able to put most everything I have to do into four categories: Cooking, Clothing, Cleaning, and Creativity. I determined to simplify and create a daily and weekly routine--there had to be a better way to do all this! I've been cooking for my family for a while now, long enough to notice a pattern. We eat every day. Often several times a day! and it is more tiresome to cook when I make something different for every meal. And yet I still often forget that we like to eat rice and beans, which are easy to make and never seem to go bad! I decided to stop choosing what to have for lunch, and always have a pot of beans on hand with fresh rice. The beans, made in the instant pot, must be put on in advance and take very little effort (just remembering) and the rice takes no time or attention at all. Then I could dedicate pat of the evening to making something interesting for dinner if I want to. 

Next was clothes, a constant battle of 'pereza' (laziness) and forgetfulness. I have usually done washing on Monday in my little washer and hung up the wet clothes to dry on the line. Usually very late... I am famous for forgetting to take down clothes and letting them get rained on. So I leave them out still longer, figuring they will dry eventually. once it rained for like three days after I hung up the clothes. I kept thinking that I should take them down, but I thought "Why? What am I going to do with sopping wet clothes in here?" But even if the clothes get dried and taken down in a timely fashion, it could still be a whole week before I actually put them away! They sit forlornly in the hamper in a corner of my room, and get piled on top with other clothes I need to 'reshelf' but didn't have the will to do at the present. I don't have a solution for all that yet, but I determined to always do the washing on Monday and always hang it up to dry the same day. That is today. I have the wash done, but I have to hang it up still. it is 3pm.

I don't know what to tell you about cleaning. I'm just grateful that we don't have a large house! I really think that cleaning is a futile waste of time, but since I don't have the discipline to put things away immediately or wash my dish right away... I guess I'll have to keep cleaning until I do. I will start my day at 8:45 (aided by my little girl's okay-to-wake alarm clock) by making my bed and putting the clothes away which I inevitably threw on the floor. the night before.  Tuesday = Put away laundry, Wednesday = Take out the trash, Thursday = Bathroom, Friday = Kitchen, Saturday = Vacuum.

Creativity is what we are freeing up space for! I assigned sewing projects to Thursday, and I have naturally been writing on Mondays, which means making posting images on Tuesday, reading on Wednesday, and developing graphic novel projects on Friday. I also took an image design class on SVSlearn.com--Lee white's picture workshop, which I highly recommend--so I have my skills sharpened and updated for success there too!

All of those developments have been slowly finding their places over the last two months, and last week I found a third party social media post scheduler that I started importing my drafts into. I am very hopeful that I have the tools I need to make a successful attempt, and hopefully I will find the forethought and discipline along the way to move the needle in my other creative projects... :P

I'm SO grateful to the thoughtful people of the internet who regularly share their wisdom and expertise freely online in podcasts and videos. I feel like my life time dream of being a stay at home mom and creative is really poised for success because of the insight they bring into my home. I wish there was a way for me to let them see their positive impact on me. Maybe one day I will be visible enough to thank them. I am so grateful to my babies and my husband for supporting that dream as well, and to my Father in Heaven who has blessed us with a beautiful little set up, and imperfection to grow though.