Slow down, breathe easy, make a poem of your life. Don't let life rush by; reflect. Look for beauty and rejuvenate your soul.

Monday 3 January 2011

Intentionality

We human beings seem always to feel the need to divide our lives into segments according to the calendar, and the beginning of each new year has a particular hold over us: an invitation to a fresh start. Our penchant for New Year’s resolutions reveals our dissatisfactions with where we are currently going in our lives and provide us with motivation for change.

Some people love the opportunity to review and embrace the hope of improvement and rejoice at the chance to get back on track. For others, resolutions can mean pressure and failure. I tend to avoid setting them if I can, but inevitably find myself secretly thinking I would like to exercise more (my resolutions are always mundane, but important, like that).

Something I have noticed during my short few months in the blogosphere is how intentional so many of you are. There is a deliberate planning and goal setting that stands out and it has certainly captured my attention.

I realise I have not lived my life that way. I have been swept along by circumstances and obligations and the one thing that leads to another. The thought of making more deliberate choices and exercising intentionality I find intriguing. I feel it seducing me, but I feel myself hesitate. I am excited by the possibilities of more actively directing my own life, but like any new venture that requires more from us, it is daunting.

To be honest I don’t even know what it would mean for me, what it might look like. Perhaps this is what 2011 will be about: learning intentionality.

I have been practising though. Over the last three months I have become increasingly intentional about one thing: my art. I have thrown my energies into this new skill and made time to explore and hone it. I have loved this intentionality. I want this to motivate me to extend intentionality into other areas of my life and see where I lead myself.

But for now, art. Since I received Willowing's Fabulous Faces DVD for Christmas I have been hard at work and so here is lesson one. I am new to shading with graphite and I am happy with the result. I imagine she is looking into my new year to see what I will do with it. She is challenging me, but kindly!

 Louise

1 comment:

  1. Yea Louise! I love her soulful eyes. I want to get Tam's Faces DVD but for now I've joined her MMM class. Keep arting girlie!

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