On Any Day, Do Something

Watercolor sketch, tools of the trade

I was inspired recently reading these words by the poet Jane Hirshfield in Jeffrey Skinner’s book, The 6.5 Practices of Moderately Successful Poets:

“You don’t need to write every day, but you can do something every day that connects to and sustains your life as a person in love with words, images, music, stories, and what they can hold.  Listen with the ears of a language thief casing the mansion.  Cultivate concentration.  As you move through the day, notice one thing that you would not have seen if you were not looking with the questions of poetry in your ankles, knees, and tongue.  Remember a memorized poem in line at the post office.  Read something of substance before you read anything else in a day.  You don’t need to do all these things, you don’t need to write; only, on any day, do something.”

What do these words mean for me?

“I don’t need to paint every day, but I can do something every day that connects to and sustains my life as a person in love with images, form, pattern, composition, colors, and what they can hold.  Look with the eyes of a thief casing the mansion.  Cultivate concentration.  As I move through each day, notice one thing that I would not have seen if I were not looking with the questions of art in my ankles, knees, and eyes.  Look for forms and patterns in line at the post office. Read something of substance before I read anything else in a day.  I don’t need to do all these things, I don’t need to paint or sketch; only, on any day, do something.”
— with apologies to Jane Hirshfield

So this is my resolution for the new year.  To live a more artful life.  Maybe not to sketch or paint every day, but to sketch or paint more often.  To build a habit of art.  To give art prominent time in my days.  To feed my soul by visiting museums, learning the names of colors, experimenting and playing with tools of the craft, reading about artists and creativity, cultivating an attentive eye.  Slowly, slowly grow as an artist.

Thoreau Thursdays (37): Pathways in the Mind

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.”
— Henry David Thoreau

Footpath at Green Lake in Seattle

Gravel footpath -- an alternative to the paved path around Green Lake

A crow on the beaten path, Green Lake

The less-travelled route, a footpath at Green Lake

“To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
— Henry David Thoreau

“Every thought that passes through the mind helps to wear and tear it and to deepen the ruts which as in the streets of Pompeii evince how much it has been used.”
— Henry David Thoreau, July 7, 1851 journal entry

Today’s quotes are not from Walden, but from Thoreau’s other writings. His observations seem timely, as we look forward to the New Year and think about resolutions for the year ahead.

Habits are interesting.  Sometimes you feel like you are in a rut and want to make a change, to feel energized by bringing something new into your life.  Other habits make life efficient — so efficient, in fact, that we breeze through our days without stopping for conscious thought.  That’s the opposite of awareness, really living and appreciating each moment.  I have a few “bad” habits that I’d like to change — eating too-large portions, eating on the run, eating a sweet treat with coffee, etc.

Like anything, you can outgrow your habits.  It may be time to make some changes, to adopt some new habits, to carve new pathways in your brain.

I like what Leo Babauta says about how to become successful making lasting changes in life.  He’s narrowed it down to four steps:

1. Start very small.
2. Do only one change at a time.
3. Be present and enjoy the activity (don’t focus on results).
4. Be grateful for every step you take.

Happy New Year, and I wish you success with your resolutions!

 

 

New Beginnings

A new year, a new calendar

Starting a new calendar and day planner

“Nothing is essential except beginning.”
     — Sherry Ruth Anderson and Patricia Hopkins, The Feminine Face of God

I consider every day the beginning of a new year, and therefore my New Year’s resolutions are apt to be on-going efforts to be grateful, appreciate and love my family, learn new things, create art, explore new worlds, and find beauty in my ordinary, every day life.  Here are a few special things I hope to concentrate on in 2010:

• Pare back my material possessions, give away things that no longer reflect my interests, lighten my load, minimize clutter;
• Read more poetry;
• Travel to New York city for the first time in my life, visit museums, walk through various neighborhoods, take pictures;
• Continue daily posts to my blog through April 14th (the one-year anniversary of its launch) and then re-evaluate its direction;
• Walk or take the bus to work more frequently (drive less) and explore Seattle by bus;
• Learn to bake bread;
• Make at least one trip home to Minnesota to spend time with my Dad and family;
• Spend more time outdoors hiking and camping.

I don’t foresee any big changes in my life in the year ahead.  My regular life, with its routines and responsibilities, provides plenty of material for growth and creativity and thought.  Books and movies send me on mental journeys, which are almost as satisfying as physical ones.  My boxes of fabric scraps and watercolors are the raw materials for more art and handcrafted projects than I can possibly complete in one year.  If I pay attention, my local surroundings provide infinite subjects for my photography and opportunities to feed my soul.

I must continually learn to keep a fresh eye on my world.  “Though I am always one year older, the year is ever new, renascent . . . and whatever I encounter within the season extending before me will be at once familiar and completely new.”
     — David M. Carroll, Following the Water