Bringing Out Old Projects

Yesterday I started with a new creative strategy. Two days ago I saw this YouTube video pop up in my feed about Morning Pages and it had me curious about them. I watched about 4 different videos on the subject after that and decided to give it a try. Yesterday was my first day and even though I didn’t have a notebook or journal, I used a spiral memo book that I had on hand. I had no trouble filling up 4 pages of it and I did it again today without any trouble. I guess today, I will go find a notebook to write in. 

Since it was rainy most of the day yesterday, I was stuck indoors so I decided to pull out my watercolor paints. I painted a Vermillion Flycatcher while watching the tutorial by Allison Lyons. It came out pretty good. 

Then after lunch, I looked for yarn for a shawl project I want to start in the New Year. I didn’t find any yarn I liked for the project so I’m glad I ordered 4 skeins from 4 different dyers and hope one of them will arrive soon. Instead of yarn, I found the embroidery project I thought I had left back in South Carolina and worked on it all afternoon. I enjoyed doing that also.  

I’m not sure if writing the morning pages helped me feel more creative or if I was just bored and wanted to do something different. I will keep doing them since I have enjoyed the two days that I’ve done so far. 

Resting

In Take a Rest from Cool Cat Teacher Blog by coolcatteacher@gmail.com, Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher shares,

“Sometimes you must rest to be your best.”

I think I tend to give 110% and if I’m not giving until I’m exhausted, I feel that I’m not giving my best.

I remember when I would work through my lunch time and not stop to eat.

I remember bringing lots of work home and after my children were in bed, I would work until my own bedtime.

On weekends, I would feel like I had to do school work instead of watching TV or doing fun things with my family.

I thought if I worked my fingers to the bone, it would show that I was being a good teacher.

Then I realized that being good didn’t mean being effective.

Sure, I was showing others that I was willing to work. I would work on my own time and even to the point that it could affect my own health. But I was not being an effective teacher because my students weren’t learning faster or better.

I learned that it was important to stop for lunch and eat my lunch. This helped me stay in good health and it let my brain recharge. This kept me from getting overstressed and overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that I faced.

I learned to have hobbies and enjoy my free time at home. By allowing my mind and body to rest from the stress of work, I was able to better focus when I was at work.

I learned to focus on my family when I was at home. My family was my support system and I needed to nurture them as much as I did my work.

What others might see as idleness was actually rest for my body and mind.

I think employers need to see what their employers do to reenergize and how they deal with stress. If they make sure their workers are happy, I believe they would be more productive.

When I’m not working, I am doing one of the following things: hiking, gardening, knitting, spinning yarn, crocheting, reading, or traveling. I have a variety of interests to keep my mind happy.

I think this makes me a good role model for my students. It is important to show students how to work but I think it is important for them to see that relaxation when appropriate is also important.

How do you rest? Do you feel it is important? Please share.

What I’m Into

In Still Into It from Sioux's Page, Sioux asks,


“What are you "into" these days?”

Things I’m into lately:

1. Hiking – now that the weather is warming up, we have been doing a lot of hiking. I’m enjoying the spring wildflowers as they emerge. We have seen lots of bears, deer, and a few snakes.
2. Eating better – I am trying to eat healthier and watching my calories. I still fall down the rabbit hole sometimes but not as much as I had been. I hope to continue to lose a few more pounds.
3. Exercising more – I’m still trying to get my 10,000 steps in every day. I’m achieving this usually unless we are traveling all day in the car.
4. Gardening – I spread 34 bales of pine needles in my gardens and did some weeding. I can’t wait to do some more and maybe plant some annuals.
5. Reading classics – I love reading a lot. My friend’s daughter is having to read some classics and I’m trying to read along with her. It is much more fun when you have someone to read with! This is a good way for me to revisit much loved classics that I haven’t read in a long time.
6. Photography – I love taking photos and I’m trying to improve my photography skills. I can tell some improvements from last year so hopefully I will keep doing better.
7. Knitting – It is hard for me to imagine life without knitting. Now I understand my mother more and why she did it along with the satisfaction of creating things. I wish she was still here for me to share how much I love this and exchange ideas and victories.
8. Spinning – I never thought I would enjoy spinning my own yarn. I also love knitting with my handspun and it gives me such great joy when I finish a project made with yarn I created with my own hands. I now own 3 spinning wheels and 3 drop spindles and 1 Turkish spindle.

What are you into lately?

Original photo by Pat Hensley