The Artist's Way Chapter 3 Week 2 -- Little Luxuries Every Day

Wow, what an extremely fast week this was.  It's hard to believe that an entire week has already gone by since my last The Artist's Way check-in.  A week AND some, actually.  Getting this post written has been a bit tricky.

I did pretty well with the morning pages this week.  I tried to prioritize them.  I really think the best time for me to do them is first thing in the morning.  "First thing" is after getting up to let Holden out and to take care of the chicks and ducks.  Ideally, I'll come back in, climb back into bed and write (yeah, I do my morning farm chores in my pajamas!).  I did try the morning pages at other times of day, but it's really hard to stay focused if I'm up because there are always other things that need my attention.

One of my main goals during this past week was more nurturing.  I tried to include little luxuries in my everyday.  Instead of having one bit Artist Date (not that any of mine have been big), I figured that it would be better to have lots of tiny artist dates throughout the week.  I succeeded in taking another bubble bath (once a week is my tentative goal).  This week I really didn't want to "waste" the time to do it -- what a mindset -- but I got strict with myself.  Taking time to slow down is really hard.  Why is that?  Other little luxuries included reading some fiction (that's what rainy days are supposed to be fore, right?), painting my toenails and cooking lots of good food.


lemon blueberry scones


Scones recipe found in one of my favorite cookbooks:





a (cold) stuffed tomato and a (hot) stuffed pattypan squash


my rhyming dinner: tomatoes and potatoes


a blt with lettuce from the garden and heirloom yellow and red tomatoes


Cooking and baking (and making pickles!) is something that I really enjoy doing.  And since two of my imaginary lives (from chapter 1) are chef in a restaurant in Italy and chef in a restaurant in France, cooking a lot counts as doing something from my imaginary lives list.

As another artist date I treated myself to a sandwich from our co-op after a morning of errands, took the long way home to enjoy the beautiful scenery and then slowly ate my lunch while sitting on the front porch paging through a beautiful book.




After I finished my lunch I gave my toenails another coat of polish and sat with the book some more.




Unfortunately, my relaxation didn't last for long because while trying to take my photographs, I ended up knocking over my lemonade.




Missed the book, though.  Which was a good thing because it's a library book.  Wondering what book it is?



It's Holly Becker's book.  I'd been waiting for ages for my library system to get a copy so I could check it out and they finally did.  After spending just a little time with it, I'm thinking I might have to actually buy a copy.  I love a good decorating book and this one is gorgeous.  Decor8 is one of the first blogs I read regularly and although I never find time to read blogs much anymore, it's still on the top of my list of where to go for inspiration and eye candy.

As for chapter 3 of The Artist's Way, I did not go back to the chapter to re-read it this week.  And I did not do any of the 3 exercises that I had left to do, either.  I was just so busy being creative and trying to fit in some nurturing that I ran out of time.  I'm ok with that.  Having no time to read a book on creativity because you're busy being creative seems like a good thing to me.  I hope to share what some of that creativity has been in the next few days (including my postcard for this swap!).  But I'll share one thing now.  You may have seen this on my Facebook Page or in my shop.  I finally finished this necklace during this past week:




I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Comments

  1. I have Holly's book! Its such an interesting read. I also love cheddar/tomato/basil sandwiches this time of year using lovely ripe heirloom tomatoes. Allowing yourself small pleasures like these makes life sing.

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  2. FIrst off, I'm so in love with your necklace. That is WAY cool!! Secondly, I LOVE "The Artist's Way" and have participated in it twice over the past 10 years with a group of friends. I love this chapter on little luxuries - I think nurturing ourselves is SO important and is definitely the reason why I'm creating my new e-course "Mothering with heART!" I'm actually on an "artist date" right now as I enjoy quiet time alone at a coffee shop with my journal. Happy day to you!

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  3. Dearest sweet anne, i like to work along prioritize the things to do in my to-do list early in the morning. I really like the idea that you putting top priority to nurturing oneself. Thanks for this reminder ~ really needed to hear that! Those are really yummie food!! Oh and your necklace, it's truly beautiful!! I so need to try to get my hands on holly's inspiring book! Have a lovely merry happy day and love to you!

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  4. I like the way you see things, like smaller dates ( I take about 5 minutes a day to read at the school gates while waiting for Tati.)and living the lives of chapter 1.
    Lovely necklace, so elegant and delicate.

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  5. First, let me tell you how beautiful I think your site is. I too like to take small artist dates. I really look forward to them and taking care of myself. Your necklace is really lovely.

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  6. Sweetie, got your message about the post. You had entered it on the previous check in, that´s why you had two. I´ve just moved it to the week 2 of chapter 3 check in. :)

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  7. Thanks so much for the necklace love! :)

    And all the support of my Artist's Way endeavors.

    Wish I could share all the yummy food with you guys. Coffee and scones, anyone?

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  8. Oh that crochet is absolutely gorgeous!

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  9. I took the book on holiday for two weeks...nothing to do but reading....didn't even open it up!
    But you are being so creative on multiple fronts so it's doing something for you even if you aren't ticking all the project boxes.
    BTW your libraries must be awesome to have a new book like that in it!

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