Getting stuff done and enjoying the sun whenever I can.
Image description: A clothesline hangs over white garden beds with vegetable plants in them. The background is trees and a blue sky.
July 23, 2021
This week has been hectic leading up to my first art walk in two years! I spent the week ticking off to do lists and packing bags in order to make sure everything runs smoothly when I get to the market venue. While I am so excited to finally share all of the things I’ve made over the past two years with people again, I have been overwhelmed with tasks while prepping for this market. At times it’s felt very overwhelming so I thought I would talk about this unseen side of the artist life today and how I am finding ways back to myself amongst the busy days.
When I start to get very busy, I often just jumble all of my tasks into one big to do list and it becomes very hard to prioritize. Because of this, I get very distracted and have trouble focusing on one task because I will all of a sudden think that I need to be doing a different task. It’s mayhem in my brain at times like these so I’ve really been trying my best to find strategies to help manage better at times like this. Because as an independent artist, the busy days are only increasing from here.
With this in mind, I have really been trying to focus myself by focusing on my body’s energy rather than my hectic mind. I focus on placing myself back into my physical body by closing my eyes, taking several deep belly breaths and focusing on the energy circulating around my body, the energy that I am made of. For me, this has helped draw my attention away from the spinning thoughts in my head and reminds me that I am more than the stories that I am so focused on in my head. Another practice that goes along with this is yoga, meditation and walking. All of these focus on putting yourself back into the physical body, thus taking power away from the mind and its shenanigans.
From Chapter 4 of Dr Sue Morter’s The Energy Codes, she talks through the anchoring code and different breathing practices to help you ground yourself. I have been finding these really helpful lately.
Take care till next time,
Hanna