Image note: Today's unfinished frustrations. (Also Google+.)
This blog isn’t just about learning to create art. It is also about learning to create a life that is set up to create art. And in that vein, I’m on day one of a week long experiment. If my goal is to paint every day and exercise every day (because again, the latter helps the former) then I have to do it right when I get up. That is the only way I can guarantee it will happen.
I’m best in mornings. That however is not to say that I am a morning person. I am only a morning person if I have gotten 9 hours of sleep before that morning starts. And because I do a lot of work from home, there is no external force saying I have to be at a desk by 8:30AM, which means when I wake up at 10, I start the day overwhelmed by the pull of paid work and paid deadlines. My promises of art and exercise later rarely come to fruition.
So for me, it all starts the night before. I have to go to bed early enough that I get enough sleep so that I wake up early enough so that I actually exercise and work in my studio first thing.
So day 1 down. Do I consider it so far a success? If I am only judging by my time out of bed then let’s go with yes. And as I’m rounding toward noon, and I can feel the anxiety of life mount, I am reminded why it’s so important to wake up early and create.