Why did I get a puppy?

The second day I actually opened my computer but decided I needed to upload all 5,000 of my photos from my phone to my computer. (Even though they are both Apple products, my Mac and iPhone aren't currently on speaking terms because they are of completely different generations and all out of updates. Keep that in mind this holiday season - don't be like my outdated technology. You can get along, I promise.)

The third day I noticed that my phone's Mail app had 14,000 archived emails and I set to work permanently deleting those along with my entire watch and search history from YouTube. Does my phone run faster? No.

Which brings us to today. I have run out of the enormous amount of energy it takes to procrastinate, and finally the writing can begin! Whether you write, paint or train agility dogs I hope you can relate to this. Don't get me wrong, some days I am an absolute output machine. My ideas flow seamlessly from my brain and into existence. But some days they don't. And that's fine too, because as long as I find my way back to the path I feel like I am moving forward.

Creativity is not linear. You flow, you falter, you go full steam ahead, you meander...this path adds interest and perspective to your work. I have been given this advice before from a wise fellow artist : Stay in your lane and you'll get there.

Speaking of dogs (which I totally mentioned in the title of this post), given my superhuman procrastination ability, is it a good idea to add structure to a creative life by adopting a 3 month old German Shepard puppy?

I can't answer that at the moment. Yes - she is a giant distraction. But she is also freaking adorable and soooo fuzzy!

Not surprisingly, this life changing event means I haven't been getting as much time in the studio as I think I would like (ugh, potty training). But, the plot twist in my favor: I've noticed my ideas are spending more time in my head these days, and I am able to more easily sift through and discard those I don’t actually want to pull from imagination into existence. That's actually a very powerful time saver when my process to create an artwork tends to average about 20 hours.

Which brings me to my new mantra : Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Something to chew on for the next season of my life.

Ugh, chewing...

Artemis, my chaotic fuzz ball

For someone who constantly feels a pull to get into the studio to create, I am remarkably good at finding ways to avoid actually doing it.

Case in point: it took me three days to sit down and write this post.

The first day I decided I needed to clean off my worktable before beginning and promptly got distracted organizing my buttons and embroidery thread. For two hours.

Did you enjoy reading this post?

Get more inspiration, creative reuse resources and sneak peeks into my creative process delivered straight to your inbox by subscribing to my newsletter. I post twice a month - it's short, it's sweet and it's totally free.