Merry-Go-Round - Compass Words for 2011

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month,

We decided to do Tonya davidson' 3Rs exercices, to "REnew, REenergize & REcommit" (www.theartistsuccessprogram.com), order to find our three "compass words" for 2011.

More than just interested in changing for the better, but finding it a bit difficult to stay committed— that's me!

Still, the minute I started "exercising" my sens of purpose, the compass words I need and want to focus on came cropping up bold and bright like

spring

flowers:

Smile

After dark emotional months when I just wanted to curl up and focus on myself, I've suddenly remembered how smiles beget smiles even more surely than violence and selfishness beget violence and selfishness. It always amazes me, and in a very pleasant way, how many difficulties a smile literally smoothes down.

So I will commit to smiling rather more often than I feel like...

Forge

This one's more tricky.

As I've mentioned before on this blog I have a dangerous tendency to want to explore different crafts

and

techniques. Lately, I have spent an awful lot of time researching sources and potential inspiration as well as hoarding supplies.

Not only is this absurdly costly, it is also sterile and frustrating. Whereas the pleasure of crafting lied in using my hands to make things I liked, it has become something I do as quickly as possible before I go back to day-dreaming about all the wonderful stuff I could create.

Procrastination's my middle name!

So I am commiting to getting my projects done!

Enjoy

Having someone else lavish you with "positive thinking" when you are in any kind of anguish, trouble or pain and what you want is compassion (even if it's just over an untimely broken finger-nail!) I find very irritating.

But waking up thinking of all the small joys and comforts I can look forward to, every day— because I am really lucky in sooo many ways— and going to sleep feeling grateful for all the pleasures of the day, hoping for another such day, now that's being in a good place. It should be mine by rights...

Carpe Diem, I say! ;)

So,

from now on

, "Smile, Forge and Enjoy" must define this year for me.