New Year's Resolution

It's a stunning morning here--cool, crisp and sunny. Kitchen is clean, dogs are sleeping, I 'kind of' have a plan for dinner. For the moment, I am able to ignore the growing mound of laundry upstairs and have a little writing time. Oh, and today's date rhymes. January 7, 2011. The world seems to have all its chakras balanced, and for now, I won't turn on the television or radio, both of which would prove me completely wrong.

I haven't written much over the past few weeks, and I'm feeling a little rusty. The last several days I've tried to get back into the groove, but it's taking time. It just proves that writing a tiny little bit every day, even during the hectic time of the holidays, will pay off later. Not that I did that, I'm just thinking I would be better off right now if I had. BUT when I take a few days (er weeks) off like this, I am excited to go back to my writing, and that's a good thing. Sometimes I get so caught up in the black and white of the world (cleaning the house, laundry, calling out spelling words, feeding the dogs, etc.) that I forget that we live in a beautiful, colorful place. God has blessed me with inspiration at every turn if only I will stop and notice it. Julia Cameron wrote a book about creativity called THE ARTIST'S WAY (I highly recommend it), and she spoke of the necessity for weekly art dates--a time once a week when you take a moment or an hour or half a day to do or admire something artistic. It can be as simple as walking through your neighborhood artspace or attending a concert or making music of your own. Or painting or sculpting or cooking in a creative way outside your usual routine. Sometime it's reading. That's my New Year's Resolution, to have more art dates and to have more art dates for my family.