After the Artist's Way — Week 3

Goodness me, another fortnight has flown by.  Is it just me or does life suddenly hit fast forward during the winter months?  Where does the time go?

As you might guess from the tardiness of this post, my intention to update weekly following the end of The Artist's Way slipped already with me missing Week 2.  Keeping on the straight and narrow when the daily focus of completing tasks has shifted hasn't been easy.  I've lacked enthusiasm at times and felt a bit creatively strangled, but a bit of refocussing and a motivational chat and check in on the phone with Debbie got me back on track.  I repeated a few of the early tasks to recentre myself, said my affirmations and reminded myself why it's important to not lose faith in what I achieved during my three months on The Artist's Way.  My morning pages are flowing, I've been back on my artist's date and (despite the awful Scottish weather) have restarted my daily walks in the park; rain, hail, hurricane or shine!

Not that I've been unproductive, I'd like to point out.  In fact I'm busier than I have been all year.  My mentoring sessions at the Playwrights' Studio are now in full swing and going great.  I had my second session with Isabel last week, and it couldn't have come at a better time.  I had reached a point where I was seriously considering jacking in the piece I've been working on; the material I've been researching isn't exactly cheery and it had started to drag me into a fug of depression the more I read up on the topic.  I should have known better and gone on my artist's date when I started to feel down.  Maybe if I'd been a bit kinder and distanced myself from the mental weight I was accumulating I wouldn't have ended up as miserable as I did for several days last week.  Isabel helped me find reason, reassuring me that the material shows promise and it would be a shame to throw away the work I've done.  So it's onwards and upwards with it—but this time with a reminder to separate work from life and to establish better boundaries.  We've got a bundle of activities planned this week, including introductory meetings with a few key figures in the industry and a theatre trip to Edinburgh, which I'll no doubt update on later.

My plan for this week is to dip back in to some of the goal related tasks.  A number of new opportunities are on the horizon, and now is as good a time as any to review the direction I'm currently heading in.  There may need to be sacrifices in 2012; that's both exciting and terrifying in equal measure, but not without reward if things go to plan.  I will also be revisiting and redressing my Week 10 Bottom Line statements, as I've let some of the commitments I made to myself slide.

I'm going to cut this post here as I'm attempting to streamline my online media intake again, and the bell on my pomodoro has just rung!  Yes, it's that dreaded deprivation task from way back in Week 4.  I'm reviewing a new book titled The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg for a coaching magazine, and it has uncanny parallels to Week 4's content.  It has served as a timely reminder that I've let myself slip again, especially on the social networking front.  Less time online and more focus in my days is the challenge for the coming week!

K