Saturday, August 30, 2014

hellooooooo friends!

It is so hard to leave—until you leave.
And then it is the easiest goddamned thing
in the world.
- John Green, Paper Towns

hello long lost loved ones!! :-)
When I decided to take a little break from everything
in early August, I needed it.

I was feeling pressure to blog (instead of joy),
a duty to paint (instead of inspiration)
and just plain tired of everything,
including the pressure to be everything on social media.
           
Especially that last one…

Sometimes, a few weeks away from things
really helps to get a new, fresh perspective.
During the past few weeks,
I disconnected from social media almost totally.
I watched very little TV.
I walked.
I listened to good music.
I dabbled in a bit of art, but really very little.
I wrote and I read more than anything,
for my own pleasure and nothing more.

As I get more comfortable
with the fact that I am an introvert,
I've decided to make a few changes
concerning social media.
Facebook is out. Total waste of time for me.
Pinterest is in. (visual candy!)
Twitter’s not out the door yet, but it’s close.
Instagram. I’ve yet to use Instagram seriously.
I logged in, took a few pics, and then never touched it again,
but I do understand its value, and I love taking photos,
so I’m giving it another try. Soon.
Blogging is IN!
(Yay again!)
 this watercolor began as a half handsome man...
and ended up looking like Chief Dan George! sheeesh.
Talk about ending with something so different
than what I had imagined.
 and then this came out of left field...?
ok, so where was I...

oh yeah - I also read this during my time off
and I just think it's something
we all need to hear now and then:

We hear “do what you love” so often
from those few people who it did work for,
for whom the stars aligned,
and from them it sounds like good advice.
They’re successful, aren’t they?
If we follow their advice, we’ll be successful, too! […]
We rarely hear the advice of the person
who did what they loved and stayed poor
or was horribly injured for it.
Professional gamblers, stuntmen,
washed up cartoonists like myself:
we don’t give speeches at corporate events.
We aren’t paid to go to the World Domination Summit
and make people feel bad.
We don’t land book deals
or speak on Good Morning America.
- Rachel Nabors, DON'T do what you love
She may sound a bit bitter,
but there's a lot of truth to this.
I still believe it’s important
to try to weave in what you love
as much as you can in your day,
but we’re often led to believe
that if we do what we love,
the money will follow, and sadly,
that’s not always the case.
That's not even often the case.
It works for some, but not for everyone.
Doing what you love shouldn’t be
about making money.
It should be about making you happy
while you’re doing it.
(You know this by now, right?)
 So speaking of happiness...
I’m happy to be back here
(even if I may slowly ease into it)
and I will make it a point to visit some
of your blogs at least once a week.
As much as I love writing on my own blog,
I also love the connection with all of you.
I love seeing what you’re all up to,
in your own little corner of the world.

My well feels full again.
My path much clearer.
Yeah. 
Bring it on, baby. 
(acrylic on paper)

Rainbow skies and
ice cream cones to all of you... xx

19 comments:

  1. The swan and ducks are wonderful! I also like your doodling style. :)

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  2. What a very interesting blogpost, and your break sounds like it was an excellent time. I think our Art Blogland is one of the finest of the social media, if not the finest.
    I like your patterns at the start and the ducks at the end, nice work.

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    1. Thanks Sheila.. yes, my 'break' actually was good. Sometimes, it really doesn't take much to get us back to our REAL priorities. :-)

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  3. You artwork is wonderful, you are invited to share this Feline Art Friday:
    http://kittypartay.blogspot.com/2014/08/feline-art-friday-11.html

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  4. Love the art. I am with you on the social media stuff.
    Have a great weekend
    Nicole/Beadwright

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    1. thank Nicole! i'll be visiting your blog soon... xx

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  5. I agree about social media... Don't forget you can share your art on instagram too..but you must visit and like other photos to bring them back to you! I think people are afraid of their own talent...it's the confident, tenacious, passionate, relentless, focused ones that move ahead with their talent. Sometimes they aren't even that good.... I used to wonder how some artwork in little shops got produced since it was such an eyesore...I've watch musicians take ten years of living and breathing music with no fiscal return to finally get a foot in the door....and slowly they are inching forward...and one day I believe they will make it...all in their mid 30's. Some are over night successes...some are just happy doing what they love and making less. Everything is a trade off!! Great post with loads of food for thought! Wonderful paintings...love how you have such diversity in your work! Wonderful to see you back!

    Hugs Giggles

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    1. ah, Giggles... thank you. :-) I smiled when i read your comment "sometimes, they aren't even that good". I so agree. It's hard to understand sometimes, why certain people "make it" and others don't. I think the overnight successes are rare and are often only perceived as overnight successes - J.K.Rowling had actually been writing for years before Harry Potter was created. And then you've got someone like Kim Kardashian, who basically does nothing but she has a bazillion dollars. But that's a whole other mess I won't get into. Thanks again for visiting Giggles. Always good to hear from you. xx

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  6. Wow, the colours in that swan-painting just jump out to me and make me happy just looking at it. Beautiful work, and beautiful and very wise words as always .....

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    1. Denthe! Thank you! I'll be visiting your blog soon... looking forward to seeing what you've been up to. xx

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  7. Hooray for time off! I love the swans, too. So pretty and bright with the sun shining. The water looks so great! I totally get you about social media. I was late to Facebook and I mostly just use it for art, and keeping in touch with a few folks. Love your quotes!

    Lots of wisdom in your quotes!

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  8. Pauline that swan and duck piece sparkles, it makes me feel like I'm there sitting by the lake on a sparkly sunny day, beautiful! It sounds like you had a great August just taking time for you and what you needed, time out! I only blog and have my computer for e-mails and internet...I don't have a mobile and no face book or any of that, blogging and e mails are more than enough for me!
    Take care my friend and I'm so happy you are still around to blog with us!
    Hugs
    Kat

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    1. Thank you Kat, for reminding me that we don't need to be plugged into everything to be a good artist & person. ;-) I'm happy to be back too. xx

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  9. Hi Pauline. I stumbled upon your blog yesterday and couldn't believe how much you sound like the voice in my head! I absolutely love the quotes you've used; enjoyed every word from the quote from Paper Towns to the 'doing what you love shouldn't be about money'. And I can almost step on to that lush grass by the pond to feed the ducks. Thank you for sharing this beautifully put together post:)
    Arti from www.artismoments.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you so much Arti. We are all more alike than different, aren't we? It always amazes me when someone half around the world says they feel exactly the way I do. I guess we're never really alone. ;-) Thanks for visiting! xx

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  10. The light in your swan painting is gorgeous P! I think the 'do what you love message' is massively over simplified. I also think it's always possible to do what you love, but to attach 'success' {a word we have to define for ourselves and so often forget to} to it is dangerous. Unless success means just doing what you love {for money or not}. It's when you think one has to go hand in hand with the other or you've failed somehow that things get tricky. Just my two cents. :) xx ps. Yay for stepping back!

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