It’s officially the Dog Days of Summer, folks. If, like me, you find it challenging to make every day count when it’s hot and dry and you’re tired and it’s easy to get in a funk, here’s some ideas:
1. Do the same thing every day. Since when has routine become a bad word? My routine is what gets me out of bed in the morning. It’s what keeps me from going in circles or wasting time wondering what the heck I should be doing. All I have to do is look at my Google Calendar and it tells me that at 7 AM it’s time to get up, make coffee, and get into God’s word. At 9 it’s time to clock in to the studio. At noon I go inside and clean one room. (There are 7 rooms in my house, one for each day) If it’s Tuesday my routine includes driving to my favorite coffee shop for a great coffee and some serious internet time.
This being said, there are no two days or hours or minutes that are the same. Ever notice?! The daily routine is simply a template to plug in to life to give it some order and balance. Dog days, beat.
2. Do nothing. Remember when we were kids and were basically made to go outside all summer? That was fun wasn’t it? My friends and I spent large chunks of time doing nothing but riding around on our bikes, laying in a field looking up at the sky and sitting in the woods pretending that the forest floor was our living room. Those chunks of time spent outside formed us. Being outside doing nothing was our classroom. It’s where we learned problem solving and became fascinated with bugs and butterflies and the taste of wild raspberries and the smell of clovers and grass. Its where our imagination got fueled. And it was all because we went outside and did nothing. There’s a lot to be said for doing nothing. In this crazy busy information zooming age, we need those chunks of time to allow ourselves the luxury of doing nothing. Use down time to think, ponder, and plan.
What may look like idleness can actually be some of the most invigorating, thought provoking, imagination activating times. Dog days, beat.
3. Revamp, re-do, re-use. Today I found myself looking through an old sketchbook. I was looking for a blank page to design a birthday card for a friend, and suddenly realized that ten years ago on a snorkeling trip to Key West I designed several pages of funky jewelry pieces that I never actually made. There they were in my hand once again, and now they are ready to come into fruition. So, with a little tweaking and updating on those decade old drawings, I already have my new line for 2020. And that I can get excited about. Dog days, beat.
4. Find one new outlet. This past year I started a new body of work; mixed media collages with a woods theme. In the process of developing the work, I started working with a framer who has a frame shop/art gallery. I started to visualize my pieces on his gallery wall, with a crowd of people at the opening. Then life happened and I had to put my framing project on hold. Recently, though, I have been wanting to re-visit the possibility of having work in the gallery. I decided to make the call, and now am on the roster for a show in 2020. Again, I can get excited about that. dog days, beat.
5. Have a good read. After all, you are responsible for what you think about, and what you read you are going to think about. Here’s two suggestions:
Bill Bryson, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, 2006
He was another kid who grew up “doing nothing” and has a hilarious way of telling the story.
Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, 1995
She gets it when it comes to doing the right thing with your gray matter.
Dog days, beat!
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