Support systems

It has been 62 days since I wrote a blog. I feel really bad about that. Just when I was getting lots of new readers I bailed. Why you ask? I am not sure, I tried to blame it on zapping time from my painting, ( I painted 0 hrs. last year) " Oh, I stopped writing my blog because I found it was consuming my time and I was not painting." Then I blamed it on getting too busy, " Oh my business is going crazy I need to spend all the time doing floor plans." " Bull s_it!" We can always make time for what we love. So I have been soul searching lately on what direction I should be traveling in, should it be art, should it be design, should I write a book, Oh God please help!!!! Then I realized how much women have helped me find the right direction all along. If I remember back to 1996 when I discovered the book "Simple Abundance" by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I loved reading how to better my life and become more authentic each day. It may not be on the best seller list anymore, but it still has a place by my bedside table, and is read on nights when I need answers. From this wonderful author I was led to Barbara Sher and her book "Wishcraft". A book that helps you realize your potential in life and that you could be what ever you wanted. This is a book that changed my life. At the time I was living in a Washington D.C. suburb, B.C. was in a corporate job. We had a good life there, you could say perfect. But I longed for something more. So I listened to the advice of the book Wishcraft and in 1996 wrote down my perfect day. ( A suggestion from the book) In that perfect day situated in 2004, I lived on a river, in New Jersey, running my own business. I had written a book that was successful and was now illustrating for Hallmark a line of cards and wrapping paper. I was no longer stressed and had time to complete everything. O.K. it all did not all come true, especially the part about I had enough time to finish everything I wanted, and I was organized. But here I am on the river, exactly as I described, with my husband quitting his job to come here. We have a great design business, my children are happy and life is good. Was it positive thinking, or when we think positive in the direction we want to go in do we then take small steps to get there. I believe there was another book by Sark,"Make Your Creative Dreams Real"- a plan for procrastinators, perfectionists, busy people, and people who would rather sleep all day. ( You just have to love Sark) So what now? I think I need to update my perfect day, use a little positive thinking from "The Secret" and believe in myself again and what I can accomplish. This past Saturday I participated in a watercolor workshop. There were two strong women there who made me feel competent in my art, confident in myself. One friend stated you stopped your blog? Why? all artist need to write. I took her advice, and listened, and thought, she is right it is a part of the creative process. The other women a very accomplished artist made me feel like I belonged in this special club, yes I was good enough. So again two women guided me. And then there is my sister who has her own interior and home furnishing shop, and listens to me every morning bitch, complain, talk about not being able to breath, and through it all she always believes in me, encourages me, and just is the best friend ever. Bill Murrey was on Good Morning America Monday and was discussing the scandal at Pen State and he mentioned that when women are not present such as in all male sport teams, the Catholic Church, the Far East, etc. bad things happen. We need a women's input to keep every thing honest. I agree, and with the help of life classes from Oprah, using positive thinking from the "Secret" by Ronda Byrne, discovering a path to higher creativity with Julie Cameron, and my own rather spunky outlook, I just might make it. Now I must be realistic and say the blog is back but maybe only two times a week, I am not a machine, and I do need to paint.