Thursday, February 09, 2006

AW: Tagged!

I have been tagged with a meme by GreenishLady! This meme is AW-themed, as you can see:

4 Wishes, Dreams, Desires

  1. I wish I had more time to explore all the things I want to do.
  2. I wish I were more courageous about strange things, new things, things that are "too different" from what I do normally. (Travelling abroad, say.)
  3. I want my allergies controlled. I want to be able to spend more time with animals.
  4. I wish were better at being content with the moment, whether I am trying to change the future or not.
4 Imaginary Lives
  1. Full-time poet.
  2. Homemaker (no children).
  3. ...drawing a blank here, now. Darnit, am I not allowed to like my life as it is?
4 Things I should Change
  1. Exercise - I need to find some form of it I like, and do it more often.
  2. This house is a welter of mess, but it seems I complain about it more than I clean it up (but I am working on one of those areas this month!).
  3. My attitude toward time. So many things I do are done briskly, to make sure I have the maximum amount of time for other things. I wonder how many of these things I race through are less-complete than they would be otherwise.
  4. My space at work. It has some aspects that please me and make me smile but I think it needs more. Unfortunately what I'd love to add (a candle) isn't allowed. Well, it is, but I could not light it, and I really would want it lit. I would get one of those electric "tealights" they sell, except really they don't look at all believable unless you put them inside something else and I like the look of flame itself. Bah! But I will have to think on other ways to brighten up my workspace. (Without driving my office-mate batty, of course.)
4 People I admire
  1. Marvin Bell. He is an incredible poet; I've taken a workshop from him and he's also a nice guy, a good teacher, and has a great sense of humor. He's just a wonderful human being and a blast to read and to learn from. (Learn with? Both?)
  2. My husband. He is so very good at keeping his cool and keeping calm - not ignoring his own wants, but just staying calm while addressing what he needs. Very laid-back without doing a carpet imitation. I admire that greatly.
  3. My friend R. He is one of the most brilliantly focussed programmers I personally know. I would not want to share his focus on that to that degree, but I admire it. He loves what he does and he's correspondingly very dedicated and very very good at it.
  4. My parents (okay, that's two people, but tough). They weren't perfect, no, but they loved me and raised me well and encouraged me to do what I wanted and to explore. I think I came out of childhood pretty well aimed for the world - and still trusting my artistic self, as they encouraged that side of me without forcing anything. And somehow they kept their sanity despite having a very active, somewhat bizarre child about! :)
4 Things I like about the Artist's Way
  1. The group. Yes, that's not intrinsically part of the path, but it is part of it this time. The sense of community and helping. (And the wonderful people and getting to know you!)
  2. The morning pages. They not only form a brain-drain, they seem to get me much more organized. (One reason my "daily pages" usually are morning pages even though I didn't promise they would be - that organization is very useful to me but only if it comes before whatever it's organizing!)
  3. Artist's Dates. I tend to spend time on myself anyway but look, now I'm supposed to do this even! Plus, it encourages me to think outside the box and try new things, not just the same old same old me-things.
  4. The reminder it makes to focus on my creativity. The encouragement to do so. (After this is done, I think I will try another book or set of exercises, less for recovery and more for ongoing, as I quite like to be reminded regularly. It works well and keeps me in the right frame of mind.)

4 things I still Hope to get out of the Artist's Way

I'm not sure what to put here, honestly. Our illustrious author doesn't have my entire trust, and I'm not 100% sure what it may or may not offer or give me. I'd like to continue expanding my creativity and keeping its place in my life strong; I'd like to start sending poetry out for publication again. But I don't care if I get those from the AW or not.

Tagging: At this point I should tag four people. But I am not sure who would want to be tagged or not. So instead I say - if you want to do this, feel free to snag it. :)

2 comments:

Kara said...

I'm glad Greenishlady tagged you. I really enjoy what you have to say about it all. I'd really like to know maybe join you in whatever book you follow after the Artist Way. I've thought of that myself - as an on going exploration. As far as candles in your work space have you ever seen a salt lamp - Whole Foods had them around Christmas- they have a little electric light in them and they have wonderful warm glow - though they are a little pricey -just an idea I am throwing out there and it probably has more to do with something I wish for myself. Thanks for posting this all....

GreenishLady said...

Thanks for playing. You put so much into your replies. Kara's so right about salt lamps - beautiful light, and give off the energy of a candle somehow.