repetition, part one

When I look at the list of posts, I see the obvious reminder that I don't come here so often these days. 

And yet, I like and maintain a stronger connection to this personal blog space despite the somewhat outdated format of babbling about oneself in that truly true navel gazing way that I'm so fond of, even after all these years. 

Flickr changed their format this week, giving a lot of us photographers pause. My posting there is sporadic at best, but I've hung on because I've been there since I began blogging, (2005), and I'm a bit lazy...if it ain't broke, don't fix it...that sort of thinking.

Except Flickr went and broke itself and it's such a jumble that it's confusing and not pleasing to my eye, and I'm not sure about me there anymore. Thinking about it all, I realized I don't really care. It's not giving me much anymore, and I've got my photos on memory cards, and hard drive backups, so it's ok to let it go.

Maybe it's The Artist Way, and being more present in my life that has found me standing in a new light, looking at myself in the world. I've certainly shed a load: there's been re-arranging of closets and furniture. Bags have been donated and fresh paint has coated walls, and now I'm downloading photos onto memory sticks and making space.

That's what I've learned at the end of these twelve weeks. When I decided on a whim, (or was it?), to revisit the Artist Way, I didn't have any intentions. I knew I was in a slump, but I didn't much feel frustrated or even driven to pull myself out. Obviously I was looking for something, and knowing that having a new puppy meant I'd have time, I decided to invest in something low-key.

I approached the AW as I would a twelve week course. I bought the workbook that went along with the latest edition of the book. A fugly, beast of a paperback, I decided it was like a class book and it made the writing of morning pages better. I felt like I wasn't writing in my pretty journal, and when I missed a day, or bitched my brains out, it didn't feel like a waste, because I was doing my homework.*

*And the beastly size of the book, (11x17), means that now, those 3 pages everyday in my moleskine seem easy.