a sneak peek… scroll down for a description!
Oh wow! You do not know how much fun I had reading all your comments on yesterday’s post. Hearing from others about their favorite thing about themselves was so nice and uplifting. I feel like many times we are bombarded by the message of what is “wrong” with us (either physically or not) that we need to ‘fix” that it’s hard to focus on what we like about ourselves. Maybe I’m just thinking too much about this (a possibility!) but after reading Solanah’s post last week and comments on my post, I am really heartened to know that so many others are comfortable (or getting there–like me!) with who they are both inside and outside. It’s a real encouragement.
Now Chriss called me out (rightfully so! lol.) about not including what I like most about myself. My favorite physical feature has to be my hair. It’s wildly thick and frizzy most days, but I absolutely adore it; it reminds me a bit of the romantic ladies in Pre-Raphealite paintings or early silent film stars. Hair stylists have been trying to convince me for years that I need to do all sorts of things to make it smooth and straight, but I admit I rather like it’s unconventional look. In a non-physical sense, I think I like my ability to daydream. It might sound silly, but I like being able to imagine things (especially when creating!) and dreaming up new solutions and possibilities for projects or just to make everyday life a bit more fun and pleasant.
Now that I’ve rambled far too long, I wanted to show you a quick peek at something I’ve been making from this lady’s pattern (yes, I know… this looks nothing like the envelope cover, but trust me on this!). I’ve been finding little bits of time here and there the past week, between the sew-along muslin (which yes, I am a tad bit behind on… augh!) and another big project I’m working on. But it was a quick sew that I needed to get myself out of a terrible sewing-rut I’ve been in since the beginning of the year. It just needs a few bits of finishing work and it’ll be done. I cannot wait to show it to you next week… I’m going to rope Sailor Husband into taking a few snapshots of me sporting the new blouse over the weekend (weather cooperating!).
February 3, 2011 ·
28 lovely thoughts
posted in life
· tags: musings, sewing
[ an utterly adorable birthday card and candle necklace Anthropologie sent me! ]
Lately I’ve been thinking more closely about my own limits in regards to the amazing world of the internet. Namely I’ve realized I am rubbish at keeping up with it all: I am no good at multi-tasking; never was and I dare say I never will be (although having children eventually may force me to improve upon this…). Something I fight against constantly and am never willing to admit about myself; I always try to do it all at the same time, and the result is becoming overwhelmed–especially with the internet.
So how can I work my “online life” more seamlessly into my day-to-day schedule and still keep up with my friends? (Without driving myself insane and throwing in the towel with the web!) As it is, if I get online early in the morning (I wake up fairly early, so I can log on long before the sun is up!), I get sucked in and things don’t get done. That meant I wasn’t as productive as I could be, and I had started to feel a bit of an aversion to the internet. I also am starting to realize that my blog reader was becoming unmanageable, and posts weren’t getting read and I was becoming an awful commenter (something that is important to me). Twitter, Flickr, and other social networking tools were falling behind too. I’ve had to be brutally honest with myself on this point: I just cannot keep up with it all and still make time for myself, my work, and my husband! I think the idea of slow technology (meaning that I don’t get as caught up in the perpetual drive to “keep up” 24/7 and take a laid back approach to the web) is something that suits my personality better. I am not going to feel badly that I consolidate things and spend less time online–work smarter, not harder, after all–right? So spending less time online, and trying to whittle things down to a manageable level for me is working smarter–it gives me room to breathe. I really admire people who can keep up with the frenetic pace of the web–but I just can’t!
Now, this is not saying that this is going to affect my blogging at all. In fact, I hope this more sensible approach to my virtual life and homemaking tasks will result in more fruitful writing and blogging output. I enjoy the act of jotting down my thoughts and ideas, and often have dozens of posts thought up in the course of the day–but just didn’t have the “time” to write. One of my goals this year has been to write more thoughtful, in depth posts about a variety of other topics (though still related to this blog)–I have so many things I want to say! So hopefully taking charge more of my online schedule will free up some writing time for me.
How do you work technology and keeping up with it all into your life? Do you find less is more, or do you have a magic formula for juggling things?
p.s. You may have noticed my posting times have been a bit wacky the last couple weeks. I have been making an effort to wait at least an hour in the morning before logging online (my usual post writing time). So, I’m still working out the kinks and trying to get in the habit of scheduling posts to go up the following morning! Hopefully, things will get straightened out a bit more in the coming weeks as I rework my schedule a bit!
May 6, 2010 ·
26 lovely thoughts
posted in casey's musings,misc
· tags: musings
[ click for a larger view. ]
… it’s just nice to pull out my colored pencils and outlining markers. Go through all the images on my computer and just sketch.
Creativity is a funny creature. Sometimes it likes to play nice and give you oh-so-many lovely ideas and motivations. Other times it goes to hibernate and hangs a big ol’ “do not disturb” sign on it’s door. This year has been a huge growing period for me in understanding how my creativity works, that it sometimes goes into remission and that it’s okay to give it a rest to recharge. For long periods of time I’ve been uninspired by my ideas. I’m grateful to my sister especially (who is another creative soul) for encouraging me to keep doing things, even though I felt the ideas were sub-par. Not to let it go completely, but to gently cultivate it even though there wasn’t much to cultivate.
It actually wasn’t until quite recently that things started to feel less forced and more like the way I remember them. I finally finished the sketchbook I started in January (I usually go through 2-3 big sketchbooks a year). I had been picking out sewing projects that inspired me and also were useful to fill gaps in my wardrobe. I gave myself “permission” to just create something if it caught my eye (and I had the time to do so). Even seemingly mundane, daily tasks like doing my hair or makeup I tried to view through the lens of being creative in a small way. Infusing that sense of wonder and excitement back into the littlest things was important.
[ click for a larger view. ]
I know many others go through dry periods too (whether or not you are “creative” in the art sense, or your talents lie in another area!). We all hit bumps in life that throw us a bit harder than we expected and sometimes it isn’t as easy as getting back up right away and dusting ourselves off. Sometimes you just need to lie still and heal a bit. I’ve come to realize that that’s okay and not to censure myself for feeling any less than 100% creative. But to enjoy and be thankful for it when it’s there.
Have you ever been through a “creative dry spell”?
August 10, 2009 ·
37 lovely thoughts
posted in casey's musings
· tags: art, musings
