A change of pace!

I'm sharing my current situation in the hopes that it may spur some of the rest of you who are able or yearning to be able to answer the 'call of life' in your own special way.

I've been wanting to spend more time with my daughters and g-children in NC - I live in Houston - and since my job required 20 hr/week that was difficult. Both daughters are teachers and are 'off' for the summer. I changed my job status to 16 hr/month. I go on Medicare in August (hitting 65 isn't ALL bad!) So I no longer need the health insurance coverage - in fact, I would no longer be ALLOWED to keep it!

After doing a workshop on "The Artist's Way" book by Julia Cameron, I was spurred to spend a little time re-thinking my life, my thinking, and my desires. (of course having a cardiac condition forces us to do the same, doesn't it?)

I started thinking about renting a little apartment for the summer in NC and being able to see everyone more (but also desiring some "alone" time for ME) was necessary too. Plus I don't think any of us could survive a solid 2 months together.

Then I realized my daughter had an EMPTY house, (beautiful log house) in the mountains in NE Georgia that was for sale. They would LOVE to sell the house, but this is not exactly the best time to attempt that!

So with some creative thinking, a few pieces of thrift shop furniture, my computer, my sewing machine, my water colors, and my dog, I am now settled in this empty house (phone and electricty turned on - oh, yeah, and the DSL hooked up) I am as happy as a clam! Have visited both daughters, seen the g-kids, whooshed off hubby to do his business...... and spent an hour this morning out in the porch swing with my dog listening to the birds and enjoying the cooler temperatures (compared to Houston)

I'm paying my daughter rent - helping with HER expenses too, since they are making payment on THIS house and paying rent on the house where they are currently living due to employment location change.

So, I will fly to Houston once a month to work my shift, keep my fingers in the pie so to speak, should I need to pick up more employment/$$ in the future.

I never in a million years would have dreamed I'd be doing this, but with a little freedom to think differently, here I am.....................

Lynn

By goingstrong
Posted July 20, 2009 at 10:23 am
Report post

All of your responses have been so convicting that my decision was so right!

I am now entering my 2nd month of this change of pace and wondering what exactly it is that is stopping me from extending it?

Oh, yeah, there is the house in Houston, the husband in Houston, the job in Houston, the friends in Houston ...... but in true Artist's Way methodology, which of those can I change?

The husband is willing to move, friends can be visited, the job could change or go away as could the house. So it might not be insurmountable with a little 'out of the box' thinking!

Lynn

PS: For extra motivation, it was 50 degrees this morning! I'm in HEAVEN, not Georgia! ha

By PacinPatty
Posted July 20, 2009 at 9:24 am
Report post

HI, Lynn,

First of all, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto. I hate to sound redundant, but I have been so moved by everyone's replies to your compelling start. Envy, envy, envy. There I go again!!! Ironically, I too have just recently pulled out my copy of The Artist's Way and have actually begone the "morning pages". I am NOT a writer and have fought trying them for years and can not believe how they have taken me by surprise. They are liberating and all kinds of words that describe all kinds of feelings. I highly recommend them. I am BIG on the artist's dates too. And they can be absolutely anything that may appear a bit artsy. I am so envious of your location. Hope to live in NC some day. Have you ever been to the John C. Campbell folk school, Lynn? My husband and I will go the last week in August, he for photography and me for watercolor. I am an artist but fairly new to it, ten years or so, and have had much success. It is a wonderful pastime in retirement and I now have paintings in four little galleries and have won four ribbons over the years. Your quilts are incredible, to say the least!!! I hope you are feeling better up in that beautiful part of the country. Would you like some visitors? Oh.......wait........the whole idea was to get away from it all, wasn't it??!! Never mind then.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy,
Paintin' Pacin' Patty

By Queen_E
Posted July 20, 2009 at 9:00 am
Report post

Thanks for this story!
I used my heart attack at work like a Willy-Wonka-Golden-Ticket, asked to change jobs within the firm. I am really enjoying my new role and more able to say no to extra requests. In the fall, my daughter will attend a school where I must leave work a bit early to pick her up, a purposeful choice to ensure a more relaxed evening at home with the whole family.

Thanks to all for the endorsement of the The Artist's Way. I was not familiar with the book but have now visited the site and will likely get a copy!

By goingstrong
Posted June 27, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Report post

Thanks Jaynie, I had never seen the website for Julia! Or heard her speak. Like many of you have shared I too, have an old dog-eared copy of The Artist's Way from eons ago - partly read, partly worked through, and abandoned.

Some of us abandon as a form of resistance and I suspect that was the case for me. I have always strongly resisted journaling and Julia's words didn't change that. I've never really discovered what it is about. Although maybe in the days to come I'll share some of my suspicions.

At any rate, I'm going to go over and post a small piece (it's 11:30 pm) and get the ball rolling for us. As you know, the UNEXPECTED is expected when you begin a journey with Julia. She gives us the tools to discover things about ourselves that are truly amazing!
Lynn

By Nancy-in-KC
Posted June 27, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Report post

Lynn, doing great here in KC, just got the Womenheart support group up and running in my neck of the woods. Every women there (there were 5 of us) was greatful to finally have a place to come where they felt understood. This thing called WomenHeart is so necessary, and I am so thankful for it!

I am not familiar with The Artist's Way - I am going to have to check it out to see what all this commotion is about!

Your heart sister,
Nancy

By grace5
Posted June 27, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Report post

Hi! I've just visited your blog, love the cabin, love the quilts, love the swing, love all the pictures, love the babies, love the cats, it's all so idyllic! I'm soooooooooo jealous! Have fun!
Lidia xx

By martzj
Posted June 27, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Report post

Hi Kenna,

"Jaynie, I'm wondering why is your painting still not possible for you? I can understand needlepoint being a real challenge ("concentrated, sustained activity" - I too cannot do those activities anymore - even reading fiction seems too hard!) but there is painting and then there's painting. Post HA, I've had to stumble upon other less-taxing creative pursuits and I discovered (on one of my Artist's Dates!) mixed media collage. Great fun, lots of abstract experimental stuff (a la Julia Cameron) and all those funky found objects and opportunities to put those paints to good use. Don't give up - get out those paints"

Very sweet of you. Professional artist was my life and I am still grieving that I'm too exhausted to summon the will now. I can no longer lean over my drawing board or sit in a chair with legs on the floor for very long...or stand immobile in front of an easle. Don't have the stamina or the heart anymore. I have shifted into writing and researching now and those are wonderful outlets for me, much of which can be done via laptop, resting w legs up, back supported, breaks for naps. It has been 13 years and I'm grateful my heart sustained me as long as it could in the career workforce. My home is full of things I have created, in many forms. I apply a creative bent to most everything I do....makes the most mundane tasks 'interesting' now. : )

Cameron's version of the 4000 year old Zen 'monkey mind' calming techniques translates beautifully as Morning Pages......She modernized this and I continue to meet women from all walks of life who've been using Morning Pages for years. I keep vases full of freshly sharped #2 pencils and ink pens in different colored inks...and a stack of legal pads nearby. Like to use the insides of junk mail envelopes, backs of junk mail that is bare....I scribble all over these papers in a stream of consciousness first thing in the a.m.., get all those racing thoughts out of my head until the blah blah blah slows waaaay down and then I have access to clear thoughts, write those down on nicer paper, make lists, write down what I would like to accomplish that day....or procede to journal on legal pads and notebooks. The blah blah scrap papers I wod up and toss in trash. The rest is the 'good stuff' I keep.

The weekly Date is pure genius. Women need to get into the habit of giving themselves permission for a little ME time and not letting others intrude on these rare precious moments.

I haven't seen her latest book.....I think I have The Right to Write? Which I misplaced somewhere and never read. Thanks to Julia, I keep journals stuffed in my car, purse, stashed around the house....so I can grab one and write as soon as I need to. Great for waiting rooms....never a wasted hour, sitting there staring at a blank wall for me. I'm always writing.

Thanks goodness I came across Artist's Way years before heart attack...she had helped me form the constant writing habit so I had journals full leading up to the heart attacks....then a long silence....then I picked it up again. I now have this long history of the whole thing. Makes me sad to read how naive and helpless I was leading up to HAs in my 30s. Julia helped me work through so much of that.

My favorite exercise it the week of no reading allowed....I add in no tv too. Sure enough, without the constant distractions and not being allowed to escape into books for a week or few days, my attention quickly goes to physical tasks that need taking care of around the house.....Closets get organized, things get sorted and repaired or donated, I write more. A very cleansing exercise that only lasts a few days each year or so. I'm at a point in my life when I have little patience for clutter, chaos, stuff that requires constant maintenance. I need simple, easy to access and use now.

Enjoy your next Artist's Way exercise!! No matter how many times I repeat an exercise, the result and process are wonderfully different each time.

cheers, Jaynie

By goingstrong
Posted June 26, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Report post

Ok, ladies. I will start it tomorrow. I didn't bring her book with me but can share some of the 'ah-ha!' moments in our 12 week course with the group. I don't think it will require the book once we start leap-frogging from each other's ideas.

Just came in from taking the dog out, stopped to weed around the hostas a little as the lirope had invaded. There is very little 'planted' landscaping here - almost all is totally natural -including the bears! ha

Lynn

By Kennarina
Posted June 26, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Report post

I was just thinking that too, Lynn - an Artist's Way topic. You start! I am also inspired to pull out my old dog-eared copy. I just love that book! It's been years since I first read it, but still follow her three 'tools': Morning Pages, Artist's Dates and Walks.

Good grief, first I had a vision of your daughter's little log cabin in the mountains. Holey moley, that log house is gorgeous. And huge! Not a 'cabin' at all. Absolutely a wonderful turn of events for you this summer. Will you keep up your 'commute' once the summer's over? It's almost like once you put it out to the universe that you wanted to be closer to the kids/grandbabies, things started to fall beautifully into place - work, health insurance, place to live. Perfect....

Jaynie, I'm wondering why is your painting still not possible for you? I can understand needlepoint being a real challenge ("concentrated, sustained activity" - I too cannot do those activities anymore - even reading fiction seems too hard!) but there is painting and then there's painting. Post HA, I've had to stumble upon other less-taxing creative pursuits and I discovered (on one of my Artist's Dates!) mixed media collage. Great fun, lots of abstract experimental stuff (a la Julia Cameron) and all those funky found objects and opportunities to put those paints to good use. Don't give up - get out those paints!

Another Cameron book that I loved was "The Sound of Paper" about how to move on when you're 'stuck' - in a creative block, or in life. Brilliant stuff.... Has anybody read that one?

XOXOXO

http://www.myheartsisters.org

By Linda_RS
Posted June 26, 2009 at 9:35 am
Report post

Like so many of you, I have the book The Artist's Way on my bookshelf. You have inspired me to read it. I glanced through it 10 years ago when it was given to me, but I am sure it will offer me a new perspective now. In the meantime, I did buy myself a sketch book and drawing pencils. I find solice sketching in my ack yard. Not gallery worthy, but it brings me peace.

Thanks for sharing. Linda

By goingstrong
Posted June 26, 2009 at 9:31 am
Report post

Hi gals. I just have to tell you, after all the comments on my quilt -- I'm actually SLEEPING under it in my little retreat this summer. I only brought it along to share the finished quilt with my daughters - and then when I got all set up on my air mattress, I thought I might need a blanket, so took it out of it's traveling suitcase. It sure does cheer up an otherwise fairly empty room! ha Just sleeping under it makes me feel happy! I'll snap a pic in the next few days (when the bed is made) and put it on the blog.
Lynn
PS: I Nancy in KC. How are you doing up there in KC?

By Nancy-in-KC
Posted June 26, 2009 at 9:20 am
Report post

Lynn! I am so happy for you! What a wonderful opportunity to have come your way. Have a wonderful summer - what an adventure!

Your Mayo heart sister,
Nancy

By martzj
Posted June 25, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Report post

oh wow Lynn.....Just had a chance to check out your blog. I cannot believe how gorgeous that flower quilt is!!!! You are making me long to pull out my drawer full of years worth of cross-stitched pieces....15 or more finished washed pressed...unframed. I lost heart and put it all away when my eyes began rupturing blood vessels trying to focus at night. It seemed like I got punished for everything I tried at that point. I've had to give up painting, cross stitch....all those things that were huge parts of my creative life but the heart damage made any kind of concentrated, sustained activity impossible. I sure miss it....It's beyond relaxing to just quietly stitch and sew and watch images come alive beneath your fingers isn't it.

LOVE that quilt in case I wasn't clear enough the first time! : )

cheers, Jaynie

By Rose
Posted June 25, 2009 at 9:17 am
Report post

Lynn,

After seeing the picture I am sooooo jealous. It is just beautiful. Your quilts are amazing. I think I will buy that book if that is what inspired you. I have finally learned how to crouchet one stich called double crouchet and haven't progressed past that but I am enjoying making neck scarf for everyone I know. I think that I am craft gene deficient.

Give us updates on your life of tranquility.

Warm Regards,

Rose

By MMaslek
Posted June 25, 2009 at 7:19 am
Report post

I am in serious envy!!! What a beautiful home & a lovely way to spend a summer. Enjoy the break & enjoy the time with your family. What a glorious summer treat!!!!

Amy

Welcome to Inspire!

Explore topics in this discussion:

31 replies

Add to the discussion

Group leaders

You