What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

I don't have the luxury of a wealthy family and so many other risk takers have a spouse with a good incomes and there are other factors in lives that support entrepreneurial endeavors but I can boast of none of that. Without an inherent amount of dough it becomes necessary for the cook to get creative and since creativity is my business, I should get to cooking.

Mindset is number one. I have a lot going for me and if I can focus on that and not the real or perceived obstacles, I'm certain we'll have good results in 22.

Talking no more. The time is now.

Making Up for Lost Time

The Continuing Story

I've often described drawing as a form of writing. I'm also aware that good writing and good drawing, when combined, has the potential of providing the artist/author with a much better chance at success. Of course, there are other factors involved but to own those two attributes is like owning an untapped diamond mine.

Countless occasions I've used sketchbooks as a graphic diary and it brings much credibility to the adage "a picture is worth 1000 words" because, upon opening an old sketchbook, I can recall the circumstances I was under at the time I drew the picture. 

I also write much. In fact, writing might be as much of a habit to me as drawing and when I combine the two disciplines there's no end to the possibilities. 

So, tomorrow is my 60th birthday and I've yet to succeed at drawing, writing or drawing/writing. What authority or credibility am I using to make the above claim? Has it simply taken me this long to come to the realization that I possess skills that will take me to the top as others have encouraged me to do? Am I a victim of my life-long habit of being a working stiff; a belief I was indoctrinated into from childhood?

Stay tuned.

Mice and Men

I've come to discover, especially in these last days of 2021, that some of my best days have been when I wasn't feeling so well. The work I do is generally fun but it isn't always fun.

I've laid out my plans for the year to come and if the past is of any value, I need to accept the fact that I'll be punched in the face. I need to be flexible, improvise, adapt and overcome.

It's mine!

We all are familiar with the post Christmas blues and even though we still have New Year's Day to celebrate  (and I personally have a birthday sandwiched in there) it seems I consistently suffer this malaise. Is it because the joy of Christmas is over? Is it getting back to the routine work week, the thought of which can be depressing? Is it the prospect of just repeating another year? Is it that I feel I could have had a better holiday if I had a better year?

In all my years, especially since my self-employment ventures, I've concluded there are as many theories and formulas on success as there are people, and for me, the truth is that the best method of success is the one that works for me. 

The bottom line is, I can't find inner peace and self-satisfaction by copying someone else's ways. I can learn from others. I can emulate and admire them, but whatever works for me needs to be mine alone. 

It's not unlike my artwork. I have my own style and when I copy someone else, my work looses power and credibility. My work must be my work. So, in extending that to all things, I can't find satisfaction at years end if I sought someone else's approval but only if  I was productive enough to get my results. 

The other side of that coin is earning a living and if we can earn a living with our calling, it's even better. I'll save that thought for another post.

 

Santa Takes Round Two

Boxing Day in England is something I never really understood or cared to, for that matter, until I married Tracy. She brought so much more to Christmas I've never been exposed to and among other things,I learned of Boxing Day. Her mother, being a Brit herself, contributed to my Christmas expansion of knowledge.

Scrooge the Protagonist

There have been some in the literary world who are sympathetic to Scrooge because he is the most authentic amongst all the characters. Scrooge regards Christmas as a "humbug" because for 364 days a year, people are the usual cruel, self-absorbed rabble who on Christmas day cover up their true self with counterfeit benevolence. He, some say,  is the only one in the story with the courage necessary to call them out.