Good Morning,
As it comes to the end of August usually I am waiting for a turn. For things to begin again. For committees to start-up, to return to new routines but this year is quite different. Somethings will resume, albeit slowly and carefully but mostly we are in a holding pattern of sensible caution. The things we would have done without a thought now are well-considered.
September will be different this year. I always loved and still love the opening of a new notebook. September 1 is a kind of new year for so many of us. How do we mark it this year? Normally I had an in-studio workshop in early September that lead me back into a routine for fall.
When I look at my calendar I see it wide open except for my Thursday Lives with you. My calendar has never been crowded. With the exception of my in-studio workshops I make very few plans.
I do not like schedules. Trying to pin me down for lunch next week is like trying to catch a bird. I like to wake up each day and decide what to do. Each day I want to be able to work and hook in my studio. Day after day. It never gets old for me.
I think many other people this summer have picked up a creative habit (as Twila Tharp calls it). So many people took up the ten minute a day challenge which for them turned into an hour or more a day which turned into finishing several rugs. Now that they are in the habit hopefully they'll stay committed and creative into September as well. Once a habit is formed it is so much easier to follow through.
This year September may not be as big a change for me or you as it is other years. And maybe that is ok. I'll keep writing, making, showing up on Thursdays and I hope that I will use that time in front of me to be creative in new ways. Having time and space in front of you means you have room for discovery. I have had a little extra solitude this summer and I see that carrying into the fall.
I'll just turn the page of my existing notebook or maybe I'll still open a new one. Why not? We can start a new notebook any morning we wake up. Early September is symbolic of all those times we began again as we were growing up. It remains an important month because it is a time for reflection and renewal. And you know me from these newsletters. I love reflection and renewal is so hopeful.
This fall all of the workshops will be online. I am working on the tiny landscapes online workshop right now. I am so excited about the possibilities of this course for people. They'll create art for their homes and they'll make beautiful gifts. I am even going to set up a separate community for those who take it where we can see each other work. It will be happening from October 16 to 30. Registration will open this later week. I hope you'll join me.
Thank you for reading. Please stay careful.
Keep up your ten minutes a day hooking challenge, and may you greet September with the newness that it deserves.
Deanne
