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| Playing with my food: Strawberry, black olives, french leeks and peperonata topped pizza. Inner artist treat deluxe! |
As I was listing my heart's desire in my task book, the thought occurred to me that it would make a good post to tell how and if I had managed to successfully execute this truly difficult task. It would also be an incentive to see it through: I do not enjoy stating publicly that I had flunked a test! Then of course, an anonymous comment on the post prompted me, and I knew I had to come clean.
You want honesty, dear Anonymous? I flunked it. Or maybe, its not quite as simple. I'll try to explain:
List of treats as agreed upon by both parties (parties being my very exited inner artist child and the scared one holding the pen). I also have to state that money (or rather, the lack of it) is an issue, so we had to think creatively about this:
- Saturday: Write a short story for fun. (Yes, I, the inner child, love following the trail of a story as it unfolds under my typing fingers.)
- Sunday: Take time to dress like the REAL ME and go to a scrumptious movie. (No, I usually just get dressed with whatever will keep the cold at bay this time of the year. And to be quite honest, I grow really tired of most of my winter attire. Ask me about that later, dear A.)
- Monday: Spend a couple of hours getting inspiring ideas for our new home from magazines or the internet. (I was really looking forward to this!)
- Tuesday: Go to a movie on my own (my usual flick buddies being away on a hike in the Namaqualand to view Spring flowers, this would then qualify as a true Artist's date)
- Wednesday: Go to my favourite fruit sellers and splash out on the freshest produce. Add a bunch of flowers for good measure.
- Thursday: Knit, sitting in the sun. Go to my art class and RELAX into it. (It'e supposed to be fun, but the critic in me will not let me be!)
- Friday: Put on happy music and dance.
Results: I didn't write the story on Saturday, but did dress a little more me-ish on Sunday, although we had to turn back home on our way to the movie theatre as I had left the chicken in the oven without turning it down to a whisper. An afternoon nap then substituted for a treat. By Monday I had forgotten about the list.
But: Something shifted ever so slightly during the course of the week and I have to think about this carefully. It seems the mere listing of a few of the things my inner artist enjoy doing, was met with such appreciation by the poor starved soul, that she seemed to be skipping and hopping along like a very happy child holding onto my sensible finger but having the time of her life at a level of consciousness that I became more and more aware of as the week progressed.
So, this is what happened:
On Saturday, after the planning session, the inner artist took over for the remainder of the day. I spent it taking pictures of the Spring explosion in my garden and then blogged about it. That was after I had spent almost the entire morning lounging in bed!
The Sunday afternoon nap rather than going to a movie was a much needed rest and I sat knitting in the sun after, jumping the gun with almost an entire week!
Monday afternoon I had an informal pottery lesson to give, which normally would be very stressful for me, causing me to fuss and prepare for hours beforehand. I had none of the usual jitters and the afternoon was blissfully pleasant. It's been a while since I could allow the clay to become whatever it wanted to be.
Tuesday is a bit of a blur, to be honest, but I did make it to my pilates class and felt more present, again managing to relax into the hour's exercise without my mind rushing on to the day ahead.
Wednesday saw me sitting in the garden, drawing up plans for our imminent move. I was acutely aware of the fragrance of the cascading jasmine, the sunbirds' shrill calling and the glorious warmth of the sun. It inspired me to make sandwiches with a filling of fresh avocado, strawberries, freshly grated parmesan and roasted pumpkin seeds. I then sat and focused on eating it without carrying on with my planning. I actually tasted it! This inspired me so that I later prepared supper with music playing in the background while I swayed and hummed along as I made a favourite vegetarian dish: butternut halves filled with fried brown rice, onion, carrot and nuts.
It may sound as if all caution was thrown to the wind and the inner artist was running wild. Despair not. The week picked up in tempo as I started planning and getting stock together for an outdoor craft market to be held the coming weekend. I put together a ten page brochure of my ceramic work to be presented to an art gallery, splashed some of these images on facebook, mixed creams and herbal teas, packaged and labelled, listed and priced long into the night. I pulled up a complete inventory of all furniture and appliances to be moved to Wakkerstroom and sent out requests for quotations on removal services as well as on the paint job I need done before renting out my house. I interviewed a rental agent and still spent time going for my regular walks and visiting with friends. I planned a surprise outing for George on his upcoming birthday which entailed research and email correspondence as well as juggling our diaries. The creative cooking spree also continued throughout the week, as the strawberry pizza above stands witness to.
The overtone was one of having fun. I felt joyous, creative and positive. I also felt extremely energized and focused and was able to work much more constructively.
Now then, I suppose I did get round to spoiling my inner artist. All she wanted was to be noticed really. It was raining treats from then on. And not just for me.
Matilda
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