Thursday, October 7, 2010

Measuring up

Most of us think of goals at the first of the year.  I guess that’s because the first of the year is seen as a clean slate, but I always tend to have better luck setting and achieving my goals in the fall.  Perhaps it is the changing of the seasons.

I’ve been working diligently at losing some extra weight and I’ve achieved the number that I wanted to see as well as losing several inches.  Now my goal is working towards greater health and fitness. 

I like to think of myself as a creative person, but when it gets down to it, I do  better in some aspects of my life with regimen, rules, measurements and science. 

 

If you can’t measure something,  how do you know if you are headed in the right direction?  That’s why I’ve been weighing and measuring myself, weighing and measuring and reading labels on most everything I eat,  keeping charts on how much weight I can lift and move with my body, how far or long I can run or bike or stay on the elliptical trainer.

These things I can measure and I can see my progress.

But……..how do you do this with art? 

Maybe that’s why I’ve been a bit stuck in my rug hooking. 

As a goal oriented person, how do you measure your progress?  Perhaps creating art shouldn’t have goals, perhaps you should just create to create. Create what brings you joy…..if what you create today brings you more joy than what you created 10 years ago, perhaps that is how you measure progress in art?

What are your thoughts?

2 comments:

  1. As long as you're experiencing that right brain rush, no need to measure anything. Art is being in the moment and creating for the sheer enjoyment of the process.... What you end up with is the icing on the cake!
    xo
    dulcy

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  2. I may be wrong but it seems to me that you set very high goals for yourself and you're so focused that you can achieve your goal where perhaps many of us might give up before reaching our goal. The only way to measure up is against yourself. If you enjoy getting there, it's a bonus, if you enjoy the results, that's another bonus, if you feel better, that's also a bonus. To me, that's success. I also agree with Dulcys comment. JB

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