It doesn’t matter how slowly you go….

I once did a piece called The Long and Winding Road which, once finished, I figured out symbolized the long road back from a difficult personal experience.  I did the piece in 2016, but that journey continues.  There are times when I am doing well and other times when I’m not.  That’s true of everyone, I know, but sometimes I get pretty down on myself, expecting to be able to do more than I am able.  Those periods of ‘down’ time seem to come more often and last longer and my physical challenges don’t help. But, as Confucius said, ‘it doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop.’ 

So, I continue to move forward as best I can.  Progress on my first book continues.  I finished a meditation piece called appropriately, Meditation 5.  It is 5 inches in diameter. 

I did another one in the spring during my tapestry class, Meditation 4, 2.75 inches square.

I also taught a class called, The Joy of Color Journaling a few weeks ago.  This was a one-hour class based on a lesson I teach in my tapestry class. This is a technique I developed a few years ago based on an idea of Julia Cameron’s from her book, The Artist’s Way. She writes about doing Morning Pages and the Internal Editor.  I needed a way to play with color without having a specific goal in mind and as a way to spark inspiration for new design ideas. Here is a sample from one of my journals. 

Coming up with new designs can be hard. Sometimes they come to you fully formed and other times they stay off at the edges just out of reach. Color journaling and doing small meditation pieces—in which I weave or coil a small piece without any definite plan; color journaling in fiber—help me stay calm and not jump into a major piece before the design is ready.  This saves time, heartache and materials and makes life a lot happier!

I’ve been going through a design drought for a while now.  I think a lot of people have been struggling more than usual lately.  Rebecca Mezoff wrote about this last week.  We all hit slumps. The point is to keep going, somehow.  Color journaling and meditation pieces help me do that.

I’m finally working on a new design—the first in more than 4 years.  I’m cautiously excited about it and I’m still working out the design but here are some images of what I’m working on. I did one design and then wasn’t sure about it, so I did another. As I work on the base, I’ll decide which one to use–or maybe come up with a hybrid of the two.

I’ll share more as the piece progresses. Whatever you’re working on, or thinking of working on, keep going. Experiencing creativity in any form brings joy and fulfillment.

It doesn’t matter how slowly you go, just don’t stop.