Creative Block -- A New (found) Perspective

The absence from my blog mirrors my absence from my studio.  I have lots of things I'd like to do, but I'm having a hard time getting upstairs to actually do them.  Yes, there are a myriad of tasks and obligations that are tugging at my time (and I detailed them all for a friend yesterday), but if I'm really honest I can't blame them entirely for keeping me from being productive.

So, what's holding me back?

Ever the student (and lover of research), I went on-line today to try to analyze my dilemma.  I know that the internet is typically maligned for being the wrong place to self-diagnose but today, I think I discovered something rather compelling -- a quote from Mary Garden, an opera singer in the early 1900s:

My block was due to two overlapping factors: laziness and a lack of discipline.

I think there's an element of truth here that relates directly to my studio practice.  I'm lazy and undisciplined.

Ouch ...

I have to admit to myself (and publicly, I guess, if I'm sharing it here) that I'll often pick up a book as opposed to going to my studio when I only have an extra fifteen minutes.  I don't jot down notes of ideas or impressions of color in my journal, even though it sits on my desk about ten paces from the kitchen.  I could go on and on, revealing all my bad habits, but let's not drag all my dirty laundry out in public just yet.

So what am I going to do about this?

Well, I hope it's true that self-awareness is a big step towards changed behavior.  However, that probably won't be enough to get me up the two flights of stairs to the attic where I have my studio. I think I'm going to try the following (and I only say think because I'll have to evaluate this on a regular basis to see if I'm getting the results I want):

- I love to read everyone's blogs.  So, I'm going to take my laptop and read the blogs I follow in my studio. I'll already be in my creative space and hopefully, that will mean I'll turn from my computer to my sewing machine more readily.

- I don't have an iPhone, iCalendar, or any other such electronic device to keep track of my day; I use an old-fashioned calendar.  It works for me because it seems I remember what I write down.  So I'm going to try to actually write a creative appointment with myself whenever I have a block of time.  Hopefully, that will mean I'll remember to make time for my art any time I look at my calendar to see what's next on my agenda.

- I like to have lists of tasks to be done at some point during the week.  Guess what?  I hardly ever write down "Make art".  I think I'll have to change that.  Maybe I should write it down as two separate "to do" items so I go to my studio twice.  And, I think I might want to check each week how many times I actually can cross that off my list.  I probably have a skewed sense of how much time I spend in my studio,  sort of like how I have a skewed sense of how much I eat.  I always eat more than I think I do.  Maybe I can flip-flop those two activities?  That would be really cool -- eat less, create more.  Hmmmm, maybe I'm on to something else here, too.....