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Basement

Basement Blues: Beginning with the End in Mind

January 4, 2017

This past weekend I spent a great deal of time in my basement. Things had gotten a bit unruly down there (as things tend to do in basements). And I’ve been putting off dealing with it for some time now, but I really need the space. I wouldn’t be able to pursue a few new goals without it.

 

What I wanted to do was just plow ahead with my goals. But in reality, I had to go back and undo some things first. I had to deal with the mess before I could move forward. The ol’ “sometimes we have to take a step backwards before taking two steps forward.”

“I had to deal with the mess before I could move forward.”

 

It was a bit daunting at first. There was so much to sort through that I wasn’t sure where to begin. It was tempting to quit before I even began (just turn away slowly, back up the stairs and click the light off…). But I knew that this is where I had to start.

 

This goes deeper than a New Year’s resolution. And this has less to do with the new year and more to do with the fact I’m involved with some artist coaching that presented the challenge to “begin with the end in mind” at this point in time. In other words, the challenge is to take a look at where you want to be at the end of the year and begin to schedule specific blocks of time to get things accomplished (and with these blocks, the space needed to work).

 

The real shift for me (as a self proclaimed night owl) was to get myself to bed at a decent hour and to rise earlier. And along with that, I set up my exercise bike for a daily 20 minutes first thing in the morning. (Yes, even before coffee... ~ gasp ~). And of course, it’s hard to use said exercise bike when it’s being used as a clothes rack. (Don’t judge. You know you've done that too…).

 

I powered through my cleaning frenzy like the Tasmanian Devil, and managed to clear things out. Now a different kind of hard work began.

 

I’m only a few days into these changes but I’m feeling pretty optimistic. After all, this April will be my 6th year of doing 365 consecutive days of daily art making, so I know that there is a part of me that can be disciplined.

 

I also think having to put in several hours into cleaning up my basement upped the stakes for me. I not only set up my bike, but I assembled my new easel and rearranged my painting area. At the end of 2017, I want to have put in at roughly 20 minutes of exercise a day, and to have painted at least 24 new (physical / non-digital) paintings (along with my usual work).


Have you ever considered what you want the end of your 2017 to look like? What would be at the top of your end game?

In Blog Tags New Year, Art, Begin With the End in MInd, Organize, Goals, Life Goals, Artist, Change, 2017, stephen covey
← Yoga pose @stretchyliciousTonight's yoga art inspired by @hilariabaldwin #yoga #art #fitness #digitalart #yogi #health #wellness #hilarialcm →
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    Having a hard tech day. Large video files. Uploads crapping out. Running out of storage space. And battery drain issues. Blarg. 🙅🏼‍♂️
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How’s this one for  #spidermanintothespiderverse ? This one’s for you Fred Rogers, my friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.  #mrrogers #mrrogersneighborhood #spiderman #spidey #fredrogers #art #popart #fanart #illustration #artist #popculture #mikebone #mikebrennanart #intothespiderverse
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#guitargirl #art #guitar #music #artist #illustration #illustrator #color #song #barefoot #artwork #mikebone #mikebrennanart #contemporaryart #artistsoninstagram
Are you ready for a creative comeback?

Your art shouldn’t be a source of frustration, but a source of joy and passion.

It should be life giving, to you and those around you.

And while the act of creating might be a solitary one, you can’t do this alone.

You need a community. Fellow artists to journey with. Who are not competing with you, but rooting for you and your art. 
I want to personally invite you to join my new course “Your Artist Journey” were I share some tools to help you with your own creative comeback and an exclusive community of like minded artists.

Doors open for course enrollment the end of February!

Sign up for details and a limited introductory price offer www.YourArtistJourney.com (link in bio)

#art #artist #artmaking #dailyart #creativecommunity #creative #comeback #course #creativearts #habit #mindset #drawing #painting #education #artteacher #design #creativeprofessional
Norman lives in full color. 
Time to ride. 
@bigbaldhead @amcthewalkingdead @rideamc 
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Happy Valentine’s Day. 
#candy #hearts #valentines #valentinesday #popart #mikebone #mikebrennanart #illustration #illustrator
Everyone is broken. Some people just hide it better. But to let healing begin, we’ve got to enter into it. Then allow our healing to shine a light for others. | art inspired by @megfromwithin @marconi_the_art_of_photography @aloyoga #yoga #yogi #yogaart #yogaartist #healing
Dear Snow,
No, I don’t want to be your Valentine. Not now or ever. 
A copy of “Dear Snow” does make a great gift though. Grab your book from Amazon today!

#dearsnow #valentines #valentinesday2019 #snow #winter #snowday #book
Repost from @janeatcausedigital - Woot! Big congratulations to @workingwithdog member and 'cause Digital Marketing team, @mikebone on his recent spotlight by @syfy . If you're not familiar with Mike's amazing work, he has an eye for pop culture, pets and yoga poses and a great sense of humor that carries throughout everything he does. Check him out at @mikebone and congrats again!
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#causepreneur #artnewengland #artistsofnewengland #newenglandartist  #mashup #captainamerica #abelincoln #petpreneurs
Back with @amcthewalkingdead - when I was first introduced to @jeffreydeanmorgan he was the creepiest most anxiety inducing villain I had seen in a while. This one’s for you JDM. Mad acting skills. 
#jeffreydeanmorgan #art #twd #artist #actor #negan #jdm #thewalkingdead #painting #contemporaryart #illustration #illustrator #portrait #mikebone #mikebrennanart #njartist #popart

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