Spring Fever

One bored Cat!!!

The other day, my cat and I were going a little stir-crazy.  We both want to be outside.  I keep daydreaming about plunging my hands into the dark moist soil of my gardens with the sun on my skin.  She wants to be out chasing mice.  The cold and ice are keeping us inside.  As with everything, I went out to research ways to help my condition.  I so love Google.

I found a ton of articles about how to keep studying when spring fever threatens to drop your grades.  Hum, I am not a student.  Please, don't tell me that I haven't grown up and the only people to get spring fever are kids.  Well, at the bottom of my search, I found an article to help artists combat spring fever.  Yay, I am not immature.  I am an artist.  Yes, I see the irony.

The writer gave a list of things to do.  Yay, I love lists.  As I got partway through, I realized this list is very much like my list of things to do when I am depressed.  I also realized that I have done most of them in my own way.  Some of the suggestions made me laugh, like the first one.

1.         Get out in the sun.  Really?  For the last week, we have had mainly gray skies.  What sun?  Then if we have sun, the world turns into ice.  Do I really want to go out and break my hip?  I don't think so.  The other day the dog and I went out.  Visibility was sketchy with snow flurries.  I was wearing my yaktraks and I was still slipping and sliding.

2.         Check your work habits.  I do this continuously.  I am always trying to see if I can get a little more time in with my art.  I especially go over my schedule at the beginning of the new year.  The article also talked about mixing it up.  I really should take my laptop to the coffee shop in the middle of the day.  Unfortunately, by that time, I have worked all morning and am done for the day.  But it is a good idea.

3.         Take a break.  To do what?  If I am taking a break, I will do this in the spring and summer where I can be outside.  The winter is the best time to get a good chunk of my writing done for my yearly goals.  Yes, I need to write more in the sunny months, but if I don't I want these months to be productive.  I will say that I am trying to get most of my words written during the week so I can take most of the weekend off.  That is enough of a break.

4.         Workshop to meet people.  Obviously, the writer of the article lives in a city or has a sugar daddy to finance her art.  If I went to a workshop where I met people, the class would be a good $600 or more.  I would have travel expenses to get to said workshop and have to pay for a hotel room, not to mention leaving my daughter for a week.  Now, I am planning an on-line workshop later this year, but I won't be meeting people!

5.         Sketchbook, notes, daydream.  Now, my artistic ability with a sketchbook is pretty much null and void.  However, I could start a pinterest board for the the next project I want to work on after I finish my current work in process.  I am cautious about this though because I don't want to be distracted from the current work.  I will see about applying this idea.

6.         Bring the Outside in.  I liked this one.  After reading the article, the next time I went to the store, I picked up some flowers.  I normally won't get the type I did.  My daughter didn't want to walk by my writing room and see pink.  She wanted blue.  I humored her.  When these wilt, I will get more.  Until I can see my flowers outside, I think I will keep my jar full of fresh flowers.  They really have helped and brought me joy.

7.         Take a trip.  Hey, I can get behind this suggestion.  Of course, the author posted a picture of a beach, palm tree, and the ocean.  Hum, that is a bit too far away for this year.  I did go to Alaska last month which was a ton of fun.  We also are going to Billings later this winter.  Again, no palm trees, but we will be seeing a bunch of family and getting out of town is always a great time.  It isn't that I don't love where I live.  I do.  I just like a change of scenery.  And yes, we do have a big vacation planned later this year.  I will write more about that later.  Another suggestion was to enjoy the last days of winter.  Ice, Ice, Ice.  I will be out when there is no chance of breaking a leg.

8.         Social Media.  I am definitely doing facebook.  I should be working more on twitter and instagram.  My problem is that when I am bored I am worried I will be boring on these sites.  And I can only upload so many gray winter photos!

9.         Spring clean!!!  I don't want to clean.  Yes, I do need to.  I will work on my writing room this weekend.  I should probably dust the entire house.  I would love to do a painting project in one of the rooms, but I want book 5 done.  This will have to wait for another day.

10.       Try something new.  A new medium.  About once a month, I work on the mediums of photography and painting pottery.  I should work some more on my rosemaling.  As for anything else, I have done crocheting, painting walls, scrapbooking, and crafts.  I really have no desire for any of that.  Really, I want to garden and hike. 

Going through the list, I have a few things I can tweak or add to my routine.  But, really, I am doing what I need to do this winter.  I just have to buck up and carry on with my work.  Life is good.