Devotion: Get Your A** Off the Couch and Create

I woke up early this morning wanting to share my experience so far this year with my word of the year- DEVOTION. I choose this word knowing I longed to be more devoted to my art.

I am so easily distracted and derailed, I thought is it time I become more committed. I don't want to let weeks, months, or even years go by sitting on my couch watching the 20th season of Real Housewives instead of painting.

Every week at work, I bump into one of my colleagues who is also an artist. Every time he sees me he says, "Jennifer, what are you working on?" My answer is usually nothing really, I am so busy, I have a three year old, a husband, a house and a full-time job. When I  return the question, he then proceeds to tell me about all the time he has been spending painting and working on putting together shows. I usually walk away, inspired but disgruntled, mumbling under my breath that it is so much easier for a man to just go off to his studio and create. I have responsibilities which include cooking meals, cleaning up, caring for my son and spending time with my husband, oh yeah, and I would like to workout too!

For a women to create she has to come to terms with fears of not being a good mother/wife and get over the guilt. This struggle is depicted soulfully in documentary Who Does She Think She Is. I keep reminding myself...

I AM NOT SELFISH BECAUSE I HAVE THE URGE TO CREATE AND EXPRESS MYSELF. 

Choosing DEVOTION as my word of the year, allowed me start meditating/thinking about my time and what I devote it to. Last week in San Francisco, I woke up really early and started to write down really how I spend my time. I realized, the first obvious place to find time to create is to just cut out TV.  If I did that,  I would get plenty of time back to focus on my art. TV is a bad habit I picked up in my home growing up. After my mom got remarried it seemed that the TV was always on. Before that my mother would usually play music, which allowed more space to create and play.

My husband too likes to watch TV and when I get home from work it is usually on.  The TV is what he uses to relax after a long day. I find that I get sucked in after dinner/bath-time and spend the rest of my night on the couch thinking about all the things I want to do but I am not. It is a really bad habit, I have to break.

Awareness is the first step to change.

Having a tangible understanding what I devote my time to, gives me power to make decisions based on what my priorities are and what truly brings me Joy. I can tell you this- TV does not bring me Joy. I'd rather sit with my son in the kitchen and play with play dough or build a car wash out of blocks for his Hot wheels.

Your time is valuable. If you want to accomplish a goal in your life but believe you don't have time for it, ask yourself these questions about your DEVOTION:

• Who/What do you love?
• Who/What are you loyal to? 
• Who/What do you have enthusiasm? 

These are the first steps. My next goal- evaluate my DEVOTION to chocolate and pizza.  Maybe if I do that I can finally lose these last 10 pounds!