Day 33 of my #100DayProject Self Challenge- Teaching Myself to Think Things Through

Day 33 My #100DayProject


Perform one simple task a day to assist me in becoming more creatively productive and consistent in my studio. All tasks can be followed with a reward to encourage consistency.
 



HOW RE-BOOTING THIS CHALLENGE IS HELPING MY THINKING PROCESS

I continue on with my reward-base work outdoors. The small task today to move me creatively forward with my art, didn't happen. But all is not lost. And I need to remember not to allow that vague shameful feeling to permeate within to the point I don't see the bigger picture here. Re-booting this challenge to help me attain the #100DayProject goal has positively impacted my thinking process. I'm more aware of how my mind meanders to the point I detour, get lost and mentally muddled and many a goal falls away from my personal agenda.

In other words, rebooting's helped me to think things through more carefully before jumping to a hasty decision, or allowing my impatient ADD behavior work faster on a project to rush to the instant-gratification end only to create more work for myself down the road.

The above picture is a five dollar plant I got at Lowes today. Originally it was to go into a hand-painted toolbox that I inscribed: "Bloom where Ye are planted" on it. But today I discovered the toolbox's wood was rotted and soft. I had to stick by my difficult decision to scrap it and substitute with this little iron chair. I also had to re-think how I would set up this small decorative visual by my garden boxes. I carefully broke down in my mind where to place, how to use what I had, and what would create a lasting feature that would keep weeds at bay. I grabbed several garden tools, heaved a heavy bag of rocks and used a level for accuracy. All this careful planning would've been lost prior to the challenge, in fact I'd probably would've–(in the past)– jammed the flowers in the rotted tool box for a quick but pretty fix, only the fix wouldn't last too long as wood is falling apart.

HOW SLOWING MY THINKING PROCESS DOWN ENCOURAGES BETTER SOLUTIONS TO ARISE:

I've also found that not jumping to a decision is helping me to avoid financial pitfalls, mainly  not doing enough research on shrubs, plants and flowers. I've purchased a lot of flora since we moved here, and have lost some expensive shrubs because I didn't do my homework on them. Slowing down to arrive at a better decision takes time. Just a couple of weeks ago I was going to fill the above large planters with Ligustrum a bright yellow, decorative plant. Luckily, my new found patience rescued me from buying this non-native, highly invasive shrub, birds eat the berries, poop all over your lawn and you've got little Ligustrum seedlings hatching all over your yard. I also arrived at other shrubs to place in the planters, and finally found these winners after weeks of online research.

In order to learn, one has to be patient, ask questions, and rinse and repeat, even if you're anxious for a faster solution.

My name is Suzanne Urban. I am a writer and artist. I sell my funny stuff here: SmirkingGoddess and my art is available here: SuzanneUrbanArt