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.
THE MAILMAN STORY:
We have two mailmen, both are wonderful. One has had our neighborhood beat for years, he is the typical, friendly, funny all-American postal delivery guy that everyone should have. Mr. A knows the town like the back of his hand, and will share snippets of Windsor lore every once in awhile. The other Mr. J, is fairly new. Polite, kind and always present like Mr. A., to pat our MaltiPoo on the head, in the face of Pieper's barking, Mr. J. was a welcome relief from the former postal delivery man who worked the days that Mr. A. didn't.
DON'T ALLOW BULLIES TO DICTATE TO YOU:
The former mail guy exuded anger, to the point I could feel the vibes. We referred to him as "Surly Guy", okay we had other nicknames too, as he continued to grunt and complain on our front stoop. One day Surly Guy announced to me he reported our dog to his manager. He claimed our "vicious" dog prevented him from delivering our mail. Our dog is always indoors when mail is delivered, hmmm. He also instructed me to buy a mailbox as our mail slot wasn't big enough for him to slide mail through. He further demonstrated his displeasure with our mail slot by rolling up our mail into a wadded ball and shoving it through the slot. This act of anger resulted in a damaged CD. I actually started arranging my schedule around his arrival time, as I didn't want to interface with this unpleasant jerk. I even spent my money on a mailbox, though my husband said not to, I allowed this bully to influence my behavior out of fear, fear of what? Somehow his demeanor managed to intimidate me.
And we own a federally registered historical home, slapping a mailbox on it is a no-no.
ADD, LOW-SELF-ESTEEM AND BULLIES:
Artists and especially those with Attention Deficit issues are sensitive folk. My ADD impacted my self-esteem, low self-esteem can ripen one to cower in the face of a bully. This is because our mental retrieval response is off in the face of conflict. For the distracted artist the best way to manage a bully is to exit them from your life, if that's not possible, surround yourself with kind, supportive people and focus your attention on them. Their warm vibes will act as a protective blanket. Bully's are powerful in stealing your attention, and they know their game and know it well.
DIMINISHING THE BULLY'S IMPACT-SPREAD THE JOY:
Show gratitude to those kind spirits who've entered your life. In this case, in my garden-scaping I found out Mr. J. loves to garden, so every day I have a little something for him to add to his landscape. This very act has taught me that a gesture of kindness and gratitude keeps me mentally focused and thinking of future creative projects to finish up.
When I started this #100DayProject, my intent was to log in what small task I performed and the resulting reward I gifted myself with for doing so. I'm finding this act has become a floodgate to helping me to work through my ADD issues through recording daily observations here, rather than what small task I did for the day. But the small tasks are getting done, and the reward work is healing.
My name is Suzanne Urban, my funny stuff can be purchased here: SmirkingGoddess and my art here: SuzanneUrbanArt
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