The beginning

Over Christmas break I watched the movie Julie and Julia. It was a really cute movie; very funny, sweet and most of all inspiring. The more I watched it, the more I found myself relating to the main character and her feelings of frustration having to do with.....just life I guess and the way it can suck the soul right out of you if you let it. Julie did something about it. She got off her ass and found her passion which gave her joy, purpose, pride and above all gave her back what was most important...herself.
Lucky for me I already know what my passion, or that thing that makes me feel alive is. The problem is that I for some unknown reason avoid it almost all of the time. That thing I keep referring to is ART. I have always loved and appreciated art of all forms but I especially love to create it visually. It's something that I can't really explain. All I know is that when I'm involved in the creative process something changes. The world goes away and I suddenly feel calm and content. I find that I become at peace with myself and everyone and everything else in this world which is something I rarely experience at any other time. And there's also nothing like the feeling of satisfaction upon seeing a finished product that is uniquely you. I'm not claiming to be any great artist, but that really isn't the point. The point is that I don't have enough of this thing I love in my life and that is a problem. I have recently found myself becoming extremely burned out. It started with school, but I have noticed for the last several months, or maybe even a year now, that this boredom and lackluster attitude has been affecting many other facets of my existence as well. I know the cure, but something keeps me from allowing myself or motivating me to take advantage of what I consider to be the gift of art .
Therefor, in an effort to reverse the effects of everyday, mundane life, I am setting out to create a blog that will track the progress through my own form of self therapy. Basically, I am going to give myself no other choice but to create artwork in the hopes that it will change my life. And if art therapy has any of the healing power, many, including myself, claim it has, this plan will work. Like Julie, I have to set a goal for myself, otherwise, I will just slack off and get on facebook/internet for hours like I currently do every night. After some serious thought I have decided that my goal will be to create 200 "artworks" over the course of one year-starting today- 1/14/2010. This evens out to approximately 3-4 works a week. I don't know how you readers are reacting to this number, but for me, that is HUGE, especially considering how many pieces I have completed over the previous year-a whopping 2. However, I made this goal very difficult on purpose. I want it to be a challenge because that is the only way I feel that this experiment will really be of any benefit. These pieces will vary greatly in subject, size, medium etc and will not be masterpieces by any means, but they will all be complete. I know there are some risks and obstacles involved including lack of time, lure of the television and the internet and especially the risk of this just becoming one more task, thus taking any enjoyment out of something I claim to love. At times, I know I will probably hate myself for thinking up this idea in the first place, but this is not something I just thought of on a whim, but rather, something I feel that I really need to do and have thought out carefully. My hope is that through this journey I will learn tons about who I am and what I really want out of life, which is perfect because in many ways I feel like my life is really just beginning. If nothing else, it will be a really cool diary of a year in the life of me. Maybe I can show it to my grand kids one day. So anyway...here goes nothing. Wish me luck and enjoy!