Reality Check

I just realized from my last posting that in 2012, it will be my 20th anniversary with The Artist's Way, not to mention the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar.  Wow!  20 years.  It was slow going at first. I'd take an art workshop or a class on Feng Shui every now and then when I was still struggling to even make it through the book once. I will say that even if I got stymied at Chapter 4, I would keep journaling (maybe not every day and not 3 pages - but still journaling).  I also did artist dates. Once again not every week, but I kept going because it felt good and it felt like I was doing something.  I also started giving people a copy of The Artist's Way.  I tried to do that once or twice a year and I have continued that practice to this day.  I gave my friend and former roomie, Chris Justice The Artist's Way for his going away present when he decided to be a river guide.  Someone at the going away party introduced me to a woman named Kay who was looking for an Artist's Way group, but couldn't join her friend's group because they only allowed quilters in their group.  When I talked to Kay, I found out that she was a jeweler, but a jeweler who wanted to write.  She was more interested in writing at that point than doing the Artist's Way.  I had at that point been in a writing group with a friend from Boise Weekly, Rachel. But that only lasted two meetings. Kay and I decided to start a writing group.  Because of being in that writing group, and even after that one blew up, being in other writing groups, I have 2 honorable mentions in the Boise Weekly Fiction 101 (disclaimer - I entered the contest after I had left the Boise Weekly three years previously and it had been sold twice AND at the point where no one I had worked with was working there any longer).  I also have now had 6 magazine articles published, and now write for Examiner.com.  In addition I've done NaNoWriMo 5 times and made it to 50,000 words 3 times out of the 5.  I never would have done any of that if it hadn't been for The Artist's Way. Do I want to do more? Yes. 

I'm not even mentioning taking a painting class for several years, or sticking my toe in some tentative steps toward eventually, I hope, film.  But there you have it.  Considering that I've been laid off three times, and have switched jobs 7 times and now work two jobs, neither of which have paid leave time, I think I'm doing pretty good. There's always room for improvement and just thinking about coming up on twenty years soon has got my inner goal bitch all up in my grill. I gotta get with it, man!