Sloth!

This blog entry is Part IV of the new Studio Friday mini series looked at from an artist's perspective in a different angle and light: "The Seven Deadly Sins"This week's topic for Friday April 13th: Sin #4: SLOTH!

This is a very interesting topic for me. Sloth is deifned bascially as the avoidance of physical or spiritual work....laziness.

The punishment in Hell is to be thrown into the snake pits....whoa...back the truck up...I am so not down with that!! So I guess I better get my lazy butt in gear!

Seriously, I really consider my art as part of my spiritual work. It is an improtant outlet for me. Getting the creative juices flowing keeps my mind clear & my spirit peaceful. My favorite thing to do is work on my Book of Me. The pages in that book are journaling & art combined. They are a true expression of me. I enjoy that I can do whatever I want with them & there are no boundries. No one needs to like them but me.

On occasion though the artistic process is not easy for me...it feels so much like work. I struggle with creating. I feel when I am struggling like that I am forcing my art & not just letting it flow through me. This often happens when I am making something for someone else. Instead of having fun with it I am striving for perfection. When I do this it seems that everything I touch turns to crap. I am never happy with the outcome. I am trying to notice when I hit these slumps & take a step back. Just put down what I am doing & maybe try to work on something different. See if I can open the channel up again for the creative process.

What I notice is when I clog up the channel & deny the gift of art I am so much less fullfilled. I think often it is my ego that gets in the way. I am thinking about the outcome, what people will think, wanting the work to be impressive, & forgetting that what I love is the process.

When I am creating & in the zone...I am really peaceful. When I am in this space, the spiritual place of creating the work, I am happily busy.