It is 1 pm on a Sunday afternoon and I am caffeinated, clean, and dressed, which is a win after the week I've had. My household rang in the New Year with Covid. It's the first time any of us have caught it. While I'm not ecstatic it happened, I'm grateful everyone is on the mend. No complications, No hospitals. Now back to our regularly scheduled New Year's plotting.
I generally see this time of year as a time to rest. The days are short and cold. Everything outside is dormant, hibernating, and lethargic. It's also our quiet period at work, being an outdoor historical site. No school children, no field trips. We're closed to the public for two blessed months. Time to research and plan for the coming year. Being on my butt with Covid for over a week was an enforced rest. Remember... if you don't rest every once in a while, your body will make you. So, with all this enforced rest and time to think, I've made some goals and a business plan for the year.
2022 was a light year for my art, but an important one for my life in general. I didn't make very much art, but all the time, care, and creativity that usually goes into my paintings, I aimed at my wedding instead. I couldn't be happier with how it all came together, or more grateful to all the people who helped make it happen. And now I'm building a life with my wonderful, loving partner Paul.
I have my own little traditions around New Year. I don't do resolutions. I choose a word of the year that helps me achieve specific goals. Last year, and specifically for the wedding, my word was MANIFEST. The year before it was Energy. In 2020 it was Focus, and in 2019 it was Discipline. They build on each other. Discipline...Focus...Energy...Manifest... CONFIDENCE.
Confidence, or my general lack of it, is something holding me back that is within my power to change. I have a few limiting beliefs about myself. I think we all do. For example, I think I'm a crappy writer, which is why this blog is so sparse. These beliefs were helpful once. I was one of the "gifted" kids who was picked on a lot in school, so I learned to shrink myself. I learned my voice was neither important nor welcome and that just stuck with me. I learned I shouldn't do big or important things. I learned to keep my goals small. When I got older and did accomplish things, there was always some petty person around to knock me down a couple pegs. Since I already had those limiting beliefs, I let them.
So, this year I'm going to work on my confidence. Banish the Imposter Syndrome and remember that I DO know what I'm doing. Maybe I'll even get on camera again. During the lockdown, I made youtube videos for the previous museum I worked for. I've never made one just for myself, about things that interest me. I don't even know what that might look like.
I do have some concrete goals for the year. I thought I might share them with you. I'm doing a no-buy year with a strict set of rules, but that's going to be its own blog post. I have a modest reading list of 25 books. If you'd like to read along, my January books include The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, which I read every year for a Discord group I run. Dark Mirror by Yvonne Burrow, a really useful one if you try to use your winter months for inner work. For my day job, I'm reading Peoples of the River Valleys, The Odyssey of the Delaware Indians by Amy C. Schutt. I'll be working with an artist from the Delaware Tribe this spring, so I'm getting some research in. Closer to Imbolc I will pick up Brigid's Light by Cairelle Crow and Laura Louella.
I have big goals for Drawing Down Lore. I'm keeping these action-based, not results-based, and all things that are under my control.
- Finish the illustration commission that's been burning a hole in my easel since June.
- Create or improve one online presence per quarter. specifically my portfolio website, etsy, Threadless, and finally launch a Patreon.
- Vend one in-person show per quarter.
- Approach one shop or gallery per month to gauge interest in carrying my work.
- Finish the Major Arcana for Tarot Equus. I stalled out on the project after the Wheel of Fortune. I have 11 cards completed.
