Thought for The Day - Riding on Vapors

Dancing Against the Rhythm 11 x 14 pastel

Terrible experience and one I don't care to repeat; riding on vapors in my gas tank! It's a state where the amount of gas in car's tank is so low, that the car almost stops running. I've actually had it happen a couple times and it really makes me appreciate my public transportation commute. I take a five minute drive to the train, jump on it and my car only needs a little gas each week.

But of course, that thought is only an introduction; the meat of the theme "riding on vapors," is about my current state of energy and exercise of creativity. You see, my days are very long and purposely so. I don't "punch the clock" for another three hours and when the work day is done I'm spent! My energy is drained by the end of the day and by the days' end, it's all I can do to prepare for the next. So I have allocated weekend time to painting and drawing. Well, it's been a hectic month or so, where weekends are full of errands, broken water heaters, endless household chores and a bit of recovery from the daily grind.

But all the running, the constant demand on my time and energy also dams up my creative flow! So the painting sitting over my left shoulder, sits. I can look at it a hundred times and come up with a thousand ways to complete it. But the constant interruption, the need for a "kickstart" on my creativity, well that takes it toll on me. So days and weeks and hopefully not much more, go by before I get to it. Not to mention the other pieces sitting off in a corner. Funny how this works: it seems like I waited most of my life to be doing this type of work. And yet, when time permits, I don't make time or set aside energy for it!

I can tell you for certain, this is the "slippery slope," where I know I need to turn the momentum upward before I slide back to a place where art supplies and incomplete drawings and paintings sit fro years!