Enlightened or Old School

Funny how goals, resolutions and intentions are a matter of vocabulary

In Her Drama painting during the in between week.

We have made it into 2024! Congratulations are in order. I don't know what makes me say that. I actually do, the holidays were quite the crush this year. In a good way, children came home, and children got sent back out. House problems arose, and house problems caused more drama than family. Now, that's something you don't always hear, do you?

Traditionally, I relish the week between Christmas and the New Year as a time to reset. And this year, I have yet to find the time, the space, the mindset, or the juicy reflection.

I am a complete convert to setting an intention for the new year. I like that the word intention has entered our collective psyche. Isn't the word "aim" better than "goal"? 

in·ten·tion

/inˈten(t)SHən/

noun

• 1.

• a thing intended; an aim or plan.

Last year, I had written CLARITY and SURENESS as adjectives I wanted to move towards, adapt, and aim towards. It has really come to pass. I can be pretty skeptical, considering that I am a classic overthinker and the word "sureness" is awkward at best, but I couldn't replace it with another one that fits the bill.

My clarity artistically is startling even to me. If I were to glance over my shoulder to see how it happened, I had a spark of intuition (new words) or blind hunch (old words) that I followed, and it involved me talking Michael into a trip to Italy, specifically Florence. (I write more about it here). 

Even though I wasn't sure why I was there or what I was seeking, I knew I liked Baroque sculpture, but other than that, Renaissance art, Mannerism, and Baroque painting can be quite heavy. 

 I didn't force the "why" to the hunch and even resigned myself to the idea that if I didn't take something home artistically, the food was AMAZING, and the Italians make a better Spritz than I can. Yet, at home in the studio, work began to unfold, and it felt like a relief. (juicy relief)

I just checked the definition of sureness (not sure why I didn't do this before and this is what I found. 

Definition of sureness. 

Freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities. 

Synonyms: assurance, authority, confidence, self-assurance, self-confidence. type of certainty.

This definition touches on what I need and desire more of, freedom from doubt. 

For an artist, questions swirl: Can I do this? Is the work good? Am I pushing my skills, intellect, and intuition to the best of my abilities?

 This really can be broken down into, does this work suck, is it good, and can I do even better?

I can say now when I examine a piece of mine that, I trust myself to know if it is any good, and by "good," I mean, did I honor what is inside of me, and did I execute it well?

I really want this year's word to be FOCUS. 

I am fully aware that this is going to take some discipline. 

Focus can be hard, especially when it comes to our human emotions.

It would be great to write an article and just say, "Hey everybody! Let's focus in 2024! That's my word, who's with me?" 

Focus on your art; focus on creativity, she cries as she waves her banner 

But I have to be honest, focus is hard. Oh, did I type the word hard twice? 

Focus requires discipline.

Hard, discipline...old school words. I need to find softer words surrounding what focus might look or feel like for me! 

This article has suddenly become very therapeutic. 

It seems I am picking a word for 2024 that is already stressing me out.

Back to my thesaurus... 

Words not directly synonyms for "focus" are aligned, calibrated, fine-tuned, and connected.

Nice! In 2024, I want to calibrate my clarity and stay connected to what I am sure of. Art can easily be fine-tuned, and when you tune it well, you align with what you should be doing. Wow, that sounds rather enlightened. 

Maybe I just need to go old school, be disciplined, and focus. 

I did focus when I carved out time during the holidays and painted this watercolor below, which served as the study for In Her Drama. I took ques from my own Abstract Watercolor Course and spent more time at my watercolor table. This leads me to think I'm the student when I teach!

I do think intentions matter. In a world FULL of distractions (many of them very heavy, some of them small and stealth, I desire to find space in my mind, my senses, and my spirit to focus on softness, love, acceptance and creativity in 2024.

You can see more of my work and watercolors here.

Until next time! Monica Lee Rich

Thanks so much for your support this year! It really means so much to me and to Michael. Feel free to share this post and The Smart Creative with someone who you think might like it.