NOW the year begins...
February feels like the REAL fresh start
December and January are for slow thinking and feeling
I give myself 2 months to figure out what I want to tweak, improve, bring in and let go of from one year to the next. It is a slow process, and I let it be gentle, with no pressure to have it figured out for the 1st Jan. By the time February has arrived, I have the clarity I need, I feel ready, more energised and up for getting down to business.
What January has taught me:
Try something. Commit to a plan. If it doesn’t work, its ok - change it up.
Example: Top of my list of life improvements is to learn how to lift weights, and prioritise building strength as I move into my mid/late (aaahh!) forties. It’s time for sh*t to get real.
Approach 1: Signed up to a PT who I can work with online, to show me home workouts. Result: LOVED the level of support I was given, but realised that no matter how hard I tried, my ability to show up for my workouts was a major struggle. Sleep deprived, I had zero capacity to do any other than lie on my mat and fall asleep - the effort of opening the app and figuring out my moves was too much brain work.
Pivot: I learned that I needed an appointment. I have to be MADE TO SHOW UP at a fixed time. I found another PT who offered a ‘show up and follow along live’ approach and now everything feels different. I’ve completed all the workouts and feel excited about it! For me, the LIVE element was the key to unlocking everything.
What’s this got to do with a creative practice?
Understand what your brain needs to instill a new practice in your life.
If opening up your sketchbook and reaching for materials feels overwhelming or intimidating, let someone else help you make it happen. Commit to live drawing sessions with other people. There is no opportunity for procrastinating, you’ll get to the end of an hour with a few pages filled and that is magic.
Where is your attention vs your intention?
Did I mention my word of the year is ‘Focus’?! I’m taking it seriously - I’m looking at everything that requires my attention, to see if it is worthy of my time. First up: Instagram. I have ‘gently retreated’ from it for January. If I’m honest, I have no clear guidelines or rules of engagement set out for myself, and this is the problem. I need to gain clarity on what I need Instagram to do for me, and once I have that clear, I can write the rules for myself and establish some healthy behaviours around it. Right now, I get caught up in a spiral of ‘dog and toddler’ reels, nostalgic 90’s hip hop reels, ‘gentle parenting’ reels and ads for various brands of dungarees and hooped earrings. Then of course, there is all the vital and important exposure to what is going on in Gaza. Seeing the worst of humanity juxtaposed with the extreme Capitalism of the app just feels so horrible. I want to get the updates from the people on the ground in Gaza. I don’t wish to, or intend to bury my head in the sand. However, the constant bombardment of ads jostling for space with horror, only to then see a post on something inane and escapist, means I leave the app in a state of panic and anxiety. It makes no sense for all these things to be mashed up together. I NEED to engage with the important topics in an intentional way, not in this soup of visual insanity. And somehow in the middle of all that, I come away from the app thinking I need to buy more hoop earrings!? It is madness.
What used to be a platform for inspiration and connection - is simply NOT anymore.
I’m in desperate need of breathing space, and to reclaim my nervous system back.So - in order to gain some clarity for myself, I’ll continue the ‘gentle retreat away from Instagram’ approach into February - checking in for short bursts of time, on a specific set of accounts only.
What could benefit from some ‘breathing space’ in your creative life? Is there something that you could gently step away from, to allow some perspective on it? Could this bring simplicity and more clarity with regards to how you engage?
Sometimes no brief is the best brief.
For January, I joined in with Emma Carlisle’s January challenge. Emma curated a set of images each week for us to use as reference. This formed part of my January sketchbook practice, alongside drawings from other sessions and some self initiated work. I moved between ink and brush, pencil, oil pastel or markers and allowed myself to explore the images freely, in whichever medium tickled my fancy that day. In the spirit of a gentle start to the year, I decided not to have any rules around this practice, and it was a brilliant way to warm up and reconnect my brain with my hands. A process video is on the way for paid subs!
A quick January posts recap:
I shared quite a lot in Jan! Creative Reviews, sketchbook tours and a Sunday Colour Session exploring Cool and Warm colour palettes. Plenty to catch up on!
Hello February!
February feels different, the light feels more ‘spring’ like, the air changes and there is a shift in the energy - you can sense everything slowly waking up. Here’s what to expect from me this month:
I will be collaborating with
on a special video focussing on colour palettes as part of my February Sunday Colour Sessions. Watch this space! (Paid)I will be sharing my January process video on all the sketchbook exploration so far (Paid)
I will be sketching out a plan for my portfolio. I keep changing my mind about what this looks like, but you’ll see my thoughts so far on this. (Paid)
There’ll probably be more bits in between for everyone - as inspiration strikes!
Caveat: I tend to change my mind a lot as the weeks go by so please bear with me if I do!
Over to you:
How has your year started so far?
Where will your attention and intention be for the coming month?
Where can you build in simplicity and more space?
Let me know if you’ve made any plans for how to structure your practice. I’d love to know!
So much of what you've written has resonated with me Raj! Particularly your need for a gentle start to the year and your disconnection with Instagram. I feel the same about NEEDING those truthful updates from Gaza, but can't cope with what I have to put up with in order to get that information (ads for apartment pants and silver jewellery, so similar to yours!)
I've been taking longer and more frequent breaks from the platform, and getting more of my news on Gaza and the Middle East direct from Al Jazeera or Associated Press and certain accounts on Threads or Twitter. And on Substack, I've been seeking out authentic writing and discovered The Chris Hedges Report, and Infinite Jaz by Jasper Diamond Nathaniel. I feel that reading long-form content from these more trusted sources has given me a better understanding of what is happening and giving my brain the chance to properly process everything. My ability to respond to the news in any meaningful way was becoming more and more stymied by the way I was consuming content on Instagram.
I'm also very excited about our collaboration, and letting go with my colour choices!