Life's Negotiations

You know you want to set some. I think it's in our DNA.

Attaching your resolutions to your values makes them stick. Then, they are just to-do's that will bring you closer to what you really want for yourself.

My resolutions for 2012?

I was feeling Valentine's Day approach and thought: there are so many people I care about, I want to tell them.

So in the last two weeks I mailed 35 hand-drawn and cut-out paper hearts. No note, no return address. Simple love from a secret admirer.

My motivation to leap didn't come from a desire for change; rather, it came from a feeling of being utterly stuck.

I've been a mother for almost four years, and for two of them, I've been at home full time. Those who know me often hear me say, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else..."

But, well, I sometimes want to run away.

Ever notice how people skirt around calling themselves artists, even if they draw or write regularly?

What's that about?

When I do it, I imagine a thick black line drawn between the aficionado and the "true" artist or writer.

Drawing negative space, in art class lingo, is about seeing the space between objects as having the same dimensions and depth as the objects themselves.

When you draw this, it often looks strange. Like a bunch of disconnected shapes.

It's a good exercise because it trains your creative mind to see all that's happening in front of you and recognize that all of it is useful to capturing your subject.

The relationship between mass and space is valuable outside of art too. I was thinking about it after my morning run.