I’ve been asked to share the poem that was in last post’s photo.  It’s by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes:

Pick up the pen already

and put it to the page and stop whining.

Write.

Pick up the brush

and be mean to yourself for a change,

paint.

Dancers, put on the loose chemise,

tie the ribbons in your hair,

at your waist, or on your ankles

and tell the body to take it from there.

Dance.

Actress, playwright, poet, musician,

or any other.

Generally, just stop talking,

Don’t say one more word

unless you’re a singer.

Shut yourself in a room with ceiling

or in a clearing under the sky.

Do your art.

Generally,

a thing cannot freeze if it is moving.

 So move.

Keep moving.

Now, Cat here again:  Are you doing your art?  Are you finding moments of timelessness, transcendence, exhilaration?  If not, do you really have to make another 20 minute trip to the grocery store?  Paint, instead.  Go ahead and be really mean to yourself, as CPE says.

If I promise not to stop at Michael’s to use another 40% off coupon this week, and write or art instead, will you promise to do whatever you need to  do, just for 20 minutes a day?

Okay?  Okay.  It’s a deal!

With warmth and blessings,

Cat