The Road to Hell Being Paved with Good Intentions and All That

I think it is interesting to observe how people see New Year's Day. After all, it is just another 24 hour period pretty much the same as the 24 hour period before that. I spent New Year's Eve participating in First Night at Pottery Place Plus. I decided that rather than trying to do a full blown eco printing demo in the dead of winter it might be smarter to have some fabric bundles done up with dried materials ready to open and just work on paper in front of people, mostly because I thought it would make less of a mess in the gallery-Ha!

Bundles ready to open

These don't look too bad! I rarely get anything usable from demos, probably because I am talking about doing it and not concentrating on actually doing it.

New Year's Day seems to be the day everybody wants to start over, have a do-over and make the day noticeably different than the last 365. Mine was spent unloading the van, sorting and putting things away. By the time all the running back and forth was done, it was discovered there was no food in the house. Why is it that the elves around here eat all the food and then take a long winter's nap? So hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to the store I go.

So far, this year is shaping up to be a lot like last year.

When I got back my intention was to go out to the studio and just hang out, the theory being that the way one spends New Year's Day is the way the rest of the year will be and that is the way I want to spend the year. On my way back from the store it had started to snow, but by the time the groceries were put away it was snowing in a Laura Ingalls Wilder "The Long Winter" sort of way. The studio building is about 60 feet or so from the back door and it was totally invisible behind a wall of blowing snow. I had just gotten new books last week so the choice seemed to be between having the skin on my face sheered off in a blizzard or laying on the couch with a new book in a nice warm house. Hmmm...let me think about that one for a minute.

I guess it is human nature to have the expectation that it is even possible to make some overnight change and all will be different than the day before. When I look back over what I have written here, I see the use of the words "expectation" and "intention" and the concept of "spending" time. Sometimes it is helpful to look at reality instead comparing life against how I think things should be. I spent the last few hours of the old year making work with friends and the first day of the year resting and recharging. As far as what I expect to accomplish this year, I intend to make new work, rest more, and enjoy time with friends. So, yes I guess the new year is shaping up to be a lot like last year, so not bad at all.