Weekly Art Journal – No More and Focus On

Today’s page was week six’s part 3 (and final) homework for the Soul Restoration class.

This assignment was all about differentiating between things I want to spend less time on and things I want focus more on. The thing that struck me a bit with this assignment was more about what I did not include on my page as opposed to what ended up there. The things that are on the “no more” and on the “focus on” list are both relatively authentic to me and they seem obvious to me. They are things I really need to be more cognizant of when I am living each moment.

here are some things that didn’t make it on the “no more” list

• Abusing: Even though I’ve abused diet coke before and I do drink a little more coffee than I’d like at the moment, I am in better shape on this than I’ve been in the past. I still remember the days of 12 diet cokes.
• Greed: This is another area where I don’t focus too much on anymore. I don’t need promotions and raises. Money is nice to have but I only need enough to send my kids to good schools, have us live comfortably and not be in deep need. Anything else is extra and nice to have but it’s not worth dedicating all my free time to. My family and soul work is where I want the free time to go to, not trying to make a few extra bucks.
• Over-eating: Another area where things are more in control than they’ve been in the past. No devouring chocolate bars. I haven’t had chips or burgers or impulsive eating in a long time. I still don’t eat as well as I should but this is a definite sign of progress.
• Hoarding: I have made tangible progress in this area, too. With the help of digital books, I am not buying books anymore. I have also stopped buying just about any scrapbooking stuff with the exception of punches and white cardstock. I do need to find a good way to donate some of my existing stash but at least I am working on not growing it.
• Overworking: This is similar to “greed” where I am trying to focus on doing a good job at work and focusing hard and then spending the rest of my time doing things I love for myself or for my family. This is something that’s particularly hard for me but I didn’t include it because I think that compared to the 100-hour weeks I was working on Wall Street, I am really doing better on this item.

and here are some of the items that didn’t make it to the “focus on” list:

• Clutter: This is something I feel like I have more under control than usual. I do have a few areas of clutter that keep piling up again and again but in general I think the house is organized and we’re keeping things orderly so I am happy with it and feel at peace.
• Cooking: I have decided that I am not cooking. I might, one day, decide otherwise. But for now, this is not an area I want to spend my precious time on and as long as we all eat whole foods and not processed ones, we’re ok. We will stick to fruits, frozen veggies, yogurt, honey and nuts.
• Meditation: Another area where I often pressure myself to do better and I finally decided enough is enough. No meditation for me. I can focus on the journaling instead. It works well, makes me feel peaceful and allows me to work things out. This is good enough for now.
• Pretty Things/Clothes: While I am fully determined to lose weight and finally look the way I’ve always wanted to, I am not bent on having pretty things or clothes. I am happy with my one item a month rule and even if I didn’t have that, it’s ok. The focus is the weight/size loss here. Everything else is extra.
• Homemaking: Not my area of strength or interest. I like my house to be open, clean, and orderly. I am not spending hours decorating and redecorating it. And I am officially not feeling bad about it. There we go.
• Dancing: This is another area of major guilt for me. I don’t dance. I feel too awkward, self-conscious, etc. People always seem to feel sad for me when they hear this and I keep telling myself I need to work on it. Well seeing here on paper, I decided to let myself off the hook. I don’t need to dance. I do many other things that make me happy and allow me to share my joy. It’s ok not to do this.
• Vacations/Travel: My kids are still pretty young. Vacation for us is more torture than fun. A lot of planning, a lot of being off-schedule and cranky and disorganized. I’d rather just stay at home or take short trips where everyone comes back home to sleep in their own bed. This will change with time but for now, it’s totally ok to not go anywhere and just enjoy our home.

There you go. So many of the lessons I learned this week. And I let myself off the hook on many items. I think that was almost as important as coming up with my lists of “no more” and “focus on.”

With this, my classwork is over. I have some truth cards to make but that will come later this year. I have love love love loved this course and cannot recommend it enough.

Weekly Art Journal is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.