Down the Rabbit Hole

jump

Feeling a bit like Alice today.

'Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go from here?'

'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

'I don't much care where -' said Alice

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat

'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'

'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.

'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.'

                            Lewis Carroll - "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Failure is an Option

heights

"Failure" is my new favorite word.

Now before my mother can say, "Moira, don't be so negative." let me explain.

Being successful is the American way. The story we are told as children is to work hard, follow a good plan and you will have success.

So, as we get older we do this by going to college or learning a trade or getting married, etc.. 

We quickly learn that these things do not always end in success. This makes some of us a little more hesitant about the next plan we lay out for ourselves. 

We want that success.  

Time marches on and those of us who are afraid of failure get safer and safer in our choices while continuing to lower our self esteem and our expectations in the quest for contentment.

Yoda's famous quote, "Do. Or do not. There is no try." will lead many to "do not".

I stumbled upon a web show called, "The Failure Club", produced by Morgan Spurlock and created by Philip Kiracofe. I've always liked Morgan so I gave the first episode a try. I was hooked into the whole concept right away.

Here is a quote from the website, that explains the basics of Failure Club.

"In Failure Club, members learn to defy the fears associated with ‘failure’ by pursuing seemingly impossible goals that they set for themselves. From the outset, failure is not only a highly probable outcome, it is the desired outcome. Only through embracing the reality of failure can its’ societal stigmas be stripped away and replaced with an inspirational alternative."

So, I have developed my own failure club up here in the art studio. Party of one.

I am working very hard at failing, even harder than when I was working at succeeding.

I am aware that all I have done is changed a few words around. 

Fear is the really the big motivator when it comes to "Do. Or do not". I know that.

Take fear of failure off the table though and my path seems a little less ominous.

May the force be with you.

Drawn Together

It is school vacation this week. Rather than skipping Illustration Friday this week, I had the kids join me.

P is for Puzzle

 Here is the boy's effort done in pencil. I was impressed by how quickly they came up with ideas.

Puzzle Head

 Here is the girl's picture done in true modern fashion on her Kindle fire. She is not only quick with ideas but with execution.

puzzled

I finished mine last. I thought "puzzled" was a good one for tax day here in the U.S.

Have a great week everyone.

Achtung Baby

vocal

I have a lot of things on my to-do list that are crying for attention.

The taxes must go this week so that will be one less voice from the choir.

I can go to the art studio to get away from the low moan of the dishes and laundry.

The illustration related projects are getting noisy though. 

I must remember that all I have to do to keep these babies quiet is to feed and change them.

There might be some crying along the way. That probably just means I need a nap.

Remember the Whale

return

Spring does not come springing back around here.

It takes a while. 

We are hopeful though. 

Just because it is too cold to eat my breakfast on the porch doesn't mean it won't ever be.

So, we look for other indications that Winter has in fact ended. We look for things to come back.

The daffodils, the crocus, the microscopic buds on the the trees, if you look close.

The whales, the osprey, the alewives.

The rabbits come out of hiding.

The parking lot at the grocery store has a lot more Lincolns with Florida license plates than it did a couple of weeks ago.

Hope.

I have also been looking for signs of hope in my illustration journey.

It is hard to know if I'm going in the right direction, doing the right things. I, like just about everyone else feel like there isn't enough time to get done all the things that I want and need to do. 

This past Sunday I got the signs I was looking for from a few unexpected places*, including a Catholic Nun, Jonah (as in Jonah and the whale) and Oprah.

I will gladly grab on to all these bits of hope and soon I will be sipping coffee on my porch with the sun shining.

*not including the new season of Game of Thrones- that is really all about Winter.