As I sat here writing this post over the long weekend, my cat Socks was passed out on the cat tree behind me, soaking up the sun rays through my office window. I normally have the blinds closed when I’m not in my office, so he’s been enjoying me working from home during the summer and seeing all the outside movement when he’s not sleeping. Oh to be a cat where every day is the weekend filled with relaxing and naps, as a lot of people did for the Fourth.
To be honest though I spazzed out a little on the art side, trying to create unique cats with different visions and techniques. I worked for two days straight and came out with pieces of unfinished works, and one almost completed. Normally it doesn’t take me this long to come up with a finished work, but these are the foundation of a new endeavor I’m in the trenches with, a partnership with a local cat shelter that’s allowed me to take pictures of their kitties for use in my art. More on that to come.
So since I don’t have any finished pieces to show you, here’s one I did a while back of Socks when he was, of course, trying to nap. He gets a little annoyed when I take pictures of him, but he doesn’t protest or anything. He knows I’m the one that feeds him lol.
You can click here to be taken to my store where it’s sold. I personally like the notebook.
It was a little frustrating not to get as far as I’d hoped, but you can’t win them all. It wasn’t really a failure, but since I didn’t reach the goal I had in mind, it felt like it.
Are you ever hard on yourself? When do you know it’s time to stop?
I thought about working through the night, but I knew this would seriously mess up my sleep cycle and probably push me into burnout. I’ve only had one major episode so far with the brain fog dragon this summer, and I was definitely planning on keeping it that way.
As I was working on my art, attempting to create a masterpiece, I realized it was starting to consume me the way I used to be with my writing and work. Burnouts happened more than rarely, and I had made a promise to myself that I would not go down that road again.
So I took a lesson from my kitties, who pretty much slept on the cat tree or on my office futon the entire long weekend, and stopped at a decent hour each day. I streamed a series I’d been meaning to catch up on for a while. I caught up with friends and family.
And you know what? My computer didn’t burst into flames because I hadn’t finished a cat piece. Just like my writing, they wait patiently for me to return when I’m ready, on my own time.
So this Fourth? I not only celebrated the freedom this country was founded upon, but my own freedom to relax. I hope you had that option as well.
And now since the workweek is underway all the creative stuff goes back to the sidelines until I get my work stuff done. The wheel keeps on turning, I keep on rolling, and everything sticks together with duct tape. If there ever was a mascot for hard work, it would be duct tape.