Healthy, Productive and Patient Again

I hate New Year's resolutions. A laundry list of promises to one's self, most of which will be broken. Last year I came across Christine Kane's blog and her post about choosing three words to BE. I chose: Healthy, Productive and Patient.

Thankfully I am healthy. As a family we ate much closer to the vine, eliminating many processed foods from our diets. We ate a lot more fruits, and a few more vegetables. With the exception of an occasional Diet Coke for me, we eliminated artificial sweeteners from our diet.

Consciously working on patience was good for me last year. Especially in light of the many major changes our family made. Having patience, especially with my children, helped us to weather that change successfully.

From a creative point of view, 2008 was not very artistically productive. In the early part of 2008 I began my daily art project and felt very productive until we decided to move. Most of my time was spent engaged in a different kind of productivity -- preparing our house to be sold, looking for a new house and then moving.

In spite of a deficit of creative output, I had lots of work published last year, was paid for writing a few technique articles and taught a class. Professionally it was a good year.

So now what?

My children are healthy and happy. My husband finds his work deeply fulfilling and his company is set to prosper during this economic crisis our nation is in. My studio is set and ready for a productive year and I'm scheduled to teach many classes in the next few months.

We have a beautiful house, with wonderful neighbors and in an excellent school district.

We are so blessed.

I find it challenging to select three new words for 2009. I think I'll stay with Healthy, Productive and Patient. Only this year I plan to focus my productivity on artistic endeavors, experiment with new techniques and execute some of the ideas I've stored in my journal.

And all the while I plan to be Appreciative. Because I am truly blessed.