Feeding My Soul

Now, being the die-hard agnostic that I am, I'm not sure about the whole "we have a soul" thing, but I do know that there are things that I do that lift me up--kiss Babe, snuggle the kids, read a really, really, good book, and so on.  On the flip side, there are definitely things that push me down--worrying about money, stress at work, blah, blah, blah...

It's no secret to those that know me that I definitely don't do a whole lot for myself.  I mean, yeah, Babe and I take the kids to the grandparents' houses from time to time so we can go out of town for a quick trip or a night of getting crunk, but we're together when we do these things.

I don't do much for just me.  (Neither does Babe...do stuff for himself, I mean.  He does plenty for me!)

As I was unpacking my cabinets and boxes of crap that I tossed in there this past May in my mad dash to end the school year, I found this book that I bought a few years ago when I decided to teach  "altered book making" for my *enrichment class.

The book was so inspiring and I couldn't wait to watch all these amazing pieces of art unfold...the students would rip, tear, cut, glue, and paint their little hearts out and they would be magically transformed by the wonders of art.

Um. Not so much.  There were a couple of kids in the class that really embraced the concept, but for the most part, they wanted to hang out and talk with their friends while making a few half-hearted attempts at painting.  Needless to say, I didn't teach that class again.

Anyway, I found the book and started flipping through it and I remembered why I bought it and why I was so excited to teach the class in the first place--it was something I wanted to do! The best part of my Master's program was that I got to create different kinds of art--I sang, I danced, I took pictures, I drew, I painted, and I wrote.  Those two years were the most inspired my teaching had ever been...and I don't think I've been that motivated since. 

 My plan?  Try to carve out some time for myself--yes, this is between planning, teaching, grading, parenting, cooking, cleaning, going to classes, studying, writing papers, exercising, and oh yeah, try to spend some quality time with Babe.  But, I figure if I want it badly enough...and if it makes me a better me, then the time I take to create some art will be well worth it.