Simple Step 2: Do What You Love

Now that my home has sold and my calendar is cleared, I've been meditating on simplicity. What steps can I take to focus my time and create more ease, joy and air? Yesterday I wrote about Simple Step 1, which is to retreat from my personal Facebook feed for a while. Today, I want to chat about my second step.

Do What You Love.

We hear this a lot. Oprah, Joseph Campbell, Brene Brown - they all say it in one way or another. I have been working in several different directions over the past few years, all in an effort to make a living and care for my family: writing, photography, painting, non-profit work and fundraising, PTA, urban gardening, acting, interfaith community outreach, community organizing, event planning, interior design, etc. (Seeing all of these things written here in succession makes me want to pass out.)

When you're young and trying to find your way, you throw a lot of mud at the wall to see what sticks. But in this transition, I am pulling back and assessing the true thrust of my life's work. The art path - meaning my paintings and time spent in the studio - have been the most personally rewarding and the most connected of my many endeavors. And the best part, it's my favorite thing to do.

It is in this spirit that I am cutting back on my work with Houzz, my photography, my work with the non-profit world and my community organizing work. I may still engage with some of these things, but they will not be the center of my energies. Instead, making art and cultivating a solid studio practice will take center stage in the months to come.

This will be hard - no doubt. Especially for a people-pleasing-yes-saying-oh-I-can-do-that type person such as myself. But saying "no" is a really important part of this transition. I have to trust that people will understand. And I also have to trust that my life's work depends on it. Saying NO to other opportunities is the most important thing I can do to facilitate the YES to doing what I love.

So today, I lift my coffee cup high and say, 

Cheers to Doing What You Love.