I’m so excited!
I think I’ve started the #100DayProject three other times and I never managed to finish. I’m excited because this year I feel different about the project. I haven’t decided exactly what my project will be, but I’m actually looking forward to posting on Instagram and Facebook and interacting with the wider community.
I’ve always stalled before , partly because I was doing it alone. I’m not a big fan of social media, so I didn’t really get into the daily posting — but for some reason, I’m actually looking forward to it this time! I’m not going to force myself to try to post daily, but maybe once a week, with several snapshots of what I’ve been working on in the previous week.
In addition to giving myself permission to do the social media in a way that feels good for me, I have found a friend to do the project with. One of my nearest-and-dearests is an excellent seamstress and she’s been wanting to sew more. I mentioned the 100 Day Project when we chatted yesterday and she was immediately interested in it; she texted me today to tell me she was in.
I was thrilled! Not just because I’m happy to have someone to share the project with on a more personal level, but because I know the difference that regular creative practice can have in someone’s life and I’m eager to share that with her.
Actually, I think any kind of daily practice can be good for us. Not just because we get the exercise or drink the water, but because we are making deliberate, purposeful choices with how we spend our time. Over the years, I’ve had a variety of daily practices, ranging from morning pages, nightly journaling, and calligraphy practice to regular exercise, following a certain kind of food plan and writing daily gratitudes.
Even though none of those things are still a daily practice for me at the moment, I do believe in the power of daily practice. I have my spiritual practice, but I’m hardly as disciplined with that as I should be — as I’d like to be. As much as I rebel against it, I also crave a certain amount of structure.
I’ve recently dug my paints out of the garage, bought some new stencils, and got art supplies for birthday presents. I can’t wait to get back into a regular habit. As I said, I’m not 100% sure what I’ll be doing for my project, but I have it narrowed down to two projects: Either making gelli prints each day or working with a set of mixed-media prompts I bought from A Work of Heart. There are several prompts in card form; I have printed them out on card stock and cut them out. I’m having a lot of fun drawing cards at random and using them to guide my process. Not only am I enjoying it, but I’m becoming more comfortable with techniques I normally don’t gravitate to.
I’m leaning toward the latter project, but I haven’t ruled out the gelli print project completely. I do love playing with my gelli plate, but I’m not sure I want to commit to that for 100 days. And I have absolutely no idea what I’d do with so many prints, either.
The #100DayProject starts on Wednesday, 22 February, so I have a little time left to decide on the exact parameters of my project. Of course, I’ll share my progress here on the blog, whatever I decide to do!
