My creative days are busy and weeks fly.
Studio tours. Shows and events. Creating new work. Custom orders. Designing and selling. Getting published. Classes. Grants. Awards.
All really, really good.
Then there are all the things I think I "should" be doing. It is hard to keep up with it all.
This past month, I left made space for the unexpected. Just for things that come up. The things not penciled in. The appointments not in my i-phone.
Like the visit from my sweet Texas sister. She flew in the night of an art opening and left a few days later the day of my studio tour. I would go my studio early in the morning and then come back about 11 am ready for an adventure.
One day we visited the small town we were born in. We drove by our old house. I think this is the very same front door my parents carried me through when I came home from the hospital.
My sister was 11-years-old when I was born. She said prayers each night for a baby sister.
Standing beside this pond, we talked about all the times my sister pushed me in my stroller around it. She would ask me what the horse, duck or cow would say.
She was so proud when I answered.
My father lived in this town most of his life. I used to visit him (my parents got divorced when I was two) and run around the corner to the pharmacy and buy gum.
Time stopped here. I swear to you this powder was in the very same spot 26-years-ago. My sister agrees. Same powder. Same place.
I fit in some unexpected goose hunting too. Well, goose hunting is and always will be unexpected. I told my son I would join him, but was still surprised when I woke up at 4:30 am.
I was dressed in camouflage that was way too big for me. Armed with coffee and a flashlight, we made our way through the woods. I saw all the beauty through his eyes.
And there was so much beauty and stillness to take in. No goose though.
See that bridge in the picture above? I have been running under many of them here along the canal. Never expected to start running and certainly never expected to like it. I am making room for that too.
A new, dear friend invited me and Michael to stay overnight in a little apartment beneath her home after an art show in Hershey, Pa.
It was a magical nest. One large room perfectly outfitted for comfort and hibernation.
I love small, cozy spaces. And this one was perfect.
Thank you Claire and Len. You completely spoiled us. Unexpected and wonderful. And the fresh bread, cheese, butter and jam were so, so appreciated.
Now I am getting ready for the holidays and thinking about the year ahead.
But I am leaving spaces for the unexpected. Places where I can change my mind, fit things in and always make room for people and places I love.
Seeing a tiny town through grownup eyes along side my sister.
Being in the deep woods at sunrise with my son.
Running along the towpath under bridges with my sweetie.
Accepting a generous invitation from a new friend.
And everything else got done too. The show went on. The painting dried. The orders shipped.
How about you? Are you making space for what is not penciled in?