Archive for the 'Creativity & Edges' Category

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Nov 04 2010

Art Every Day Month: Days 2 & 3

On Day 2 (yesterday), I felt like playing with the texture of the paint. Hence, the yellow splotches around the baby. I don’t love the effect, but luckily Art Every Day Month lasts for a whole month. I’m sure I’ll find a way to tweak it into something I totally dig.

Today, Day 3, I had a brainstorm while driving home sweaty from my CampYoga class: surround the baby with a warm wall, kinda like a hug. As I watched TV to recuperate from the-most-strenuous-class-I’ve-ever-taken, I cut out triangles and glued them around the baby. I’m quite enthralled with the effect, and grateful to the Ralph Lauren ad from which I stole the blue colors.

To see how the painting has changed, check out it’s original state and what I added on Day One of Art Every Day Month.

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Nov 02 2010

Art Every Day Month: Day 1

I got home at 10pm from academic coaching, and I thought: “Shoot! It’s the first day of Art Every Day Month and it’s too late to do any art!”

Thank god for the email from fellow Art-Every-Day artist Emma, who commented on my blog enthusiastically. (Check out the cool pouch she made today). Her cheerleading gave me the push to add something to my art piece despite the late hour, and so….

…please note the blue collage strips I glued on to the painting this evening. I don’t pretend to know what I’m doing here. But I’m intrigued with the contrast between the blue and the green colors, as well as the texture of the strips of paper.

I keep on thinking, “But I have no overall vision! This doesn’t count as art if I make it up as I go, does it?!”

Wow. For someone who teaches an improv performance class, I seem to be anti-improv. At least where visual art is concerned. Fascinating!

I’m trusting that, if I follow the journey of my own aesthetic — and give myself color and texture and shapes that please me — I’ll make a beautiful piece that I’ll be proud to call Art. Right? Fingers crossed.

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Oct 31 2010

(Not Quite Ready To) Embrace my Identity as a Visual Artist

My identity as an artist has morphed over my lifetime.

In my preteen years, I was a ballerina.

Then my teacher told me that I “don’t have the body of a ballet dancer,” and so I became a “theatre person.” (Interestingly, I never called myself an actress, but at least I identified with the place I spent most of my time: the theatre).

Fast forward several years, and I discovered InterPlay, during which I learned that I am a dancer and a storyteller and a singer!

However, the one art I’ve never fully embraced is visual art. I never called myself a visual artist. That’s for talented people like my brother, Dietrich Wegner.

This year I’m aiming to change that. Early on the in year I purchased an easel from my friend Randy. I even put a blank canvas up on it, and then stared at the canvas for 3 months, scared to make a mark.

One day I got so sick of staring at the blank canvas that I added a curvy brown mark using an oil pastel. (See the brown mark, above).

Another 3 months passed, and as I stared at the brown mark, I kept on seeing a womb and a baby being born. “But I don’t know how to draw a baby!!!” I complained to myself. “That’s what the internet is for,” my Inner-Resourceful-Woman told me. So I printed out a picture of a fetus and I glued it on.

But then the real artistic stalemate occurred. Now the picture looked like something!! Ack!!! I was so scared to touch it, lest I ruin it with horrible lack of skill.

Enter into the picture my muses:

Chris Zydel (who teaches a drop in class called Painting from the Wild Heart), and Leah Piken Kolidas (who runs a challenge called Art Every Day Month).

Last Monday I attended Chris’ class, and found myself finger painting up a storm, battling the Inner Critic as I went, and having a surprisingly great time.

Today — probably as a result of the freedom I experienced in Chris’ class — I suddenly felt the urge to make art. The color green felt compelling, so I went over to my painting and in less than 5 minutes I’d covered the remaining white space in luscious, life-giving green. Wow! That wasn’t as painful as I thought it might be!

I’m now registered for Art Every Day Month (will you join me?! It’s free and fun!), and I’m looking forward to seeing how this painting progresses as I add to it a bit every day. I’ll post pictures on my blog.

I notice as I type that I’m *not quite* ready to call myself a visual artist. But I’m at least playing with color, and that’s what counts!

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Jun 11 2010

Why It’s OK That I Don’t Finish My Homework

As an academic coach, I end the school year by meeting with parents to reflect on the ways their children have grown — and to identify goals for the next year.

Recently at the end of one of those meetings, a mom sighed and said, “My daughter is simply developing at her own pace. Not necessarily the pace that I want her to be developing. But her own pace nonetheless.” Mixed into this comment was lots of love, some resignation, a little frustration, and a bunch of pride.

Parenthood sure comes with a complex set of feelings. And so does solopreneurship.

My sweet little academic coaching business is sure developing at it’s own pace. Sometimes it bursts forward! Sometimes it crawls. Just like a parent can’t control every aspect of their child’s development, neither can I do the same for my own business.

I’m extra conscious of this slow pace right now, as I take the Right Brain Business Plan e-course with Jennifer Lee. I’m so behind on all my homework!! Every week I do a little something…but certainly not everything.

For example, this week we’re supposed to be making a balance sheet for our business. Instead, I’ve been working on the marketing assignments from last week. And even then, I’ve only did HALF the assignments.

The pictures (above) are the collages of my perfect customers that Jenn asked us to make. As I cut and pasted images that seemed to represent my ideal client, I learned a lot! For example, it seems that that my target clients are women and girls. That doesn’t mean that I don’t work with guys. Actually, I’m quite successful with a number of teenage boys. But my ideal clients — the ones with whom I feel like I’m “in the flow” when we’re working together — are usually women! So why not claim that!?

Speaking of flow: finishing up those “perfect customer” collages was inspiring, although perhaps not in the way that Jenn intended. Her next assignment was for us to create a marketing plan, (two weeks later and I haven’ done it yet). Instead, I feverishly created a flier for a girls-only time management workshop I’m offering in August. Click on the picture to see the flier and read more about this never-been-tried-before workshop!

After creating the flier, I couldn’t wait to send it out. Thus ensued emails, photocopies, conversations. In fact, because I’d pushed to make the flier, two parents have registered their daughters already! Yay!!

Turns out that I didn’t end up making the marketing plan, but I sure did a whole lot of marketing!! Which is a new experience for me. And now that I’ve had real world experience getting the word out about my workshops, it’s going to be a whole lot easier to make the actual marketing plan

At a different time in my life, I might have been more stressed about not doing all my homework for a course. However, my participation in InterPlay has helped me understand the importance of ease and incrementality. InterPlay is a community arts practice that unlocks the wisdom of the body. There’s so much about life that’s not easy! So when I’m feeling some ease around a specific task that I know is important to me, I give myself full permission to go for it, one small step at a time. Even if it means not doing my homework.

Uh oh. My Devil’s Advocate voice just jumped in:

Gretchen, I’m impressed on the positive spin you’ve just given your irresponsibility. Did it ever occur to you that you are just procrastinating?! Is it possible that your push to send out the flier was actually a sneaky move to justify ignoring the balance sheet that is this week’s homework?

Maybe. However, check this out: last night when I was driving home from the coaching office, I started daydreaming about the balance sheet. “How cool is it that I just got two checks?” I thought to myself. “I wonder how much the workshop is actually gonna cost me? I guess it’s time to start that balance sheet!”

Aha! Never before in my life have I day dreamed about balance sheets! Maybe this means I’m ready for that next, small step! Whereas before working with numbers seemed like a chore, now I’m entering the task propelled by curiosity, ready to take on a challenge that before now felt big and annoying.

Luckily, Jenn is not grading us on our homework. If she did, I’d totally fail the class. At the pace I’m going right now, my Right Brain Business Plan won’t be done when the course ends.

But every week I make some good progress. I won’t be done when the course ends in a few weeks. But I will have all the information I need in order to finish. Which is one reason I’m blogging about my Right Brain Business Plan process:

I’d love you — my big bold blogging community — to hold me accountable. My goal is to be completely done with the entire plan by the end of July. If you don’t see any blog entries about it between now and then, will you bug me? I’d sure appreciate it.

Now, I’m off on vacation for a week, which means yet another week of not completing my homework. But when I get back on June 21st, I’ll get RIGHT ON that balance sheet!

Bon Voyage!

Filed Under Academic Coaching, Creativity & Edges, Entrepreneurship, InterPlay | no comments

Apr 15 2010

Join Me for the Madhatter’s Tea Party April 19

Pop Quiz:

Do you value play, creativity, and connection?
Have you been curious about how to teach/coach online without sacrificing these values?
Do you know other creative people who are ready to dive into work with virtual clients?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, I’d like to invite you to join a grand experiment.

If you’re the type who doesn’t want to read a bunch of gobbledy gook, feel free to scroll down to the “You’re Invited” heading. But if you like stories — or just want to hear about my latest crazy ideas — keep on reading.

The Contradiction of Wanting More With Less

Desire: As an entrepreneur, I think a lot about how I can make more money with less. Less travel, less time, less work. Solution: Work more online!!

Desire: As a creative person, I think a lot about how I can have more. More connection. More movement. More laughter. More play. Solution: Spend less time online!!

Ack. What’s a gal to do with her conflicting needs?! More time online? Less time online?

Perhaps one answer is this: Infuse online environments with the connection, creativity and fun. And invite amazing people to play with me.

Is the Internet Really More Confining Than My Car?

For several years I’ve resisted the lure of online teaching and facilitation. I’ve been scared of technology, concerned about feeling isolated and confined, wary of dooming myself to too much sitting and not enough connecting.

But as I watch my current life — driving in my car to meet clients and flying on airplanes to teach workshops, I realize I’m already isolated, confined, and sitting a great deal of the day. Seems like it’s time for me to make some new choices! Might as well at least learn about how virtual teaching & coaching works.

The Madhatter’s Tea Party to the Rescue

Enter Meri Walker, Virtual Meeting Coach extraodinaire and convener of the Madhatter’s Tea Party. She’s created a fun and zany way to help me move through my fear of online teaching environments…and help me push the boundaries of what’s possible in virtual meeting spaces. Suddenly I’m dreaming of facilitating improv, coaching writers, and teaching teachers how to incorporate performance into their classrooms…all from my webcam.

For the last two weeks, I’ve joined five amazing fellow learners, and Meri is introducing us to free virtual meeting rooms. We’ve been playing with white boards, webcams, youtube videos, uploaded powerpoints, teleconference lines, and more.

You’re Invited

We’re each putting together a virtual mini-class… and that’s where YOU come in. Starting next week we’ll be teaching our virtual mini-classes, and you’re invited. Wanna come?!

Mondays April 19 to May 24 ~ 3:30-4:30pm PST ~ $89
Find out more info, or enroll

Why might you want to join us? You’ll receive:

exposure to several online meeting formats
the experience how 6 creative women are leading creative, embodied processes online
Q&A with the Madhatters, to answer your questions about virtual meeting facilitation
Q&A with Meri Walker, to answer your questions about virtual meeting technology
and more!

The first party is next week, April 19. If you’re interested, you’ll want to enroll ASAP. If you’re not interested, thanks for reading this far, and stay tuned to the blog to hear how the experiment goes.

If you have any questions, just comment and I’ll get back to you.

Filed Under Creativity & Edges | 2 Comments

Mar 15 2010

How to Be a Sensuality Slut

steaming coffee

First, a disclaimer: As a blogger who also works with teenagers, I feel shy about the title to this post. I often wonder whether it’s appropriate for me to use such sexually charged language when writing publicly.

However, as you’ll soon see, being a “sensuality slut” is about being willing to use all our senses to engage with the world. Hard as it is to believe, it’s possible to be a sensuality slut, even about doing homework or completing taxes!

Take this morning, for example. Normally I sip my hot morning drink without looking at it. Today, however, I noticed something entirely new: the steam rising swiftly out of my mug.

Although I know that steam exists, I’ve never really looked at it before. Really LOOKED. Have you? Thanks to the sun shining through the window, the steam practically glowed. So gorgeous!

The phrase “sensuality slut” was delivered to me yesterday by one of the many, beautiful Amy’s in my life. We were talking about the stew that I was planning on cooking.I needed spice advice.

As we talked about my approach to food, it became apparent that I don’t savor the process of cooking in the same way Amy does. In fact, I don’t savor it at all. I cook fast, so I can get to the eating. And I eat fast, so I can get to all the other stuff I need to do. Rarely do I let myself have the experience of cooking and eating.

It was this point in the conversation that Amy called herself a “sensuality slut.” I immediately glammed on to this phrase! Not only is it beautiful to say (so many esses!), but it’s a short, succinct description of what I want more of in my life. A great mantra to remind me to sink into the experiences I’m already having — and truly HAVE them.

In my academic coaching work I try to help my clients become “sensuality sluts” too, only with regard to their school work. Most kids are pretty good at noticing what they like and trying to do more of it! But there’s a more subtle practice that I encourage — to notice the small joys even in our most menial tasks. Like homework. And taxes.

Studying is not always fun. But studying according to your learning style can make it more enjoyable!

Also, English essays might seem like a pain if you’re just doing them to get a grade. But what about the pleasure that comes from suddenly discovering a new idea in the midst of your writing? In my experience, kids often label their brilliant new ideas as “b.s.”. They don’t know how to tell the difference between a “fake idea” used to get a good grade, and a “real idea” that shows their deepening understanding of an subject.

Kids don’t know (or they’ve forgotten) that our curiosity, and our thoughts, can be savored! I see it is as my job to help students (re)discover the passion in learning and thinking.

An in the meantime, it’s also my job to help MYSELF discover the beauty around me. Here’s to my new life as a sensuality slut!

Filed Under Academic Coaching, Creativity & Edges | 2 Comments

Mar 02 2010

Speaking Gigs, iPhone apps, and More

Over the last six months my business has expanded in ways I never quite imagined. How fun to making a living in ways that bring me joy AND pay the bills AND serve others.

Here’s a rundown of announcements I never would have anticipated a year ago:

Speaking Gigs

I just got back from Vermont, where I delivered a keynote address and taught a workshop at my former graduate school.

Keynote Topic: Solo or Social: Why Learning with Others Beats Learning Alone
Workshop Topic: Using Performance and Improvisation to Create Community in the Classroom

Both were great fun! I enjoy the feeling of “coming alive” in front of audiences, and I’m humbled by all the great feedback how engaging, smart, and useful my talks were.

This weekend I’ll be speaking at Diablo Valley College at a conference for middle school girls and their parents. I’ll be sharing about study strategies that help girls succeed in science in math. Stay posted for a related blog entry.

MuseCube iPhone App Coming Soon

Lately I’ve also been working hard to create a MuseCubes iPhone App. You can see some screen shots here. My developer and I just sent the whole shebang to Apple, but heard back about a number of changes we’ll need to make. As soon as we’re able to fix those items, the app will be up and running. Can’t wait!!

Lots of New Clients, Including Graduate Students

Up until last year, I received all my academic coaching clients through Student Organizational Services (SOS). This school year I’ve added five private clients (to a grand total of 22) — one of whom is a graduate student needing dissertation-writing support. It’s so much fun to help students at all levels in creating structure and having fun as writers!

Website Changing Its Look

Within the week, www.gretchenwegner.com will have a whole new look, thanks to the design work of the lovely Leah Creates. I’m excited to expand the blog into a full fledged website that highlights my services, from academic coaching to InterPlay.

Filed Under Creativity & Edges | 6 Comments

Jan 21 2010

Make Your Own MuseCubes?! Reflections on Creativity, Entrepreneurship & Ownership

As a product inventor, people often ask me whether I’ve “protected” Musecubes. Certainly, I’m in the process of trademarking and copyrighting my products. So in that sense — yes.

But with any creative idea, to what extent do I truly “own” it? And would I really want to?

A year ago, I found out about a preschool teacher who made giant MuseCubes by covering boxes with wrapping paper, and adding her own verbs.

Just today, I stumbled upon Dayna Collins’ blog, Alley Art Studio. Wow! I’m stunned at Dayna’s creative application of the MuseCubes idea. In her own words:

Our creative project for last night was to design and make a personal set of MuseCubes. I heard about Muse Cubes sometime last year and went online and bought a set. I used them during my last Artist’s Way session and they were great fun. Basically, one cube has words related to noises and sounds you can make and the other cube has action verbs, i.e., shake, bend, and dance. You roll the dice and do as instructed. You might be howling and bending, or laughing and shaking. You get the idea.

I absolutely love how Dayna personalized the Cubes. And aren’t they beautiful?! I’ve included one of the pictures, above, but I highly recommend going to Dayna’s blog and checking out the gorgeous art work yourself.

Back to that question of ownership. I think of the MuseCubes as my child. And as poet Khalil Gibran points out in The Prophet, we do not own our children:

Your Children are not Your Children
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

The timing of Dayna’s blog is ideal for me in terms of MuseCubes business development.

Because I live in the land of America — where we encourage entrepreneurs to get bigger, better, faster — I’ve been feeling the pressure to turn MuseCubes into a mass-produced, commercially viable product. And I won’t say that I’m NOT moving in that direction. Perhaps I want to!

However, one of the pleasures of this delightful product is the homemade beauty of each Cube. And Dayna’s blog entry reminded me of just how stunning the cubes are when they are decorated with random art cutouts.

As Khalil Gibran reminds me, the idea of MuseCubes – that we are all inherently creative; sometimes our creativity gets buried underneath thinking and mistrust; and movement, whimsy, and silliness are GREAT tools to unlock our stored gems — is not “mine.”

So I still don’t know which direction I’m going to go with the business. Will I mass produce? Will I quit altogether and sell the idea to someone with more resources & time? Will I continue making small, homemade ones by hand? Will I sell MuseCube making kits? Will I put more of my focus onto the upcoming iPhone app?

What I DO know is that more and more people (in general) and women (more specifically) are taking to the Cubes. This is an idea that, now that it’s born, can’t be stopped.The whimsy, creativity, and surprise that comes from a random roll, and subsequent shake & howl, really does open up our creativity and sense of possibility.

What might happen if I now, following the guidance of Gibran, “strive to be like them”? In other words, strive to have my business processes and goals be more like the MuseCubes themselves — whimsical, creative, flexible?

I’m not sure what this all means, but you can be sure I’ll blog about it when I figure it out.

Thanks, Dayna, for your creative application of MuseCubes — and for inspiring to expand my vision of how my invention might play in the world.

This entry is a re-posting of an entry that first appeared at www.musecubes.com.

Filed Under Creativity & Edges, MuseCubes | no comments

Jan 20 2010

Hug Thyself (Musings About Inner Authority)

Tender middle aged woman hugging self

I recently went on a first date with a man who’d been cleaning out his bookshelves. He gave me Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen.

Tonight, I stumbled across this sage advice:

Everyone’s wholeness is unique and even such common role models as Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Schweitzer can distance us from ourselves. Our wholeness will look different than theirs. Our wholeness fits us better than theirs. Our wholeness is much more attainable for us than theirs ever could be. We usually look outside of ourselves for heroes and teachers. It has not occurred to most people that they may already be the role model they seek. (p. 106)

The truth of this line enveloped me like a warm fog, settling around…and even into…me. Straight to the heart.

You mean…I don’t have to try to be like others who I think are better than me? I can be my own role model?!

In the past I’ve known this to be truth. In fact, this idea – we can trust ourselves, and we have much inner wisdom to teach ourselves — is the crux of my academic/life coaching with teenagers. It is also the basis of what we InterPlayers call “inner authority.”

But knowing something is vastly different than internalizing truth.

This New Years I made the shift from knowing to internalizing by making a simple commitment: to meditate for 5 minutes a day for 365 days. (Read here for more info about how I came up with this resolution in the first place). I *had thought* that this commitment meant traditional meditation, as in: follow my breath. Or recite a mantra.

But on January 1st as I sat down to do my first 5 minutes, a different kind of meditation emerged: I imagined myself hugging myself. I didn’t plan in advance to do it; it just…uhhh…kinda happened. Lo and behold, I’ve now imagined hugging myself for 5 minutes a day for almost 19 days.

Sometimes I imagine I’m hugging myself as a baby. Other times, I’ve become giant-sized, and I’m enveloping my grown-up self with my oversized arms. Each day it’s different. And fun!!! For the first time in my life, I actually look FORWARD to my meditation time. It’s no longer a *should*; it’s now a delight.

I’m noticing that this self-designed meditation is changing me. For example:

Tonight as I sat to do my 5 minutes, I was also aware of some critical voices in my head. “You wasted your day! You had all those important business tasks on your ‘to do’ list, and you didn’t do a single one! What kind of entrepreneur are you? You’re never going to amount to anything!”

Ouch. In the olden days of meditating, I would have tried to let go of these ugly thoughts. Notice I am thinking…Return to my breath… Let go… breathe…

But today I imagined myself hugging that Mean Inner Critic. “It’s OK. I’m here. Let me hold you. Relax into my arms…” The self flaggelating thoughts stopped. Just like that. Zzzt.

Because I’m somewhat of a brain geek, I understand that this is not a magial occurrence. My daily 5 minute meditation is helping me create new, self-soothing neuropathways in my brain. The more I do it, the more easily I will be able to summon up the image of a “hug” to counter any destructive self talk.

But it still feels magical.

I’m in awe that I’ve found a way to handle my Mean Voices (what elsewhere I have termed the “gremlins”; see Confession #4 in this blog post) . I’m stunned that the idea to imagine myself hugging myself came — not from self help book or therapist — but rather just bubbled up from my own consciousness.

Amazingly, I know how to heal myself. I am my own best role model. I have a wholeness that is all my own! Amen.

Filed Under Creativity & Edges | 2 Comments

Jan 12 2010

A Sure-Fire Formula for Getting Things Done

List

There are a few REALLY IMPORTANT tasks that I’ve been procrastinating doing.

I’m thinking about them right now because I’m looking at my “To Do” list. And I’m noticing that INSTEAD of actually choosing to order MuseCubes supplies, I’m actually choosing to WRITE ABOUT ordering them.

For whatever reason, writing about the-thing-I-should-do is WAY EASIER than actually doing the thing-I-should-do.

OK. Fine. So I’ll let myself write. Why? Because it’s fun. And because I also know that I learn while I write. So I’m hoping that as I reflect in this spontaneous way, I’ll actually figure out how to make myself actually DO the thing-I-should-do.

But the truth is: I already know how. All I need to do to follow through is (drum roll please!) answer the question:

“What the next smallest thing I can reasonably do?”

In regards to ordering the MuseCubes supplies, the next smallest thing I can reasonably do is to LOOK UP THE NAME of the place where I bought the packaging in the first place. (I’m sure I would have ordered the packaging weeks ago if I’d remembered the name of the online store where I originally bought them; kinda funny, the odd little barriers we create for ourselves).

Alright. So I give myself permission NOT to order the supplies. My first order of business is to simply LOCATE THE NAME OF THE PLACE. Fine. Good. In fact, I’ll do that RIGHT NOW before I even type another word.

***Time passes. 11:55am – 12:18pm***

Phew! I did it. My little trick worked. Not only did I LOCATE the name of the company (I order my MuseCubes packaging at PaperMart), I ALSO:

Ordered 500 boxes of the old variety of packaging
Ordered 50 boxes of a new variety of packaging (for a new MuseCubes product I’m working on)
Changed my shipping and billing addresses, which were outdated
Organized my bookmarks so that I can easily find the PaperMart link again when I need it. No more excuses!!!

Ahhhhh. That feels good. Perhaps the secret to following through is to break down the task into smaller, easy incremental steps. There really is power behind the question: “Whats the next smallest thing I can reasonably do?”(See additional thoughts about incrementality here).

But to be totally honest, there’s another reason why I followed through just now. I wouldn’t have ordered the supplies if I hadn’t been writing about it (which is fun) and imagining my readers being impressed with me (which is about accountability).

Aha! I think I’ve just created a winning formula. Check this out:

incrementality + accountability + fun = getting things done!

Case in point: my 2010 New Years Resolution. I want to meditate more in 2010. But judging by my past experience, I just CAN’T seem to sit myself down and do it. So this year I asked myself the question “whats the smallest amount of time I’m willing to meditate every day?” The honest-to-god-answer: 5 minutes!!!

Gretchen’s Inner Critic Voice: Really, Gretchen?! That’s it? Five minutes is all you can muster? Wimp. (Ouch!)

Gretchen’s I’m-My-Own-Best-Friend Voice: Yup. 5 minutes. If that’s what you’ll reasonably do, then you go girl. Thanks for being so honest. 365 days of 5-minute meditations. I love it. And I love you! And I trust you to decide what’s right for you. (Awwwwww!)

Cool. So far we’ve got the incrementality piece of the equation. But what about accountability and fun?

Accountability: First of all, I bought a calendar that I love, attached a pencil to it, and hung it next to my kitchen window.

Fun: I like to draw, and spirals are pretty. So instead of writing “meditation” on the days I do it, I draw a spiral instead. Funny how much pleasure comes from such a small act!

Yet again: