It can be very hard to stay consistent with something, much less everything. Here, we talked about how imposter syndrome can arise when the unpredictable nature of caring for living things gets in the way of the Platonic Ideal of a Creative Routine. Are we really artists if we’re letting work, germs or winter weather get in the way of our dreams?
Well, yeah. We are. Those things sometimes get in the way of art, and that’s OK.
And still, I would imagine each one of us has at least one good thing that we’re tending in this season. One thing that’s growing and thriving in our lives despite the ups and downs.
Let’s celebrate this ONE THING together.
A tray of seeds, tended for the first time by subscriber Chiara D. last spring.
If it helps to have a drop-down menu of examples (it always does for me, and often for my students), here are some of the trends I see in my own work and yours:
Consistently tending the self: Maybe you’re going through a season of transition and/or loss, but showing up consistently for yourself and all the feels, instead of checking out or shutting down on yourself.
Consistently tending loved ones: Maybe you’re going through a season in which other people need you profoundly, and you are working hard to show up consistently for them, instead of checking out or shutting down on them.
Consistently tending a craft: Maybe you’re consistently working to create space for your creative work, despite obstacles, in ways that feel like you’ve got a little momentum.
Consistently tending community: Maybe you’re moving through a season of figuring out how to use your gifts of care/creativity for the greater good (aka being a Mother Tree), and you’re experiencing an enhanced feeling of connection to something bigger than you.
Consistently tending the earth: Maybe you’re figuring out how to consistently be in and with the natural world around you, and to care and be cared for in it — even if it’s still winter outside
Which of these best describes you?
And if your answer is “none of the above” — which I get — is it still possible to find one small act of good tending, even if it’s two days in a row of giving yourself enough sleep, to celebrate and share here?
I’m tending a pup who is currently tending to devouring my partner’s Birkenstocks. Also to my 200 tulips who are just beginning to poke their little heads up to sniff the spring.
I’m tending a pup who is currently tending to devouring my partner’s Birkenstocks. Also to my 200 tulips who are just beginning to poke their little heads up to sniff the spring.
I am consistently tending my book proposal.
I'm tending to my business dream.