It’s still very much my goal to be like my dear friend SuziCate and post a blog a day. So far, I’ve not done well with that.

Right now I’m blaming it on the fact that it’s all I can do to keep my head above water while getting settled into a new location. It seems like everything lately has been about navigating my way around town, learning who’s who, working to earn the living, and taking the dogs out for walks and to pee while keeping one vigilant eye on the ever-threatening evil coyotes.

Add to that an hour of yoga and walking a day ~ cuz that’s for the sanity and the gut ~ and you start to get the picture, and even those are rushed. There’s just been no good quality MeTime for sitting down and writing a blog. Because unfortunately I can’t yet pop them out and hit “publish” without at least a couple of hours of time invested. This is my heart and soul here, after all.

I’m trying to be kind to myself and not beat my own head with a stick for all the days I’ve missed and all the great ideas I’ve let slip away, ~ not to mention all the blogs I haven’t taken the time to read ~ but sometimes I feel like I’m running uphill against my own personal stopwatch and I can practically hear the seconds ticking away. Life . tick . Is . tick . Going . tick . By . tick . And .  tick . You . tick . Are . tick .  Missing . tick . It.

What suffers along with my good nature and my attitude tends to be the things I love most. Shooting pictures, writing, reading, meditating. Hell, just sitting on the back deck with a cup of coffee and a breeze. In sort, all the things that feed and fuel my soul. All the things that are creative. You may not think that plopping your butt on the patio is creative, but you’d be surprised at what runs through my head in those moments of downtime.

Creative energy. I need that. Like a fish needs water and a dog needs a bone, I need to have my hands and my being immersed in those creative juices. When they aren’t flowing, this baby withers.

Due to car space, very few books made the trip to LA with me. Most ended up going to friends or donated. So it took me by surprise this morning when my eye fell on a book I’d bought when I came to LA on vacation back in 2004. Jill Murphy Long’s Permission to Play is a beautiful little book full of reminders on why and how to make time for this essential part of any creative and happy life.

Random flipping of pages landed me in the chapter called Creative Expression and a cool little entry called The Top Ten List for Creating. I’m gonna start right now with number one, and see about working my way up. During a particularly whiny bitch episode a couple of days ago, someone pointed out to me that photography is like my therapy. Well, I miss my camera, and I miss my blog, and I am coming back.

The Top Ten List for Creating
10. Learn something new.
9. Perfect a skill.
8. Play in colors.
7. Experiment with textures.
6. Savor the five senses.
5. Be in a happy mood.
4. Alleviate stress.
3. Create with your hands.
2. Develop commitment.
1. Smile more!

*As a footnote, the coyotes honestly haven’t been that bad. I’ve yet to see them, though I’ve made a habit of sitting at the window at dawn and dusk and listening to them come out to hunt. Their howls and yelps are bone-chilling and other worldly, especially at 1am, and I’m afraid I’ve created my own version of the BoogeyMan. So I read about coyote totems, and this is what I found:

If coyote has come into your life perhaps it is time to loosen up and have some fun. While coyote stands for a lot more than just a trickster, sometimes humor and fun are necessary in life when under a great deal of stress. Coyote will teach you how to embrace your inner child and have fun again like you did when you were a child. He will teach you how important it is not to only have fun, but to be able to laugh at yourself in the process. Individuals with coyote as a totem are in for a very fun ride so hold on tight, go with the flow, and enjoy the adventure.