Connection and the New Year

The last few years have been a bit difficult for me, and I have felt very disconnected many times - disconnected from myself, disconnected from others, disconnected from my art, and disconnected from my job. As such, I haven't been happy with the direction of my life lately. I have felt stuck, tired, and frustrated. I have felt run down and closed off, but I am ready for a change - ready to reconnect - ready to step out and open myself again.

So, I am setting out to do just that in the New Year, and I have set a mission for the Journal Fodder Junkies. It’s not a new mission. Actually it’s the mission that we have been on since we began offering workshops all those years ago. I have just finally given it voice.

The mission of the Journal Fodder Junkies is to help others connect with their creativity and find their authentic artistic voices. It’s a simple mission, but I have lost sight of it over the years. I want to bring it to the forefront of everything that I do. It was the reason that I started this blog more than seven years ago. It’s why we wrote our two books, and it’s why we continue to offer presentations, seminars, and workshops.

But over the last few years, I know that I have lost sight of that simple mission, and have allowed myself to be dragged down a bit. Recently, my focus has been on figuring out a way to to make enough money doing what I love to do so that I could step away from my job as a public school art teacher. I love teaching workshops, sharing my art and process, and connecting to people through my artistic journey, but I have been diverting my energy away from my true goal of connecting with others to trying to get a sustainable business going. Everything has suffered. I have been focused so much on making a living that I have forgotten to make a life.

With the New Year looming, it seems like a perfect time to set my intentions back on track, and forget about the monetary and business elements. I want to focus again on sharing and connecting. So, in that vein I wanted to share something that I made several years ago, and some people may already have this. I want to share a piece of my art that I made four years ago that went along with my rules for making art. You can read my original post of Eric’s Rules here. Soon, I’ll have to share my updated rules.

Please feel free to download the image above. Print it if you like, and hang it up. Or maybe glue it into your journal, and please share it with others.

Thanks so much, and Happy New Year!