Candy corn and snickers
such tasty Halloween fun
makes my thighs large

*Photo originally uploaded by angellea*

I’ve been working on my 5 minutes a day projects, mostly taking pictures. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

There are a few others at my flickr page

Recently, I had to sit down and make a card to accompany a baby present. I groused about pulling out my supplies, fussed about not finding everything I wanted, and kvetched about having precious few minutes to put it together. This rigmarole keeps me from doing anything remotely artistic any more. In my head, it’s just not worth the investment of setting up and cleaning up. I keep thinking how I’ll have my studio soon, with room to spread out, and no reason to clean up every little bit of a ongoing project. Ive been thinking this for 3 years. Three years.

Yes, I have completed some projects over the last three years. There was that 30 day binge of art a few years back, the one happy side effect of my doctor’s dizzying game of let’s medicate Fidget. There was also that altered book I made for my best friend and a few other pieces along the way. They were all born out of months of frustration and creative need- you can only hold a fart for so long before it rockets out of your body.

But back to that card…

I can’t remember when I’d had a more satisfying 5 minutes. It’s inspired me. I’m taking 5 minutes of my day back. 5 minutes where I owe no one nothing. If you aren’t dead or on fire, leave me alone for FIVE MINUTES. Just me, some paper and some supplies. Some days, it might be a quick pencil sketch, a bit of fiction writing, a few frames squeezed off on my camera (I’m serious about learning the fine art of photography), and other days I might haul out the paints. The one common thread is that it will happen every day for at least 5 minutes.

I’m hoping once I work past the excuses, the time crunches, and the laziness that I might find my joy again and light myself from with in. This motherhood gig can eat you if you let it. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with reveling in your children but children grow and they leave. I don’t want to be an empty shell when that happens. Once a week, I’ll be posting to show you what happens when you give yourself just five minutes a day. Hopefully in the near future, I’ll be acquiring a webcam so you can truly join me for my 5 minutes.

How would you spend just five minutes a day?