2010 was a very good year.  I grew as an artist & a person.  I discovered things about myself, my work, my life.  So many blessings, so many wonderful friends, so much to be grateful for.

As 2011 approaches, I know that I am being challenged.  That’s a great thing.  Lexi & I share a Quest; it’s a journey of self-discovery and personal growth.  Together we are exploring Finding Water by Julia Cameron.  Lexi has taught The Artist’s Way Course and she will be my guide in the process of Finding Water.  We started this week and will continue through the chapters each week or so.  This will be a great way to explore and find new pathways.

Another book that will be part of my artistic journey is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Lexi recommended this one and has told me it will be a great companion to the reading and morning pages I do in conjunction with Finding Water. This is very exciting for me.

I haven’t started to read Simple Abundance yet, that will begin tomorrow, January 1, 2011.  However, I think it will help me in the pursuit of my goals to create new work that causes me to stretch and grow as an artist, along with my own personal growth.

In conjunction with these two books, I’ve started to read another one that was a Christmas gift.  This is The Making of Avatar, which describes James Cameron’s artistic journey while waiting for the technology that would allow him to create the movie Avatar.

For those of you who don’t know, James Cameron and Julia Cameron are brother and sister.  Reading these books, Finding Water and The Making of Avatar, made me realize that the works of these two Camerons, Julia and James, speak to me in different ways.  The book I got for Christmas about the Making of Avatar, goes into his initial concept and how long he had to wait for the technology to make that movie.  It discusses his artistic journey; James Cameron had so many ideas and was always being creative, whether it was in the days before making movies when he was an artist and then the subsequent creative paths he took with movies, from Alien to Titanic to documentaries to Avatar.  Julia has her journey as a writer.  Reading these two very different books has shown me that people who are creative, constantly strive to find ways to achieve their creative goals.  You just keep working and producing work that gets you to that next step.  I find a connection or maybe its an admiration for their determination to pursue their artistic goals.

That leads me to my next point in this post, which is a concept I used last year thanks to Christine Kane who writes another blog I follow.  Her recommendation is that we have our personal word of the year which inspires us in our endeavors.  Last year, my word was Aspire.  This year I had to use two words that help me connect….and those are Fully Engaged.

In my heart, I know I must be Fully Engaged in everything I do. Yes, that may be exhausting and I may need to pull back a bit. However, the point of being Fully Engaged in anything I do is that will help me to be focused in the moment. Too many times I find myself working on something and thinking about something else. Loss of focus. Not being Fully Engaged. In order to channel creativity effectively, I need to be Fully Engaged. In the zone. Living in the present moment. Put all other thoughts and distractions aside, and just become immersed in what I am doing. This is why those two words resonate with me.

So as 2011 approaches, my wish for all of you is that you are able to achieve your dreams and goals.  May this coming year by joyous and prosperous for each of you.

Until next time, aspire to be more as an artist and a person.  Know that in 2011, I will be Fully Engaged in all of my pursuits.

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