Resolve

I have made very simple New Year's Resolutions this year.

1. Go outside every day. (I know, it's the bare minimum, but I have been known to stay inside for days at a time.)
2. No screens at bed time. (The digital radio I got for Christmas is helping with this, and I've noticed a lot of benefits: sleeping better, and reading BOOKS, which I love and have missed.)
3. Draw more. (I'm not very good and I want to get better and I've got to a level of proficiency with needlework now where it's often no longer relaxing to stitch.)

I am by no means a prolific artist; having chosen embroidery as my primary medium rather rules that out. But the first drawing below, begun at an "artist's salon" with dear friends Kat and Cheri, was positively speedily turned out, at least for me.

It's also the drawing I'm proudest of since at least my A Level days. Maybe being around infinitely more talented artists rubbed off on me; maybe the steady supply of cocktails loosened me up. Either way, I'm happy with the results.

This busy drawing isn't quite so successful; maybe I bit off a bit more than I can chew. But it does feature my intention for this year; "2017 is the year of skin care and communication", which I saw as a text post on Tumblr and liked so much I turned it into a fortune cookie. I somewhat wish I'd changed communication to "kindness" but I could do with challenging myself to communicate more effectively.

The drawing is loosely self-care focused, something I've been getting awfully good at lately. For me, that means surrounding myself with greenery and flowers (or sometimes bathing in them, as these rose buds from my bath bomb indicate), drinking lots of jasmine tea, a recent obsession which helps me feel nourished and grounded, and a little superstition via rose quartz. When I was going through a rough patch years ago a friend pressed a chunk of rose quartz into my hand, telling me it was good for balance and healing. Though I felt sceptical about this at the the time, it has had a symbolic significance for me ever since, and reminds me of her, and so I keep the crystal with my house plants on my dresser.

(I always thought myself on the lower end of the "Ex-Dartington-Student-Hippy Scale", but reading this post back, it seems I haven't escaped Totnes unscathed... perhaps it's spending so much time with other Darties of late?)