Monday Mourning

Well that does it. The Artist's Way has come to an end. Yesterday was the last day of my 12-week journey to unblocking my inner artist. How about a recap of the last three months of my life.

When I started the Artist's Way, I was unhappy with my job, my income, my husband, my friends, my house, my city, my neighborhood, and my prospects for a different life. Whiny and complainy about just about everything.

I started reading and writing the daily pages and immediately the opportunities came a-knockin'. Two weeks, that's all it took for me to see HUGE changes starting to take shape in my life. And I mean HUGE.

• My marriage has a renewed sense of joy about it. Amazing that we are probably happier now than we have been in many many years together. Did I mention that he is going through The Artist's Way too?
• I talked to my boss about not being happy where I was and with the salary I was making with no other intention but to inform that I would be starting to look for different work elsewhere. It took a couple weeks for it all to come through but I ended up getting myself a promotion and a raise out of the deal.
• I decided that my biggest life dream was to be a writer and it seems that not but one moment after that decision was declared, the universe conspired to drop an opportunity right on my head. I wrote two essays for an author who is currently working on a new book of her own. After reviewing my essays, she decided that she will in fact use them in her book so it looks like I might just get something of mine published too.
• I was unhappy with my family situation so a series of events was set in motion and now I barely recognize my life and myself. My grandfather died, I went to the funeral where I saw my entire estranged family. I've reconnected with my brother and am actively trying to be Auntie Salina to his two kids. I've been in touch with my parents and my grandparents too. It's all very surreal and to be perfectly honest, slightly uncomfortable with where the boundaries lie, but altogether, it's kind of a miracle after 10 years.
• I reached out to my father in law to resolve whatever issues he and I have had over the past year. It seems that he is either unwilling or unable to respond though because I've gotten no reply to date. Looks like that one might just be a lost cause. The outcome doesn't define the success though,  not in my eyes. I actually reached out to him after shutting both my husband and myself out of his life for over a year now. I got out of my pride and out of myself and did the right thing by everyone. All I can control is me so in that sense, it was a perfect success.

There are still a few things on my list that I want to face and resolve a bit more conclusively than they were addressed in the past twelve weeks  though. I still want to finish the little touch-ups around my house so we can put it on the market in the early spring and finally move back to the city where we belong. My poor little guitar is still sitting in it's case all lonely and silent. She needs to come out and play. I still want to start writing more on a regular basis so I can feel like I can truly call myself a writer. I haven't made any progress on the scale either, so that's definitely on the list.

Yes, I'm mourning the conclusion of the 12-week Artist's Way program  because of what it has meant in my life. But, I'm not done with it yet. I'm going to start at the beginning again and end this year with a clean slate. I'm wiping the gunk from my brain and am going to set myself up for a screamingly successful year looking forward.

Living Active isn't just about exercise you know...it's about actively living our lives. For me to continue to actively live my life, I'm rededicating myself to another 12 weeks of the Artist's Way. If it can do what it has in the past three months, I can't wait to see what else can happen next.

Here's a challenge!
I challenge you to grab the book from the used book store near you and go through the process too.

Every week, I will dedicate a post right here about The Artist's Way and my progress. I invite you all to join me and do the same. I'll wait to start reading for one week so we can all start together. I will start chapter one on Halloween then every Sunday thereafter for 3 months will be the mark for moving on to the next week of reading. Who knows, there might even be a reward at the end for those who complete the process.

Who's in?


Oh and P.S. I decided to keep blogging. :)