SUNDAY UNPLUGGED, An Artists Perspective on Staying GROUNDED

Sunday is the day I unplug. It has become part of my routine in recent months and it affords me a moment to ground myself, to check in, and get to know where I am at.

I have been doing a lot of research via podcasts, reading, youtube ect, along with my usual social media posts and other web and online tasks associated with my art business through the week so its nice on Sunday to move from REsearch to MEsearch and just push pause on all the external voices and just see where I am at, and see where my singular core voice is at.

When all the noise and inspirational quotes are put on pause…who am I? What remains and where is my internal INspiration. Maybe that’s why it’s called INspiration, because it comes from inside of you, and if you try to much to get it from the outside from external voices then you end up EXpired, instead of INspired.

However I do find a great deal of inspiration from listening and learning from others so I would say perhaps its more about a balance between the internal and external?

Please comment if you have made it this far into this post – I’d love to hear your thoughts on INSPIRATION. What is it, where does it come from, how do YOU stay INSPIRED or create your INSPIRATION?

Throughout the week I am busy with carving and a lot of online work associated with the art business.

My credo this week was “focused but not tunnel visioned”, this statement flowing from a moment where my wife was talking to me and I was listening to her ask me a question as I was posting something on Instagram only to have her a few moments later prompt me back into reality where I realized that even though I herd her ask me a question and was fully intending to answering…I didn’t, I just blanked out of reality and into what ever post I was busy with.

So the directive of “focused but not tunnel visioned” was born.

But today is Sunday, and on Sunday I unplug from the internet. I still use my computer for writing which I find is actually a very grounding activity, not like Instagram, facebook, youtube, which can sometimes suck you in if you are not PURPOSEFUL while you are on it. Writing I find actually grounds me. So does carving! Thus I am grateful to have that carving activity as a foundational activity I engage in consistently through the week.

Otherwise, I use Sunday to slow things down. My wife often is at work on Sunday so its just me and the dog and the 2 cats. I have come to appreciate this day. It can sometimes really help just clear my mind and see where I am at and how I spent the previous week and what I would like to adjust, change about my application or/and what I am satisfied with.

Sunday will often… (well maybe not often…still in the process developing my discipline there) involve some kind of cleaning and nearly always a walk at the beach with the dog.

As much as I do focus on my art, my goal is to also incorporate other aspects of living that I see are necessary in creating a more rounded, wholistic, and thus more fulfilling day to day living. I can’t just do art all the time, I need to feed all the various parts and dimensions of myself.

Be sure to connect with me on Instagram and facebook for my daily art posts.

Thanks for reading – See you next time.

Andrew