2017

Do you have any 2017 plans?  Mine have been percolating and forming as I have been stitching and spending time over the last month or so, until finally I have a list.

I have an overall goal to lose some weight.  I am sick of people telling me to go for walks, to exercise and whatever; my goal is to lose some weight. I am not going to talk about walking, or going to the gym for now. I may choose to do these things but they are not on my radar.  The reason - I have two wardrobes and quite a few boxes of clothes and many of them are too small for me.  I have been storing them for quite some time and if they don't fit by the end of the year I shall throw them out.  Personally I would rather have the choice of throwing them out because I don't like them.  Ha, true confessions.  And no more clothes buying. I actually have more clothes than I can wear.  Just for a year.  I think maybe I could buy socks - I love fancy and coloured socks.

I also know that I should be walking and all that stuff, but my plan for 2017 also involves giving up on should.

At the moment my exhibition which opens on 1 March in Carterton at Heart of Arts is occupying a lot of my time and thought processes.

This afternoon I spent some time marking out a metre on my design board so I could look at the spacing for these strips.  I have decided that four to a metre is a good number.

Right that is three plans.

We are planning on going to England around April, mainly for Steve to sort out some family stuff in London. Oh dear, how does that fit with the clothes plan - maybe scarves and socks.  I am sure just London socks would be cool.  

And then when we come back I will have my studio directly in my line of sight.

No more piles everywhere, no more half finished projects lying around and a regularly vacuumed floor.  A place for everything.  And as part of that I am going to rationalise my books.  I am going to keep books on artists that I love, catalogues from exhibitions, and  theory books that I love.

​Right that's two more plans.

OK,  I have 5 plans for the year.  I have them spaced out and none of them involves changing the world in one single bound.  Woohoo.  Usually when I make a plan, I plan to change the world in that single bound and end up tripped up or worse.  This is the first time I have planned sensibly and gently.  I am developing a new philosophy of talking quietly and gently to myself.

What are your plans?  How do you get there?  I am thinking there is a real culture in New Zealand of "kicking
​yourself in the butt"  when times get difficult, of saying "get up and get on with it" and I don't think it is good.