In Search of the Lost Hobby ...

I make a living with words: I write them and translate them. I also write for my own enjoyment.

Writing is a craft that the writer perfects over the years.

And yet I find myself craving other creative outlets. Perhaps that is why I´ve also dabbled in dancing and drawing. That´s why I spent my two pregnancies crocheting booties and shawls for my babies.

I grew up watching my father and my grandfather write, and my grandfather would let me use his canvases and oil paints when I was 12. As kids, my sister and I played with clay by his side.

Yesterday I observed my 9-year old carry her notebook everywhere we went and draw and make notes of everything. She inspired me to buy a sketchbook and pencils, and after twenty plus years of not doing it, sketch. Of course, for lack of practice, my drawing skills have not improved over the years. But, it was fun!

I´d forgotten how good it felt to put pencil to paper.

I´m not trading drawing for writing, just as I don´t trade dancing for running.

Writing is still my main interest and will most likely remain number one until the day I die. But it is liberating and fun to take up something I thought I´d left behind for good. This time around, however, I´m not expecting anything of it. It´s fun to do things I enjoy, whether I excel at them or not! 

What activity or hobby did you leave behind that you could take up again simply for the enjoyment of it?

www.lorrainecladish.com

Nike Was Right! Just Do It! It Works!

Most people decide to lose weight, exercise, write a book, or anything else, and then they spend many hours, sometimes days, weeks, months and even years getting ready to start!

The result is often a garage filled with unused equipment, unread books, money wasted on workshops and dreams gone down the drain, plus a huge feeling of failure.

I suggest doing just the opposite. It´s always worked for me.

I make a note of my goal, and then I start taking steps to accomplish it. Once I´ve hit the road running, I search the resources available out there to improve my style, my output or my technique or whatever I need to work on. That´s how I approach the arts, sports, writing, work and more.

I don´t need the perfect running shorts to start running. I don´t need to have the perfect office space to write. I don´t even need to have money! I don´t need to know the perfect sketching technique to enjoy doing it.

If you don´t exercise, there is no style to improve or no routine to add on to. You can spend a lifetime talking about the book you will write and take a gazillion workshops. But you will have no craft to hone if you don´t well … write!

In a nutshell, this is the Just Do It tagline that Nike made so popular, but heck, it works!

So … Just Do It!

Do it imperfectly, do it little by little, do it when and how you can, but Do It!

Do it, and in one month, please check back and let me know what happened!

www.lorrainecladish.com