This past week I finally got into the studio for a few extended painting sessions and it felt SO GOOD. After several weeks of being in transition mode and being too busy to spend a lot of time in my studio, it was satisfying to find my way back into work which has been waiting for me there. Sometimes, when I’m really focused, I slip into a wonderful state where things seem to expand and contract at the same time: Perception dilates, attention focuses, time seems to slow and quicken simultaneously, logical thinking stops, frictionless knowing takes its place. This is one form of flow state, the one that I can sometimes access while painting. I think each of us has our own personal experience of flow, so yours might be and feel different than this. I find this state to be deeply affirming, especially when I’ve been away from my work for a while and doubt has started nibbling at my edges. I left my studio energized and thinking, “Yes! More of that please.”
We usually know when we feel that Big Yes–it’s easy to recognize when we’ve just experienced something that lights us up. It just feels good and we want to lean into it. Other times, though, it’s not so easy to know where to invest more energy and where to invest less, especially if we are already feeling tired and overwhelmed. It seems sensible to think that being tired always requires rest. But sometimes we generate more energy by doing more of the things that enliven and elevate us. The trick is knowing what those things are; not what we think they should be, but what they actually are.
So this week I did something that I haven’t done in a long time: a personal energy audit. I began doing this periodically years ago, and it is an awesome tool for evaluating what is contributing to your energy and what is consuming your energy. If you want to give it a try, I’ve included a printable pdf below, or you can also just set up your own in a notebook or on a plain piece of paper: on the left side of your paper, make a list of tasks, responsibilities, or projects, leaving room on the right side to graphically rank each thing on a 1-10 scale, from low to high energy.
Don’t overthink your responses, just tune into your body and go with your gut. Your first response is the right response. This is important–you’ll want to do this quickly. Don’t hesitate too long or think about how you “should” feel about these tasks. This is about how each thing feels energetically. Doing this quickly bypasses the common metrics that we use to sort and prioritize where we spend our time: responsibility, habit, urgency, ego, hustling for approval, etc. It is simple and powerful, just one question applied across a list we generate according to our unique circumstances: how do I feel when I think about this task or project? It often yields surprising results and insights.
In my case, there were only a few things on my list that elicited strong low-energy feelings, and it’s good to know that a lot of things on my list were medium and high energy. I can think about how to adjust my approach to the low-energy projects (mostly social media and administrative business things, all necessary but draining for me) and how to prioritize time for the high-energy projects (painting, connecting with other artists, a new class and project).
Need some clarity too? Try doing an energy audit and let me know in the comments what you discover!
Gleanings…
“Gleanings” are back! I’m still feeling out the cadence of this section, and thinking that it might fall into an every-other-week rhythm as I fold in other ideas I have for this space. This is what I have for you this week…
Listening to… The Art Problems Podcast by Paddy Johnson from the NetVverk platform. I’ve been working my way through the episodes, and this week’s conversation looks really good.
Looking at… Window Swap! This website live streams the view from windows all over the world. Oddly, one of the things that makes it so wonderful is how mundane they all are. Hit the button to change windows.
Learning… I’ve just signed up for a webinar with Creative Capital about their grant application. Have you applied for grants before? I never have! I’ve been on their Artist Opportunities mailing list for a long time. Aside from their webinars, their evergreen educational page looks amazing.
That’s it from me this week! As always, thanks for spending time here. If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, show some love by hitting the heart button, leaving a comment, and/or sharing this with a friend.
Yours in Practice,
Lisa
A friend shared your newsletter with me, and I’m happy to have found it. I’ve been following your art for a long time (I think you might have been the very first person I ever followed on Instagram), so it’s nice to experience your writing. I like the idea of an energy audit, consciously acknowledging activities give energy or drain it. The trick is figuring out how to balance them when life has needs.
Love the Window Snap! I always find myself looking up into windows and imagining what people are doing inside so this creates a whole new perspective of a story, imagining what that person is thinking looking out their window..it kind of is a yin/yang thing for me.
I find your writing very calming and honest! Thank you!