The ART of Coping with Challenges

The Art of Coping with Challenges

On the positive side, I’ve been able to work on my PAC Series again.  The new pieces express both the empowering moments as well as the current turmoil of technology issues.  Perfect!  They reflect my experience of life over the past month. That’s exactly what I want my art to do. 

 I’m definitely riding on a see-saw, just not sure who is on the other side of the fulcrum.  Slowly … very, very slowly, each new challenge is being resolved.

 To start off with a side note, while searching for answers to a multitude of technological questions, I came upon an article that ranted about the older generation using two spaces after a period that ended a sentence.  Really?  Is that actually something to complain about?  I am of the older generation and I grew up using a manual typewriter.  My fingers automatically insert two spaces after a period.  It’s nothing I feel necessary to apologize about or to change because it is no longer necessary to do so.  I still find it easier to read paragraphs when the two spaces are present. The discovery that my typing habit is frowned upon is just one of the many discoveries I made while lost in the rabbit hole looking for answers.

 Those of you who know me well, know that I am persistent when it comes to solving problems, especially when the problems are effecting my family, friends, students and communication with other artists.  Persistence, recently, has tapped my energy far more than usual.  How do I cope with the stress?  I have three main ways to cope with stress of all kinds.  These three actions have coping skills have helped me to move forward since I was a teenager.

1. I go for a walk … a long walk.
2. I create art … any kind of art.
3. I meditate

All three appear to wash the blackboard of my brain, allowing me to start fresh with the facts I know about the situation, eliminating the assumptions I have made along the way … the assumptions that led to dead ends.  Often it means that I need to find someone to ask who is a bit higher up on the chain of assistants, agents, technicians or whatever name is given to the person or AI that I first connect to.

I love solving puzzles, but this last tornado of internet puzzling has been something I would rather not be experiencing.  It feels like another self-inflicted barricade to keep me from progress in my studio.  Do any of you have self-sabotaging events that happen to you? Self-sabotaging often appears to be something happening TO me rather than a situation I have created myself.  But now I'm wondering if this is really so.

 To test my theory that it is self-sabotage, I am starting an experiment this afternoon.  I will post the results of this experiment next Wednesday.  Until then, I’m keeping the details a secret so as not to give myself a double whammy. 

I treated myself to a night out to meet with a group of artists at a local coffee shop, Scouts Coffee Bar in High Bridge, New Jersey.  We spent two hours making collages.  I met a wonderful woman with whom I will be meeting again to visit museums together.  this was another highlight during this past month's Dark Ages.

Thank you for reading my blog.  Not every day is rosy, and yet, every day includes a lot to smile about.

Chris