Goals: To not have goals

Hey friends.

Hope you are all having a great summer. Our summer is going too fast and hence I am late again in sending this newsletter.

I recently finished this book called Stolen Focus and I highly recommend it. It goes into great detail about how our lack of focus and inability to think and reflect deeply is basically in danger. He gives various reasons for that from social media, to the political environment to pollution and un healthy lifestyles. Etc. Again Highly recommended!! 

To be honest I felt kinda depressed, after reading it because the task to come back to our true selves seemed so big and so hard. It felt like he is asking to swim against the current. Call it synchronicity after reading this book and thinking about it, I came across the podcast Creative pep talk (episode number 400). On how to ground yourself by not making a goal. I love this podcast in general because it always pumps me up to keep going. In this episode, however, the host interviewed his wife Sophie Miller. She is a fabric artist and after being with her three kids as a full-time mom is starting to explore her art again. She says she knew she is not going to be where she left off so to lower down her own disspointment, and her internal pressure she decided she wants to work on one large piece based on a word for a whole year. She also adds she does not expects to complete it or make money out of it.

This is such a amazing idea!! because the pressure of making a piece that everyone should like is such a terrible/horrible/not good idea. Creating a long term goal gives us time to breath, to think and to explore. To make mistakes and come back to it. I know as soon as I started exploring art I also started putting the pressure of generating money/validation from others immediately. It was such a huge mistake! It became so hard to create and such a struggle to take risks. It is so so important to give ourselves time to think, fail and try again in life. Which is ofcourse oppostie to ‘instant gratification’ era we are living in.

So inspired by her I decided to also create a project for myself.  As of now I am trying to to give myself a few hours/ or an hour (depending on the day) screen free. After listening to Sophie I also create a goal where the only goal is to show up for the designated hour. I need time to reflect and see what comes to mind. So far my guest room is filled with pictures of my childhood and I have been paintings old photographs of my mom. Here are some of the paintings of my mom that I have done so far.

I will keep you posted on what happens to this project.

Hope you all have a wonderful July.

xoxo

Sumayya