I customize my moleskins with a painting, f
ront and back.

I LOVE MOLESKINS  I mean the little moleskin notebooks that fit in your pocket or purse or back pack. Not actual rodent mole skins like the ones my eldest brother used to catch when we were kids. 

My moleskin organizes my life. Thanks to Alyson Stanfield, whose website and online classes I highly recommend, I have a system that helps me stay on track. Well, at least some of the time.

It’s a bit of a ritual. In my moleskin, on the top of the page, I write the date out fully: Tuesday, August 28, 2012. That grounds the thought process in time and space.

Then I flip the page over and on the back of the page I write my mission. That can be a tough one, but for me it’s simple. To create art that joyfully shares the mystery and complexity of the natural world. It could be: To live the life of a successful author, mother, entrepreneur, or belly dancer. Whatever works for YOU.

The next step is to write the three MOST IMPORTANT things that will directly help you on the path to that goal. My #1 is always: PAINT. No surprise there.

Beneath those three things I write seven gratitudes. They also help ground me. One gratitude might be that I have the opportunity to spend time at my easel. Another might be the scent of peonies or sagebrush, depending upon the season and location. (Although I am ALWAYS grateful for both of those, even in the dead of winter.)

The guts of the book.

Beneath the gratitudes I write seven specific affirmations. To paint for a specific amount of time is always the first affirmation. To prep for classes is usually next these days. Exercise is  always one of them. Walk 1/2 hour minimum, do 30 push ups, 100 sit ups and some glute work. Honest. I do. The walk is hardest to fit in.

Then I flip the page back to the front and write my to-do list for the day. It’s usually pretty long and includes long term and short term to-do’s. There’s probably a better way to do that part.

Do you have a suggestion?