Fears and Challenges

I succeeded in getting my Friday Collage done earlier in the week, actually finished it on Tuesday amidst the chaos of cleaning and organizing my studio. My memories of Haifa inspired the piece - the calmer gentler memories (blues & greens) of the clear skies and lush fields in the nearby kibbutz. For this piece I gathered greens from my scrap box, seam binding and sewed, cut, sewed until I was "happy", then attached it to a heavily quilted blue fabric - another quick fun exercise. I've hung on to the miscellaneous sewing notions I inherited from my grandmother for over ten years. Lace, rickrack, seam binding, zippers, etc - a rather odd assortment but with the spirit of "Use What You Have" I've decided to try to incorporate them (well, some of them!) in as many projects as I can during the next couple of months. (Nanny would be so proud!) Friday Collage #14: Haifa 8.5" x 11"

I finally got everything put away in the studio and it's comforting to know what I have and where it is. I thought I'd be inspired to work, but no... I didn't want to make a mess, so off to the computer where I spent a little too much time "surfing" yesterday afternoon - just a minor creative avoidance. Following Debra's post at Blogher, I found Kelly's Creative Collage where she has suggested the first of what will probably be many exercises to "stare fear in the face and learn how to make this inescapable energy work for us."

I spent some time thinking about it... my creativity - what it means to me. It's hard for me to separate my fears from my challenges, but here it goes...
What am I afraid of:
1. running out of time - wanting to do so many things
2. not curious enough
3. being "successful" - defining what that means
4. asking for help
5. going too fast or too slow

My challenges:
1. commitment to creativity
2. nurturing the feeling of awe and wonder
3. work against self-censorship
4. trusting my intuition
5. paying attention to coincidence and serendipity

Anyway... this is a start. I want to continue to explore all the different facets of my creative journey. I might learn more about how I work and where I'm going with it!