A List.

Today's prompt was to write a list. I thought of a bunch of different kinds of lists I could make but none of them seemed that great.

Again, it's the whole "whatever I do must be original, amazing, and the best ever" type of thought-process that keeps me from actually doing stuff. So, it might be boring, but I'll throw out a list here and see what happens.

Art Supplies I was recently gifted or purchased myself:

- calligraphy set
- calligraphy books
- calligraphy ink
- table-top, medium-sized easel
- a small, blank canvas (my sweet middle-child spent his own gift-money on it for me)
- a variety of gel pens
- Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens
- Tombow Dual Brush Pens
- Calligraphy Made Easy - this book is not "real" calligraphy... it has calligraphic elements, but doing the "real" thing with a legitimate nib is WAY harder. Though, I am LOVING this book and highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn brush-lettering
- blank sketch book (THIS one - so lovely!)
- Pentel water brush pens
- How to Draw Modern Florals - this book is pretty straightforward, but super helpful!

There might be a few more things too. I basically used all the money Mark gave me to spend on my birthday on books and art supplies. I'm trying to embrace my inner artist more - it's one thing I regret not pursuing more intentionally.

It's odd really. I was extremely athletic (still am, just not in decent shape) and very artistic, but those are two career fields most teachers and leaders in the school system seem to try and steer you away from. In college I had momentarily decided to minor in Art (under my Writing and Lit major) but felt like I was so far behind that I could never really do it. I had a roommate for one semester who was an art major, and she was always behind on some major project and I never felt like I had the capacity or tools/knowledge to do anything remotely as well as she did.

This new thing I'm working on is a lesson I am still learning. Honestly, like this very minute.

Making a little progress is better than doing nothing. 

I'm pretty sure this idea comes up a lot on my blog. I'd rather just give up than progress only a tiny bit and still be so far from where I wish I was. But inaction and regret will just keep me here. So this year I am really attempting to do less of what my head says is realistic, and do more of the things I really wish I had been doing before. Which includes a lot of art.

I had a conversation once, with the same friend who previously encouraged me to try this 31-day writing challenge, and we talked about looking at great works of art. I told her that I look at paintings and feel a tiny rush of adrenaline, then a little jealousy, wishing I could paint something beautiful too. She looked at me and said "I think you should probably do something about that, because I don't have that feeling at all, and I don't think everyone does."

So, I am hopeful to make some good progress in that endeavor this year. Thus the abundance of art supplies I've begun to collect :) We'll see how it goes. It's hard to only be "average" and feel like I don't know how I'm supposed to do stuff, but the only way to overcome that is to keep moving forward.