I am an artist...not my day job!

Over the holidays I took some much needed time off and focused on relaxing and decompressing.  What bubbled up for me during that time is that I'm identifying way too much with my day job (not that that is a bad thing, but it's out of balance with the rest of my life).  So I made a concious decision to put that part of me in check.  My job only represents 1/3 of my weekdays, yet it's consuming the vast majority of my energy and negatively impacting me and those around me the other 2/3rds of my life. 

I purchased a couple of reminders of this "aha" on etsy.com (what a playground, eh?).  The first is a lovely batik fabric covered journal that I now use daily at work for my "to do" list and meeting notes.  I take it with me everywhere throughout the day.  The cover is super saturated and all the colors of the rainbow.  It reminds me of all the wonderful art supplies I have waiting for me in my art studio and that art, not my day job (though I do enjoy it), is my true passion.

My second gift to myself is a ring set that I had made with this year's mantra, "I am an artist...not my day job." It is now something I wear daily.  Together these symbols are reminders of the mental shift I've already made inside.