i was busy this week.
SO BUSY.
busy busy busy.
with papers, photography, emails, art projects, presentations, meetings, eating, sleeping, yoga, coffee.....
yesterday kind of marked the end of my semester at Biola... I finished a big project that I'm really excited about. I also finished a big 6 page paper. And yes, 6 pages equals BIG in my eyes!
Anyway. Feeling stressed and busy reminded me of an art project I did last year that i was TOO BUSY to post! :)
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I'm obsessed with my vegan calendar (click! check it out!) by Jill Bliss. It has literally changed my life----- I'm attached to it---------It makes me happy! IT MAKES SCHEDULING FUN!
so, i'm attached, and i WILL admit that my obsessive attachment also indicates: I'm a busy girl. I'm probably overcommitted! I need to say the word no more often so that i have more time for yoga and baking and reading magazines and changing the world. My awesome calendar made by the beautiful Jill Bliss is connected to my heart because without it i wouldn't be able to remember the millions of homework assignments, the library books that are due, the lunch dates, the birthdays, the meetings, and oh yes: "stay sane" is also itemized on my calendar's pages.
noticing this obsession, i decided to rip out all of the pages of my calendars from the past 3 years and put them on display. One more thing that i am obsessed with is saving my to-do lists! I secretly get lots and lots of joy out of making to-do lists, and i really REALLY love making them funny. i love making myself laugh as i read my to-do's, and i love making them pretty, and i love making them on neon paper and writing on them with colorful pens.
this project is a collection of all the to-do lists, all the calendar pages, and all the busyness that's in my life. i hope you can connect with it in some way, unless you live in the middle of nowhere and bake your own bread and don't have email, in which case #1) i'm jealous and #2) you're fine--- and aren't plagued with the disease of being busy like the rest of us.
this is what the whole project looked like from far away
i was a stalker and photographed people looking at it
one of my favorite parts about making to-do lists is the titles. "do this so you don't go crazy"..... "this will be fun i promise"...... "YAY THURSDAY!"...... or "gives me anxiety"
i also enjoy including things like breathing and smiling and having fun on my lists. if i didn't i think i'd get depressed.
tape :)!
and to finish off, please enhance your soul and read this quote by Thomas Merton in his essay Rain and the Rhinoceros, an essay about our busy culture, and the importance of noticing the small glories in each day. Like the rain.
Of course the festival of rain cannot be stopped, even in the city. The woman from the delicatessen scampers along the sidewalk with a newspaper over her head. The streets, suddenly washed, became transparent and alive, and the noise of traffic becomes a plashing of fountains.
One would think that urban man in a rainstorm would have to take account of nature in its wetness and freshness, its baptism and its renewal. But the rain brings no renewal to the city... and the obsessed citizens plunge through the rain bearing the load of their obsessions, slightly more vulnerable than before, but still only barely aware of external realities. They do not see that the streets shine beautifully, that they themselves are walking on stars and water, that they are running in skies to catch a bus or taxi... Their complaints are mechanical and without spirit.
Merton goes on in the end of the essay to say:
Then the quails begin their sweet whistling in the wet bushes. Their noise is absolutely useless, and so is the delight I take in it. There is nothing I would rather hear, not because it is a better noise than the other noises, but because tit is the voice of the present moment, the present festival.
Doesn't that just give you goosebumps? One of my roommates literally got goosebumps and the other literally had tears at the sound of that quote. I love those words. the present festival. love it!
11 comments:
this is all so great!
i like to do lists, but they are not as fun. you can't really have fun on iCal i guess.
ha, if anyone has a fun way to make iCal fun----------- tell Jason.
That's an amazing project, Shannon!
I witnessed the first Shannon sighting I have ever had at Biola, it was very exciting. :) You looked most busy then too, and I hope you will be able to get rest soon!
TO Do:
1. Tell Shannon you love her.
2. Tell her other things too..
a. I love your project!
b. I made my husband a "honey-do" list the other day... with things like, "fix my bike" on it.
c. I love my Little Otsu calendar you gave me last year for my birthday.
d. I'm now inspired to make more lists and save them for the sake of remembrance and joy.
3. Sing. Dance. Play.
love this shannon. thomas merton! i'm going to make my to-do-list's more fun now.
i read that whoooooooole thing
seriously!
Hi Shannon, "TO DO LISTS"! What are they? When you are retired you don't have those anymore, right? But, they are fun to read and read about!!! Great blog - the best! love ya, GR MA
love this project. love that you love lists and planners too. love YOU!
grandma----- how fun that to-do lists get to disappear one day! woooo!!!
Brilliant project Shannon! You've inspired me to make more to-do lists:) Whenever I make them they make me smile... I like to make them all pretty and put check marks by them when I complete things.
It makes me feel special, haha!
You're great!
oh my gosh. you are just one of my favorites.i love love loved that quote.
and i sent this link to my friend before i even read that quote because i loved your project and i thought she would too. and now i love this post even more.
<3 linds.
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