Where is the work?

I created this blog to encourage me to keep a journal of my art. I also love to write, and this allows me the pleasure of doing so. As is obvious, I haven't updated this in a few weeks, mainly because I've done very little artistically during that time. I suppose I have some excuse. My weekly schedule is pretty full: I'm up at 4:00 every morning; on the commuter bus at 5:00; start work at 8:00 or 8:30; back on the bus at 5:00 or 5:30; home anywhere between 7:30 and 9:45, depending on the day of the week; and in bed between 9:30 and 10:30. I have classes two days each week, and I try to get to the gym the other three (key word here is "try"). I am working on my BA in Business Administration, so most of my free time during the week is spent studying. I have one class on campus, and the other is online. My one and a half to two hour commute in the morning is spent sleeping. I have a hard time reading on the bus, so I usually do some handwork during the ride home, unless I'm really tired, then I sleep again.

(Wow, seeing my schedule written down, it looks like a lot. It doesn't feel that way, though. I guess I've been doing it so long, I don't even realize how much I do.)

Weekends are a different story. My husband works at home. He's a much better cook than I am, so he pretty much fixes all meals, including my lunch for the next day. Since he's at home, he also does the majority of the cleaning. The only thing I do in that department is laundry, and I do that every three weeks. On Sunday, we do grocery shopping for the week, as well as any other shopping that needs to be done. I try to get my studying done during the week, but I may do a few hours each of those two days, especially if there's a project or exam coming up the following week. Other than that, my weekends are pretty much free.

The question then becomes, why am I not producing more art? I generally have large blocks of time on the weekends, especially Saturday. I have all these ideas and images floating around in my head, some of which I've sketched out, or written descriptions of, not to mention all the unfinished projects, including several novels. Why are they not being realized? Because I'm sitting in front of the television, vegetating. When I've mentioned that to a few people, their reaction is usually, "It's okay to vegetate once in a while," or "Sometimes you need to just do nothing." The problem is that I do it almost every weekend! It's not just once in a while, it's every weekend. Suddenly it's Sunday night, and time to get ready to sleep, and I've gotten nothing done. I have spent the weekend channel surfing, watching inane shows I've seen too many times.

I need to get working. I need to finish what I start. I want to produce something that others will look at and say, "Wow, how'd she do that?" I want to have pieces of my work in shows and magazines. Of course, that can't happen if I don't finish a piece and send it out! No one is going to come knocking on my door and ask for my artwork. They don't know it's there! I have to put it out for everyone to see.

Okay, I'm getting excited. I have projects to finish. The year is almost over. There are still a few months left to finish some things. Not everything I wanted to accomplish this year will be realized, but I've done a few of them. I finished a couple UFOs, I entered two small pieces into my local quilt show, I joined and completed some swaps with a couple online groups. I am working, not as much as I'd like, but there have been some accomplishments. So I can do more.

It's October 1. I wonder how much I can finish before December 31..............