My new days

I have been doing this full-time painting thing for a full three months now.  It took some days to fully recover from our overseas trip, but I'm now into a predictable pattern that only gets disrupted when I have community commitments. 

It's important to mention that I went into this life shift calling it a "semi-retirement".  In many ways, it was the wrong descriptor to choose as it suggested a slow down of effort and an increase of ease.  Neither of those things have happened, which makes me rethink my choice of words.  In fact, I have shifted to being gainfully self-employed.  And as any business person will tell you, the amount of revenue you have coming in is directly proportional to your effort.  I put in a lot of work.

I get up every morning between 6:00 am and 6:30 am.  Between 7:30 am and 8:00 am, I am out in the studio working on whatever project is on the easel, building shipping boxes, or doing other tasks.  I typically work until about 11 am at which time I break for lunch and a quick nap. 

By the early afternoon, I'm back out in the studio and work until 4:00 pm.  I then spend a couple of hours doing household things like cooking, shopping and cleaning.  After dinner, I'm at the easel until 8:00 pm.

So, I'm painting 6 to 8 hours every day, even on weekends.  The idea behind the intense pace is that I want to be in a position to shut everything down for weeks at a time when we do our humanitarian or family trips.  When we are home, I will work hard, so I don't have to do so when I am away.