WIP Wednesday and Row80 - did somebody mention the tortoise and the Hare?

Slow and steady wins the race!

I have steadily been plodding along with Red Thief, writing half an hour a day and actually finding more of my main character's back story being revealed. Helpful little tidbits which assist with the story. Aha moments! Love those! I am making progress and methinks the first draft will be finished by the end of Row80's  first quarter.

I'm still in week 3 of The Artist's Way -  Recovering a Sense of Power. The chapter is all about anger, synchronicity, shame, dealing with criticism and growth.  Thought I don't feel like I've ever lost my power, so to speak, I'm learning all kinds of interesting things.   I've been sharing tidbits with my hubby along the way. We are both great believers in synchronicity because it happens quite a bit in our lives.   Just like Artist's Way coming along at a time I needed it.  Week 3 is going to take me two weeks because it's taken me just the week to read through the chapter. I remember things better if I write them down, so taking lots of notes.  Interesting tidbits to share:

"Anger is meant to be listened to. Anger is a voice, a shout, a plea, a demand. Anger is meant to be respected. Why? Because anger is a map.  Anger shows us what our bounderies are. Anger shows us where we want to go.....   Anger is meant to be acted upon.  It ns not meant to be acted out.  Anger points the direction.  We are meant to use anger as fuel to take the actions we need to move where our anger points us." (pg 61)

Synchronicity.  Is it God or coincidence?  Depends on what you believe.  Jung said it is "an apparently meaningful coincidence in time of two or more similar or identical events that are causally unrelated."  I love what Cameron has to say about it: 

"We like to pretend it is hard to follow our heart's dreams.  The truth is, it is difficult to avoid walking through the many doors that will open. Turn aside your dream and it will come back to you again.  Get willing to follow it again and a second mysterious door will swing open." (pg 66) 

Remember the old adage be careful what you wish for or prayer for, because it just might come true.   Cameron also says 

"Understand that the what must come before the how.  First choose what you would do.  The how usually falls into place itself." 

Criticism is always hard to take, no matter how it's put.  Is constructive criticism really constructive?  My son is a burgeoning artist. He loves to write and draw and we try to encourage him as much as possible. I don't want to kill his creativity and do the best I can so support his efforts.  However, when you've seen the same drawing half a million times, or another fan fiction rewrite of Mario, it's difficult.   Cameron provides some great advice regarding criticism.

Pointed criticism, if accurate, often gives the artist an inner sense of relief...  Useful criticism ultimately leaves us with one more puzzle piece for our work..  Useless criticism, on the other hand, leaves us with a feeling of being bludgeoned.  As a rule, it is withering and shaming in tone; ambigious in content; personal, inaccurate, or blanket in its condemnations.  There is nothing to be gleaned from irresponsible criticism."   pg 72

We've all been the subject of useless criticism and unfortunately I've seen a bit of it, not only in real life but  online as well lately. It serves no purpose, just alienates people.   So I'm learning how to provide useful criticism and seeing the benefits of it already.

Lots of tasks this week including paying attention to non nurturing habits, nurturing friends, feeding your inner compass with an artist brain activity and looking at the trait of people you admire.  Homework!   I love this quote in the sidebar of the chapter:

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost."  Martha Graham

So I'm taking off the blinders and paying more attention to what's going on around me. What about you? Are you are believer in synchronicity or serendipity. What do you believe - God or coincidence?

My goals for the next week:

1) Write morning pages every morning during breakfast
2) Write 30 minutes a day on Red Thief
3) Complete week 3 tasks in Artist Way.
4) Read and post review of Angelology by Danielle Trussoni for TLC book tour March 1st.
5) Come up with H theme for Sunday's post for 52 Books blog week 9

Check out everyone else's progress here