Shayla Maddox

I've been taking pictures. This was on my balcony.

A friend of mine wisely believes in the importance of "speaking things into existence," and that once you speak it out loud, it somehow manifests itself in a way that isn't possible if you don't "make it real" by saying it out loud. It's not that I didn't believe her, because I watched things eerily work out in that exact way for her. I guess I didn't believe it would work for me. (Never-ending personal doubt.)

Yet... there are things that Colin and I made specific effort to speak out loud this year. Certain goals, various plans. Now that it's December, I can't say that those goals aren't clearly happening. Well, starting to happen. Seeming like soon, someday, possibly, maybe they will happen.

But it's there.

We like to come up with "goals" for each period of our lives. Sometimes its a yearly goal, sometimes its a seasonal one (or both, obviously.)

A long, long time ago, we declared one season the Autumn of Art. It was that season that really started the whole life-turn for painting. We also had a Winter of Soup, but I don't think that actually worked out as well.

Without these goals, I think we'd just go on not ever-improving our situation. We'd have the same problems year after year, without much progress. We'd continue to put the problem outside of ourselves (if only this, if only that) and never take pro-active measures to correct them. I think everyone should always be moving forward. I think people around you who refuse to move forward are in danger of holding you back.

I fear stagnancy.