 Brain Fog Dream by SterpIt’s always been beautiful
No matter the Fear Rage Jealousy The venomous snake overbearing But I watch with excitement Purple creativity is my path Guitars, citars, tapestries hang Yellow tormentous pain teaches me Some wolves are tamed When they first arrive they are not My flesh they want to tear apart Until I’m calm -Written by Stephanie Briggs (Sterp)
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I promised in my last blog, The one Post-It note I have on my desk to help with productivity, that I would test out the post-it note mantra on my desk which asks, “What would this look like if it were fun?” Reaching peak productivity is not always glamorous and often requires us to do tedious tasks in order to make progress. Those tasks are necessary but sometimes very boring. So, how do you organize any space and always make it fun? Ask yourself, “What would this look like if it were fun?” I tested this recently with my bestie when she asked for help in cleaning and organizing her wood burning art studio. She was feeling overwhelmed at the thought of organizing her art space. It seemed like an impossible task. So, we rolled up our sleeves, and made it look and feel fun.
BEFORE (Some may say, a crackhead den...not that there's anything wrong with that - insert Seinfeld quote lol.)
IN PROGRESS...COMPLETED PHOTOS FURTHER DOWN!
So, how exactly did we make this fun? We came up with a few easy ways to make the process enjoyable. We decided to:
When I shared the idea with my bestie to document our journey, her face lit up, “That would be cool!” The excitement was starting to brew as we faced the stressful job ahead. BTW - there is such a thing as good stress and this is an example of it. Good stress enables your brain to solve problems that are achievable and once achieved brings a sustainable happiness that instant gratification does not provide. Along the way, I discovered something about my bestie…she owned a label maker! Hear me out, I have never owned one. They are so damn satisfying. I was organizing the space in her studio where she keeps her finished pieces and asked, “Do you have a label maker?” I didn’t expect the answer would be yes. But it was, and now I’m here dreaming about label makers every day. Check out my TikTok video below to get full impact.
The best part of re-organizing a space is getting rid of all the crap you don’t need that has piled up. It’s exhilarating. I’m one of those hard core people, if I haven’t used or worn something in six months, I don’t deserve to keep it. That’s where we started, filling four trash bags. This cleared the space and allowed us to visually see what was important. Organizing is far easier once all the unnecessary items are out of the way. I also want to point out, all the furniture and shelves in my bestie’s studio are second hand. She is a master thrifter (definite potential for another blog on her mastery skills.) This girl can find anything at a bargain.
After two and half hours, the bestie’s wood burning art studio was transformed! We designated areas for specific phases of her wood burning business: creating, staining, completed inventory, and packaging.
Follow Wood Burning with Ashley - here's why!
Check out some of her beautiful pieces below. She burns everything by hand after she places a stencil drawing down. If you see anything you like, you’ll be getting quality in addition to reasonable pricing. She is responsive and can customize anything. Be sure to follow her Facebook business page Wood Burning with Ashley here.
The next time you dread a task, ask yourself, “What would this look like if it were fun?” It could be as simple as asking a friend to help, putting on your favorite tunes or documenting and sharing the journey with others to provide value to the world. What have you been procrastinating on? Tell me in the comments.
Thank you for taking time to tune in dear reader, Sterp  I have always dreamed of living a life similar to my favorite authors and artists. Like that of Virginia Woolf’s Bloomsbury Group, an intimate society of intellectuals, writers, artists who lived their lives together, forming deep friendships and above all, creating. Creating ideas, art, books, conversations. I have always craved a life like Gertrude Stein’s, having a big house where artists from around the world gather to talk creations, to create, paint, love, write, laugh. Being a writer, an artist, it’s lonely work. Immersed within your own soul, facing the turmoils of your past, breathing in the moment and wondering about the future. I no longer have to crave or dream. Moving out of California to Pennsylvania, building an artist sanctuary became possible. You would be surprised what can happen when you meet like-minded people, ones who are motivated, genuinely compassionate and true to who they are. Now I spend multiple days a week creating with intellectuals and creatives who I call my friends. I no longer need to try to be like Virginia or Gertrude, I just need to be me. It takes some vulnerability, some risk. It takes courage. As Virginia Woolf said, “Masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice.” Said in another way, masterpieces manifest from the sum of experiences, perspectives and feelings invoked by those you surround yourself with. So surround yourself wisely and a masterpiece might just arise.
 I edited my second book the other night for seven hours straight. In the end, I was nauseous and at that point only sleep would help.
No one said writing books would be easy. I guess this is part of it. The writer takes on the suffering, hardships, and victories of their characters. It’s emotionally and physically exhausting, but for a writer, it’s an absolute necessity to live. Like breathing. The irony here: for many of us, writing can be therapeutic, but as we shed our skin of our own experiences we take on the new ones of our characters, all imagined by us from the beginning. It’s like being cleansed but using the exact thing we want to be cleansed of to cleanse ourselves. I felt nauseous the other night. I wrote about death, dark corners that exist in evil minds, sorrow and yet I never felt more proud and motivated after those seven hours. I feel my craft pumping through my veins and getting stronger every minute, every hour that I spend with it. Like any art, like any craft, it stretches at your heart. It can drive you insane. But who wants to live any other way? So there I lay ready to sleep, queasy, with a smile on my face. -Sterp |
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