Look at the monkey...
In February, I was 15 minutes early for some body work, so I walked down the street & was treated to the sight of fresh-bloomed crocuses & the buzz buzz buzz of the first bees of the season. I didn't have long -- it had taken me about 2 minutes to saunter down to that particular chainlink-fenced yard, so that meant 11 minutes of photography. The pistils & stamens were fascinating & the bees were ready for their close-ups (there were 2 of them there, 2 sweet busy buzzy sisters) & the colors were even more breathtaking than they would have been, being it was such an early spring event. (Since then we've had plenty of winter, including some snowshine yesterday, so I'll get to experience the extra-wow factor again.) This was one of my favorites of the little bouquet of photos I was able to take before hustling back up the street.
I have been happily doing my artist's way exercises & I came to the realization (Have I had it before? Perhaps, in which case it is a re-realization.) that good habits attract other good habits. It's not that I haven't been hanging out with good habits for a while, but it was spotty. You know the friends that you see occasionally & really enjoy it & get a lot out of it but don't make it a regular occurrence? It can be that way with habits, too. Good habits & bad habits, whoever shows up comes on in & either turns on the sitcom & gets out the Cheetos or says, "hey, let's go for a walk & then paint together."
Well, after I started going steady with Art (aka Artist Date) & Page (Morning Pages is her full name) a bunch of other good habits started hanging out with me. They're a band of good buddies with good hearts & kick-ass effectiveness, ready for the adventure. If I've forgotten my pocket handkerchief, some one of them will have an extra, or show me how to blow my nose cowboy style, one nostril at a time & always downwind. I am having a great deal of fun & getting a great deal done.
Besides the good habit brigade, Synchronicity has been hanging out with me as well. The other Monday, as I was leaving my poker SIG (special interest group) at UNCA, having just won the tournament (& chosen as my prize a large black t-shirt with a picture of 3 guys in cowboy hats, jeans & boots standing at a bank of urinals, titled "Texas Hold'em") a song came on the radio, a song that I've been thinking about, fondly & longingly. I'm not sure I've heard it since I moved here, but back in Minnesota it made my friend Cathy (former New Yorker) & I (former Montana girl) very happy. She said it made her miss her childhood in the south. I couldn't remember the title -- "Sweet Southern Childhood?" No, not quite. -- or the artist or enough of the words to plop a sentence into a search engine, so I was dependent on some DJ to present it to me. & there it was! "Sweet Southern Comfort" by Buddy Jewell. Yay! Now I know. I told Cathy, now a Seattleite, so she can tune back into her downsouth roots as well.
& now it's time to get back to my buddies, the Good Habit Gang, who've been reading this blog post over my shoulder as it emerged from my fingers, poking each other & doing some high 5s ("Hey, she's talking about us!" with Art & Page giving each other a proud glance at being specifically singled out.) but now ready to move on to another activity. Walk downtown & get the mail ("Hey, it's sunny & almost fifty degrees!") is on the schedule, right after get dressed. (The habits like to say "Hey" a lot & are fond of exclamation points. No wonder we get along.)
Blog alternative:
253. Invite a good habit to spend some more time with you. (Make room for its buddies.)
