“And also with me…” — this is the way that I need to be able to enjoy and appreciate the experience of life overall and the collections of experiences within the experience.

It’s taken some time to really get acquainted with myself by myself. A lot of the time when I am by myself, I am focused on other things, such as a list of things I must accomplish that day. Going on “artist’s dates” is one of the things that has helped me immensely. I learned about this practice when I did “The Artist’s Way” a couple of years ago:

The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore
something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly
“artistic” — think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the
imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the
play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well
of images and inspiration. When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask
yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it.

I have not been doing a weekly artist date, but I do make a point to go on an artist’s date that gets me out and about by myself in a way that gets me out of my comfort zone. I had a nice time on my artist’s date tonight. I went to see Judd Apatow at the super sweet Pantages Theatre.

I realized that I mostly enjoy what I would call the heart of his comedy and his way of telling a story through characters. There’s a lot of recognition of love and the need for love that drives us up and down and all around through life. It gets twisted. We get twisted. These are some of the most impactful and connecting touchpoints of comedy. Embracing the humbling yet uplifting resignation of being human, on stage for the love and disgust for oneself and for all, is indeed a worthy spectacle.

I think artist dates are important and I’d like to be in the practice of having a weekly artist date and applying the mindset daily. Sometimes it’s difficult to identify what truly feels like fun to me or that having fun without a specific outcome in mind is just as, if not, more valuable to overall productivity and fulfillment in life.

Thank you for following @blueprintwellness.life to see my #writing #alltheloveandnoexcuses #120daysadhana unfold.

Brightly,
Laura Peppin