Artist Dates
I started this post with the intention of talking about my date to the plant store. An Artist’s Date. Then I realized I needed to explain what an Artist Date was. But in order to do that I needed to first talk about my book club.
Long, long ago (this past November), CJ finished her first ever book club which was hosted by the intuitive author Ritu. She chose Walking in This World: The Practical Art of Creativity by Julia Cameron. I’ve read one book by Cameron before and found it chock full of helpful and intriguing concepts. Perhaps a little too full as it takes me so long to get through them! Once a month our group would meet online to discuss the chapters we read. Pretty standard stuff, right?
At the beginning of her book, Cameron introduces a three-fold concept meant to keep one’s creative well filled and clear of contaminates. I’ll give a brief, subjective overview here:
1. Morning Pages – MPs are basically the daily journal and workhorse of the creative well. Every day you write three pages of stream-of-conscious thoughts every morning. As this is stream-of-consciousness writing, your pages are supposed to contain any and every feeling that comes across your mind at that time.
However.
As an INFP doing anything every single day makes me want to gnaw my ankles off. Instead, I’ve adjusted the number of times I write. On days I feel empty, I don’t write anything. On days I feel full, usually of emotions or interactions, I rush over to write no matter what time of day it is. My current writing pattern is either in the morning right as I wake up or in the afternoon after something has occurred. I also don’t write a full three pages. Just whatever is spinning around my CJ brain.
If an emotion or situation comes up multiple times in my MPs, it signals to me that actual action needs to be taken. For example, I noticed that my anxiety and urgency around job hunting began to change around the end of October/beginning of November. Only after I wrote about that anxiety multiple times, did I realize that meant I needed to do something about it. So I started crafting resumes, searching for job openings, and sending applications out. Not all actions are so obvious to pin down, of course, especially if the action involves other people. But morning pages have given me a useful tool to help me manage my emotions.
2. Weekly Walks – This is pretty self-explanatory. Once a week you should take a walk, preferably in a place not filled with screaming pedestrians and cars intent on killing themselves and everyone around them. There is not a set time limit.
Since most of my most recent jobs have involved remote work aka staring at a computer screen for hours on end, it has been ESSENTIAL to my mental health to take multiple walks per week. When I lived and worked alone during the height of covid, I needed to walk almost every day. Now that I don’t live alone, I don’t have to walk quite as much. If my Twin and I go out together on errands or on a fun date to one of our favorite spots, then the need for a walk is mitigated by that interaction. I’m also responsible for Sam the Shepherd’s daily walks 3-4 times a week. This has the added bonus of ‘forcing’ me to get out even when I’d rather stay inside when it’s too hot or too cold or life is too meh.
Like many other things in my life, I’m fairly picky about how I accomplish this goal. I want to 1) be safe, 2) be surrounded by green stuff and 3) walk somewhere quiet. Mostly all three of those can be found in the park nearby My Twin’s house.
3. Artist’s Dates – These dates are the most nebulous of the three tools simply because every person’s idea of a date is subjective. Cameron describes it as “a once-weekly, hour-long solo expedition to explore something festive or interesting to your creative consciousness.” I think of it as any outing that requires me to 1) leave the house and 2) I’m looking forward to. Pretty simple, no? I also think it’s possible to have an Artist’s Date in the company of a friend, but it’s probably the more bang for buck if you go it alone.
Artist’s Dates have been the hardest of the three for me to manage. Probably because I’ve had the least experience with them. I simply didn’t know what exactly to do or where to go. Everyone else my book club (you forgot there was a book club, didn’t you?) was describing interesting places they went, but I simply had no frame of reference for myself. Then it hit me. As an INFP I have a built-in date sensor. Curiosity!
Any place or any action that made me curious would count as an Artist’s Date!
Now that I was actively searching for Artist’s Dates, any appearance of curiosity gave me an easy direction for a date idea. Recently, I found myself curious about the contents of a local furniture store. Boom. Artist’s Date with My Twin on a day off. Me wanting to see what new puzzle my local library has set out turned into another Artist’s Date. A random path off to hte side of one I normally walk? BOOM! Artist’s Date!
While I found ‘an artist date can be anything’ too broad and intimidating to attempt, ‘anything that makes CJ excited and/or curious’ is a much easier target to hit.
And now, dearest fiends, we finally come to the crux of today’s post. CJ’s Artist Date to the Plant Store!
-brass fanfare explodes in the background-
I’ve actually been to this store once before when My Twin was hunting for the perfect mailbox flower during the summer. After a few months of being surrounded by dark skies and mostly dormant plants, I decided I wanted to go back this December.
This plant store is fairly large for a garden center and even has a café attached to it, but my main focus was on the pots and plants. For some reason (perhaps because they are shiny and colorful) I really like pots. They’re just...so expensive. So, I bypassed the pots and went straight outside into the nursery section. It was fairly cold out, so there was only one or two other people who walked through while I was out there. This is in direct contrast to my summer trip when people and employees were bustling about all over the place. I could barely find a spot to stand without someone running into me! But now? Nobody came up with a ‘can I help you?’ Nobody judged me for carefully running my fingers over plant leaves and flowers. It was utter peace and tranquility.
I confess to visiting the store with an ulterior motive in my heart. I’d been looking for a new plant or two since I’d finally given up on my snake plant (don’t judge me). I’ve always enjoyed homes and pictures of homes that are full of greenery, but it’s not something I’m adept at managing myself. In my defense, all my plants were growing very well before I moved and had other things to focus on. It's a little disappointing that two of my plants gave up the ghost, but each experience helped me gather more data and see what kind of plants I actually like growing. Turns out I’m a big fan of pothos and trailing vines, especially those with smaller leaves.
While I was wandering the nursery aisles, I ended up finding and buying two 3-4” pothos plants: one variegated and the other a silver satin. The satin has super tiny, adorable leaves! The variegated pothos had an almost entirely jade stem on one side which I carefully detached from the main plant and put in its own pot. So now I have three new pothos plants for the price of two! I did have to completely replace the soil for the silver pothos because not only were there tiny little clovers in the soil but also the flying gnats came out as I started to repot it.
At the time of this posting, they all seem to be doing quite well. One section of the silver satin seems a little wilt-y. I think I may have accidentally torn some roots while I was repotting it. Or perhaps the pot is a little too big (I worked with what I had, fiends.) At the very least, half of it will survive so I’m content for now. The other two are happy as clams...plant clams...in their new pots. All their little budded leaves have started unfurling! I’m so excited to see each new one appear!
Even with the anxiety of wilted leaves and getting lost on my first attempt to return, I’m glad I ended up going back to the plant store. Not only did I find out that such stores are a nice, quiet place to go to when I need a bit of greenery during my winter existence, but I also made my home life a little richer with my new plants.
I hope this post has challenged you to attempt your own Artist’s Date. Just remember. Plant acquisition is optional. Never required.
