For the past three years, I've found it very instructive to write a personal mission statement for the coming year. It's a way to put on paper personal goals, professional objectives, as well as guiding questions and the "big picture" view of who I want to be. It is 1-2 pages long, and I'll share it here, not so much because I think you'll be interested in the nitty-gritty of my life, but because I find it a useful template for thinking about how I want to spend my "one wild and precious life." (Thanks Mary Oliver).

I keep past years in a folder and enjoy looking back at them. I get excited to see when things are "checked off" and I am gentle on myself when things get deleted or pushed into a future year. It is a working document, just like my life will always be a work in progress.

If I had to sum up two particular artistic goals I have for 2008, it would be finishing old projects (namely a piece I am donating to a center for human rights in California) and collaborating with people I really admire (like Chris Jordan and Steve Scher) on projects that cross several disciplines.

With that, here's my mission statement for 2008!

Sarah Waller 2008

Mission Statement
I endeavor:
*To live in the world as richly and fully as my humanity allows.
*To soak up life like a sponge, letting the membrane between my heart and the world be a permeable one.
*To stay true to the core values I feel in my bones.
*To acknowledge what a gift it is to wake up in the morning.
*To live intentionally.
*To take creative risks and value the wisdom that comes from failures.
*To give back in meaningful ways.

Professional and Personal Goals

In Radio:
• Continue developing skills as a producer on a part-time basis for KUOW’s Sound Focus and bring compelling stories to air.
• Play creatively with independent producing. Create a handful of new radio works for KUOW’s evening line-up and/or national programs. (Stories on underwater hockey, personal loss, travelogue along Route 2, etc.)
• Set up informational interviews with other producers to learn more about the field.
• Continue evaluating how/if radio fits into my future.

In Art:
• Develop a look for “Moon Bear” story that stretches my artistic style – and submit to publishers in 2008.
• Finish work for the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights. (Complete one new component of the collage each month in 2008.)
• Embark on “Running the Numbers” series with Chris Jordan.
• Enroll in one fine art class in figure drawing or painting (only if time permits – this is a piece I could take up in 2009.)
• Reserve one day per quarter for creative experimentation and play with no stress on outcome/output.
• Evaluate options for making art more central to my daily work.

In the Environment:
• Continue arranging stewardship projects and other special events with FCRW. Keep these activities in balance with other priorities.
• Challenge myself to make deeper personal changes about how I consume resources.

Giving Back:
• Serve on committees by without overloading myself. Invest time in the pieces of work that will serve the WI best, and which ones will be personally fulfilling to complete.
• Finish repairing violin for the String Connection in Arizona.

Personal Development:
• Continue deepening my mentorship with Francie Wood.
• Meet the people I admire most (Susan Brenninger, Eric Liu, Diana Gail, etc.) and have open ears to learn from them.


At Home:
• Enjoy being silly, loving, and supportive in my partnership with Mika.
• Embark on the adventure of building our own family.
• Continue reaching out to family and being willing to stretch myself emotionally when roadblocks and challenges arise.
• Eat healthful foods, rest well, and stay physically active. (Start crew in the spring and plan at least one backpack over the summer.)
• Travel, both as a tourist within my own city and in the larger world. (Including if possible one trip to visit Mika’s mom over the summer.)
• Create a home that is welcoming, warm and open to visitors. Take time to savor the joy of decorating for each season.
• Learn one new violin song or duet.
• Continue studying Finnish.
• Continue writing in my journal.
• To compose my annual Valentine’s Day letter and write short stories on occasion.
• Organize at least four activities for the Oddball club (yak farm, roller derby, curling, cinnamon tasting, etc.) and host a wine club event.

Guiding Questions for 2008

• Am I happy with the balance of activities/priorities I have in my life? How might I want to adjust it?
• What activities will I let go when Mika and I start a family? Why would I choose that/those?
• What are the things I value most deeply (and want to keep) in my personal life and my professional life as our family expands?
• As we grow older and change, how do I want to relate to my mom this year? My dad? Andy, Aimee and their new baby?
• What do I love most about my life?
• What am I having trouble with?
• What do I long for that I don’t currently find time/room/courage to include?
• What do I fear most this year?
• What is a dream I am holding?

Here we go.... I officially announce that I am going to accomplish this year, and create, and reach goals and have a good time doing it! My brightest star is to have a brightest star. My priority is to have an objective that shines brighter than the others. To have meaning and purpose in what I do, and some kind of way to make a tiny difference.

Needless to say, I'm a little under-prepared to make a public proclamation about my most sought out area of growth. So this is dabbling my toes in the water a little. The cold water is waking me up a bit to think about this all. So much 'revelation' this fall sliding into huge new awarenesses about purpose and world from the 2 week trek through parts of India...

It might be easier for me to say I want to master "perspective" or "illustrator and the digital pen" but these things and more are on my list. I must sketch out the bigger list first to make sure I'm zooming in on true priorities.

But this isn't a bad start and you WILL be hearing from me. I'm afraid my new calendar isn't a beautiful one that smells of printing ink and draws my thought into pleasures of sight and mind, it's just my new computer with Outlook on it. And my blue leather 16 month planner that was all filled out when school began in Sept. sits pretty and still. Since I forget to look at it, it's pretty useless... A calendar must be looked at to be useful.

If anyone has ideas on where to post their goals where they will remember to notice, think about from time to time. I'd love to hear ideas....

See you all soon I hope!

Isobel

Hmm chocolate...

Now that my workshop is over I am anxious to get into the studio and PAINT PAINT PAINT! It was great seeing everyone at our last meeting, although I felt a little foggy so I'm not really sure how much really got to my brain. None the less the contact was much needed and I hope to be more "present" next month!

Art and Meaning for the New Year

It's that season again - a time to crack open a new calendar and marvel at all those little white squares of possibility.

Just searching for the right calendar is a kind of ritual for me. I head over to the University Bookstore in Seattle and comb through the shelves. I pass by the section of kittens (cute!) and babies dressed in flower outfits (ugh!) and zero in on the shelves of calendars featuring art. I pick them up, one at a time, folding the different kinds of art around my hopes for the coming year as if they were changeable outfits on a paper doll. Finally, I choose one that seems to fit. That calendar sets the tone for the learning, dreaming and growing I want to do in the year ahead.

This year, I picked a calendar with works by the Canadian artist Lawren S. Harris. I love his handling of landscapes - how all the details melt away under his brush, leaving just the mood and soul of the natural world shining through. He seems to know that sometimes it’s what you leave out, more than what you include, that gives art its power. On the back of the calendar, there is a quote from one of Harris’ letters to Emily Carr: I am in great need of losing my littleness and sharing completely in the life of the universe, in water and skies and land and light."

Ahhh...Now that is something worth striving for in 2008 and beyond!

I have chosen Harris' art and sentiment to set the tone for my New Year. I hope these images will help me move away from my own littleness and embrace the universe more deeply. That is what I am reaching for. In art, in life, in spirit. I want to tune out (or at least tune down) the overwhelming chaos of details for the greater meaning that lies just under the skin. It feels good to a unifying philosophy to connect both my artistic and soulful quests. We'll see how far I get!

It certainly does help knowing that I will be traveling the roads ahead with my dear POBL friends. The journey is so much nicer when you are along. Happy 2008 everyone! And as Mary Oliver might ask this time of year, “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?”

Sarah

Happy New Year POBL friends!

I can't wait to see what 2008 brings to this fabulous group of extroidinary people. You continue to inspire and amaze me with your growth as artists and human beings. See you soon.