10 Comments
Feb 18Liked by Rubi McGrory

i absolutely love this. It follows my philosophy of living life. Without celebrating something every day it could be a very sad world. Last week i finished painting a room in my home that i started a year and a half ago. What a great celebration that was. 🎈

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founding
Feb 18Liked by Rubi McGrory

Joy in beginning again, today I will embark on 100 day project again!!! This time I will complete 100 and beyond… feeling excited and seeing the sparkles… it will evolve and the 100 day is noting my own participation in creativity each day- any medium… I will share 10 times or maybe 5 to ten times, in quick slide show format, as that is often the place that stuffs me up- sharing publicly… so here goes!!!😱😊

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Wow! I love your drawing practice, especially how you are striving to keep a joyful practice. Elizabeth Gilbert would call it a practice in “diligent joy” - where you must choose to find the joy in each moment, accepting that some moments or days are more challenging than others, for whatever reason. I will follow you on Insta - your drawings will help me choose to practice finding the good in each day!

Now for my humble brag: I am 18 Days into a 30-day poetry challenge for Tupelo Press. I am one of eight poets for February. Each day, we submit an unedited first draft, which is then published. It is a challenge designed to highlight the iterative nature of writing (or any activity) and help make poetry more accessible. You can check out our poems at https://www.tupelopress.org/the-february-2024-30-30-project-page/

I am proud of myself for doing this challenge, as I struggle with perfectionism, to the point of not missing out on opportunities, etc. because I have refused to submit something that wasn't 100% perfect. I was expecting myself and everything I did to be perfect immediately. Denying myself the opportunity to experiment, explore and evolve. Learning to let go has been a wonderful lesson, and instead of obsessing over every little detail, I am focussing on taking action and, through practice, finding the sparkles of love, light and laughter in my life.

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Love this idea of the crappy drawing (which would be a highly accurate description of any I produce).

Last summer I started a practice inspired by Ross Gay's "The Book of Delights". In my journal every day in the morning I mark off the top of a box and label it "Today's delights--". That reminds me to pay attention and find those delights. It has to be something I notice in the moment and really tune into.

Today's list as an example:

- Green buds on the willow tree outside the window

- Blue sky and temperatures that feel almost springlike (mid 50s)

- Riding a bike for the first time since spraining my knee a month ago and feeling okay doing it (sprained the knee in a crash)

- Satisfaction of feeling really prepared and smooth in a briefing I gave a legislative committee (that's part of my job and I'm used to it but it's always nice when it goes really well)

I may try to draw these for a change. Stick figures will definitely be my friend!

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I finished a paranormal romance novel that I purchased intending to devour, but life got in the way. It was so great!

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