Category Archives: achievements

Who am I?

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in achievements, art, inspirational, stumbles, Uncategorized, writing and tagged with , , , ,

Wh am I? For one thing, I am a person who loves Spring Break! Horray-it’s finally here! I finished my art class and have a bunch of projects to share. I ended up earning an A in Drawing 101, but I have one picture that I don’t really like showing around: my self-portrait. I really think this assignment should have come later in the class after we had more skills because drawing a human face (especially your own!) is so tough! I don’t think this really looks like me because the eyes, nose, mouth, and teeth (and that’s pretty much everything!) look so weird!

Besides depicting our physical appearance, we were also supposed to share something about ourselves to say who we were inside. I was lost asking myself, “Who am I?” Ask yourself that one, like seriously ask it, and see how tricky it is. I was really stuck, and I couldn’t just pin it down to one descriptor. I was having trouble identifying myself and rightfully so when you remember that taking the class in itself was an experiment to test out whether I should quit my job and go back to school for a totally different career and whole new lifestyle. I was really in limbo. I was searching for myself again.

So again, “Who am I?” Well, I’m not very happy at the moment…stuck in a rut…not very satisfied. Wait a second, I have a lot going for myself. I’m a sister, daughter, wife, and friend. I’m a runner. I’m a teacher. I’m a planner, budgeter, organizer. I’m a writer, a dreamer, a believer. And more and more. So rather than limit myself to one label, I just started listing them all and all of their synonyms, and I wrote them all over the background of my paper.

I’m glad I figured out “who I am”…but I couldn’t figure out the proportions of my facial features. This one is part swan dive and part belly flop for sure!Self-portrait

A Big Leap

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in achievements, beginning, dreams and tagged with , , , , , ,

2012 is passing by in a whirlwind for sure. Sometimes the world is spinning too fast for me, and I feel so overwhelmed. On more than one occasion, I’ve found myself whispering under my breath, “If one more person asks me to do one more thing, I am going to flip out.”

Doing so much work in other areas of my life, I’ve practically abandoned my blog, but I had a big week so I had to squeeze in a few minutes to make an update.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2012, I quit my job.

Actually, I submitted my intent to resign effective at the end of my contract which is in about three months.

Taking this big step was conflicting. The relief that this stressful era of my life is about to end is a treasure. The excitement of a new saga beginning fills me with happiness. On the other hand, I feel this uneasiness that people might whisper behind my back misunderstanding my decision. I do feel that pinch of guilt of quitting a secure job while so many are unemployed.

However, I have to keep myself grounded with the knowledge that I am grateful for my opportunity in this profession because I learned a lot about myself and about life, and that making this big leap out of that profession is a necessary step toward having more satisfaction in my life.

Butterfly Challenge

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in achievements, art, dreams, inspirational, motivation, quotes and tagged with , , , , , ,

Just like a butterfly, I am growing and changing and finding my true colors in life.  I am growing my wings, so I can fly and soon be on my way.” -Anonymous

 

“Like the butterfly, I have the strength and hope to believe. In time, I will emerge from my cocoon…transformed” -Kirsti A. Dyer

I chose this picture as a challenge for myself since it is very detailed...kind of ambitious for me!

This sketch was very complicated, but following the gridlines helped me keep the picture in perfect proportion.

“

I used the lightbox again to transfer my sketch from the newsprint to the good drawing paper.

Progress check! The shading was kind of messy to start out with, so I had to be really careful to clean up all the lines.

The final product - some parts are still a little rough, but I worked up to the last minute before the due date!

 

 

“If you want to fly, you have to flap your own wings!” -Claire Williams

Results = Motivation to Keep Going

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in achievements, art, dreams, goals, inspirational, motivation and tagged with , , , , , , , ,


Hard work in combination with late nights and early alarms can really wear on a person.  Then, without warning, a little accomplishment can make up for all the sacrifices. For me, completing my first assignment for my new art class has really provided some motivation to keep up all the extra effort.    I worked forever on this little project, but the accomplishment I felt afterwards compensated for all the time I spent on this challenge.  Take a look (click on pics to make them bigger):

 


When I started this lily charcoal drawing, I couldn’t be sure that it would turn out.  But, I believed that if I took the time and worked hard on it, I could achieve my goal.  I smile everytime I see my drawing because I believed in myself and took a chance.  Here’s to allowing ourselves to believe in our dreams and forcing ourselves to put in the work it takes to achieve them!