September 2023 – Stephanie Richey Art

Traveling Today

Today’s blog post will be short as I am writing in between flights. I thought I’d share a few things I enjoy about traveling.

First, before we leave is slightly stressful and causes some anxiety. I am a homebody that has a bit of wanderlust, so I’m at odds with myself periodically. But once we are through security at the airport there is a bigger sense of excitement and the anxiety dissipates.

I really enjoy airports. I love looking in the little shops and exploring a bit. I enjoy trying different foods and restaurants, and I enjoy people watching. That has to bey favorite part of waiting for flights.

We don’t usually travel too many different places, most often it’s just from Alaska to Utah to visit family, but I love to visit family, and going somewhere I am familiar with also reduces anxiety quite a bit.

There are quite a few places I’d like to go see, and someday I may make it to those places. Today has been a great, stress free travel day so far, and I am so excited to see my family when we arrive in just a few hours!

Women’s Conference

Women really do need other women, and women of faith all gathered together, well, it doesn’t get any better than that.

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in a yearly Women’s Conference hosted by my Church. It is done by our Stake, which is made up of 8 different wards, so there were a lot of women who participated. We had a large devotional with all the women together, then had a wonderful lunch provided by some of the men from the stake, so the women didn’t have to worry about cooking. We then split up into a couple of sessions of classes (I think 6 classes to choose from), and ended with a brief sing along to wrap up the afternoon.

I had the opportunity to host an art class during each of the afternoon sessions. We did some simple line drawings of Jesus, then decorated them with flowers or borders of some sort, and then painted with watercolor. I love sharing something I love – painting and art in general – with others who are so excited to come and learn.

Picture of the Sister's hard at work on their art projects.

I find it interesting the different types of responses that I get when I teach these classes. Some don’t come because they are afraid whatever they produce won’t be good enough. Others come in apologizing for their lack of artistic talent but still ready to learn, while some come in so excited to learn and try something new. I know I have been in each one of those people’s shoes depending on the activity.

But, as they leave, they leave with something they created, that is beautiful. It may not be exactly what they were hoping for or envisioned, but they created it, and most of them loved what they created. They leave with a little more knowledge than they came with, and they leave with confidence to try new things. I am so grateful for those who came, and so sorry we didn’t have room enough for everyone who who wanted to paint and didn’t get to because of the space constraints.

Picture 2 of women hard at work on their art projects.

I don’t always attend Women’s Conference. This year I wouldn’t have been there had I not been teaching a class because my sons were at a rock climbing competition in Fairbanks. But, Heavenly Father must have known I needed to be there, because I left not only physically fed, but spiritually fed and uplifted as well. It was just what I needed, and I didn’t even realize it until I had gone. Not only were the speakers at the large devotional inspired in their words, but the opportunity to visit with and “hang out” with all those sisters for several hours was rejuvenating.

Over the years I have heard that women need other women. I am a pretty solitary person and I don’t enjoy crowds super often. I really enjoy being at home or wherever my family might be. But the older I get, the older my kids get, and the less they need me, I am finally understanding that yes, sometimes I do need other women to be around. This was just what I needed and I am grateful to all the behind the scenes women who made it all happen. Here is the picture I painted as a reference for the activity, but every picture was different and uniquely beautiful.

Line drawing of Jesus with a floral border.

Be Spontaneous! Within Reason…

I thought writing out a schedule would reduce my ability to be spontaneous.

Buttons to select labeled: Later, Tomorrow, Today, Now

I love schedules and structure. I like knowing what I am going to do during my day. But I also like having time each day that isn’t scheduled to do with as I please. This is usually when I do anything creative.

But the last few years I haven’t felt like I was using my time as wisely as I could have been. I felt like some days I had too much extra time on my hands, and other days I was so busy I just didn’t have time to get everything done. I knew it was probably a schedule issue, but I didn’t want to lose that time for creating, and I felt like if I scheduled my time too much I would lose that.

The last few months as I have been taking my life coaching classes and as I have been reading quite a number of really good books on coaching and life improvement, I have started to adjust my thinking, my perspective on scheduling versus spontaneity.

I have been learning about doing things that are important versus critical versus seeing what is truly important, and the things that I should really just say no to. I have worked out a schedule by the week, with day to day scheduling as well as weekly things that don’t have a specific time, just need to get done. I have loved the results.

Picture of several clocks with people deciding what to do with their time.

I took the time to break a lot of the mundane things, like cleaning, down into really manageable pieces so I don’t spend more than an hour on any given day cleaning. This used to be a sticking point for me when I would put things off because it seemed like it would take too long and there were other things I just wanted to do, and they sounded more fun anyway. This caused the house chores to just multiply until it took 5 or 6 hours to actually get the house clean.

I schedule in the things that I have scheduled, like teaching piano lessons for example, and appointments I’ve made. I then add at the bottom of my schedule things I would like to get done that week. I always add a date for my husband and I, although the day of the week varies, so I don’t add it to a specific day. I add kids things like competitions or special programs and activities.

I add goals that I have, long term goals so I keep them in mind, and then shorter term goals that need some attention during the week to keep on track. These goals I try to spend time on every day, even if it’s only just 20 or 30 minutes at a time, but I try to break them down into pieces that can be completed in a single week. This keeps me motivated and on track.

Picture of a paint brush and palette with paints spread out on the top.

The rest of the time is open for whatever I decide to use it for. I practice the piano, I paint, some days I experiment with new ideas for my business, sometimes I enjoy going for a drive, whatever it might be. As I have progressed through this process, I have discovered that instead of scheduling out the spontaneous time, I actually have as much, or more, than before. I have also found that I enjoy it more because I know I have gotten a lot of the important things already finished for the day/week.

Slow Down and Enjoy

One lesson I wish I had known before my kids grew up.

Take a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is important this very second. By Gregory McKeown

One of the prompts for today on my blog was the question: “What lesson do I wish I had learned earlier in life?” This is something I’ve actually thought about over the years, something my kids have joked about, and something that recently, learning to manage time better, I have really understood how to do better, and that is to slow down and enjoy each day.

When my kids were little I used to be so scheduled, especially when they started school. Imagine, kindergarten and thinking I had a lot to schedule back then. The farther my kids got in school, and the more of them that went, the more scheduling and doing we did. I homeschooled each one of my kids through middle school and then they went back to public school for high school.

I remember a friend of mine asking one time if I had a specific time available to help with something. I pulled out my phone to look at my calendar. Her kids were still elementary aged and I had elementary through high school age kids. She saw all the colors on all the days for the whole month, and she asked me if they represented things I had going on. I said yes and she just looked in disbelief. At the time I was proud of myself for managing so many things all the time. Now, I might be disappointed with my lack of time management and inability to say no sometimes.

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. Eddie Cantor, www.wow4u.com

We live a fair distance from all the schools my kids have attended except elementary. One day when my oldest was a junior or senior, I realized one of my favorite parts of her high school basketball was the car rides to and from the games. I enjoyed watching her play, don’t get me wrong. But I also usually spent time helping in the concession stands or with the tickets, or whatever might come up while we were there. But the car rides, often with just her and I, were quiet. She could talk about whatever, and usually didn’t give me much of a chance to interject, but I could sit in that car for hours and let her just talk. That is where I found my peace.

As my kids have gotten older I have also realized the value of not doing quite so much. When they were little I enrolled them in every activity, sometimes even if they didn’t want to participate, because I thought they should at least try it. Some activities they ended up loving, others they didn’t, and I think there is value in getting out and trying new things. But, if I’ve learned anything over the years it’s that there is real value in slowing down a little bit, don’t force the schedules, don’t sign up and say yes to everything that comes our way. Our time is valuable.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Ultimately, especially recently, I have learned that my time is worth more than some activities, my family is worth more than trying to do and be everything for everyone. If I could go back, I would focus more on being present for my kids, not that I wasn’t for the most part, and not that they disliked all the activities we participated in, but I think looking back, I would be more selective in what we did, and then spend more time together away from the world, and that includes electronics.

Time versus Compensation

How is your time compensated and is it worth a piece of your life?

Sometimes the best place for me to ponder is in the shower. I get some of my best ideas there. I kind of think it’s because it’s one of the few places that I have no other distractions and absolutely no interruptions. My husband often asks me why I spend so much time in the shower. I think I should start telling him it’s a meeting of the mind.

I started thinking about time. Time is really the only commodity we have. It is with our time that we convey our value system and our priorities. We spend countless hours in our lifetime working to take care of ourselves. Some people spend that time in a job they hate, others spend that time trying to obtain things, good and bad. Some spend that time helping others, while others spend it hurting others or themselves.

When my kids were little we talked about stealing, as well as taking care of their own belongings. How when someone steals, they aren’t stealing an item, they’re stealing a piece of someone’s life. Likewise, when they didn’t care for their belongings, it was like showing their dad that his life, his time, wasn’t important.

The other morning I was thinking about caring for my body, the cost and the compensation that I receive for doing so. If I choose to spend my time and efforts obtaining money to buy drugs, the compensation I receive in return is very detrimental, not only to me but to my loved ones as well. But if I put forth the effort to care for my body, utilize the pay I receive for working to buy healthy food, maybe a gym membership, treadmill, weights, etc., I have used the time I spent, that piece of my life, on something that will compensate me well, maybe not initially, but over the long run.

Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. Jim Rohn

In the scriptures it talks a lot about how you can know what a person is like because of the fruits of their labors. That is a time/compensation process. When someone has put forth the effort to build a life, do good to those around them, taken responsibility for their lives, there are good fruits that can be seen over the course of their lives.

As I have recently tried to prioritize better, learn how to manage my time better, and see where my time goes, I have decided I want to make sure I am not wasting my time on things that have little or no compensation. I am definitely no there yet, but I have noticed recently, the adjustments I have made to how I schedule things and my priorities have made a noticeable difference already. I am so grateful for what I am learning and for the opportunity to continue to learn throughout my life.