ISSUE 6 ◦ by Heidi Horchler

NEW YEAR, NEW ________? | 12.13.19

When I was a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, the New Year’s Resolution was a big thing, There was always this massive positive change that you promised for yourself in the new year. Ridding yourself of a bad habit, maybe gaining a few good ones.

But the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry (Robert Burns). Inevitably even with the best of intentions, you break your promise to yourself. Is it the concept of feeding the negative? The idea that by giving attention to the negative thing (the bad habit that you want to quit), you actually end up giving your energy to that idea, and that idea wins out over the positive things that you wanted to cultivate but couldn’t because you had to get rid of that damn bad one already, and focus focus focus, negative negative, negative… hey what was the positive thing again?

So now in this new digital age, the years of the “positive pursuit,” the idea of a Resolution (the promise to oneself to be rid of the negative) is replaced instead with a Goal (an attempt to attain something desirable). Gone is the focus on the negative to be replaced — with purpose — by the positive. The negative habit gets less of a backward glance than Ray Donovan gave Aunt Sandy’s living room after he set it on fire. We’re so over it that we just don’t give a shit anymore. We don’t care what’s behind us; we’re looking ahead.

Some examples of how to rephrase a negative resolution with a positive goal are:

Swap: “I need to lose weight so I have to go on a diet.”

For: “I want to start exercising and eating healthy food because it makes me feel good to have a strong body.”

OR

Swap: “I need to stop spending so much money.”

For: “I’m saving money so that I can afford to take a nice vacation or fix up my house this year.”

In last month’s newsletter, I told you that I would be

• Showing my mistakes; and

• Incorporating the concept of story into my work.

I’ve been working on both. In my calligraphy-themed Instagram account, @DailyInkDrop, I often will post time-lapse video of my writing. In the past, I’ve shown only the final product. But now I’m starting to incorporate the mistakes, too. I think it’s only fair and honest. So many art accounts only show the final perfected piece, which I think acts as a barrier between artist and audience.

By including mistakes, I’m inviting the viewer in to my process. You see what work goes into making a piece of artwork, whether it’s a quote inked onto a piece of paper, or a large fine art canvas. The viewer becomes an insider to the decision-making process, brainstorming and trouble shooting.

Maybe it might even help the viewer to see that this something they want to try, or it might help them fix a problem in one of their own projects.

I’ve been working on story as well, but it will mostly be evident in my YouTube videos. In the works are vlog episodes about:

• Setting up a watercolor palette

• Getting a new planner and strategies I’ll be using for organizing

• Fountain pens, dip pens, paper, ink, and how to write with them

So check my channel this week!

I have a few creative goals for this year and I’ll be talking about them in my blog and on Instagram, so make sure to follow along.

So what are some things you’re looking forward to this year? What is a positive goal you’re reaching toward?

What are some resources you use to help you stay organized? Leave a comment here and see what others have to say as well!

Links for January:

This month’s project! Mess Up!

Announcements

I will be closing both my Etsy and Redbubble accounts, and instead will be offering a products page on my own website! I’m having a clearance sale on Etsy, so if there is a print or watercolor piece you’ve been eyeing, head over and snatch it up.

Also a reminder about email notifications for my blog posts: I’ve set up a new email list for them! This will be separate from the newsletter subscription, so it will require you to enter your email again, this time on my blog subscription form, here (scroll about halfway down). But don’t worry, no one sees your info besides me, and I will never EVER share it.

And don’t forget to watch my videos on YouTube or Instagram.

DISCLAIMER: I am not sponsored. None of my links are affiliates. In other words, I don’t make any income from this newsletter or my blog. Any links I provide are for things or people that I personally use or like. If I do become fortunate enough for a business to sponsor me, I will disclose it.

The best way you can help support me is to share my work. Please forward this email to a friend, share my posts on facebook, or even just tell someone about me. I much prefer a grassroots effort of sincere supporters over gimmicky promotion.

I also have prints and originals of my work for sale, as well as a Beta version of my coloring book. It makes a great gift! :)

Thank you — as always — for your support.

xo,

Heidi

P.S. As always, feel free to ask questions. Reach out through any of the social links on my website (below) or email me at heidhorch@gmail.com.