Celebrate the Finishing of Things
I was haunted by insomnia for years and years. Sleep gave me anxiety and worrying about it just made it worse. I tried to find ways to adapt and make it work. Sleep 2-3 hours then maybe work a few hours before sleeping a bit more. I learned to throw in a little power nap in the afternoon. I made wee hours count by doing housework, my creative writing, and anything that required a lot of quiet.
One night I was scrolling through some articles, and I found a neurologist talking about a huge loss of productivity he had experienced. He just couldn’t seem to get anything to the finish line though he was working harder and longer than ever. He set about studying this as he had the benefit of being a brain scientist and found that he had inadvertently rewired his brain.
As an entrepreneur, he was in a constant sprint trying to get stuff done. Like a lot of us, he had an endless to-do list that just kept growing. He found he had paid nearly exclusive attention to his to-do list. He wasn’t celebrating or even paying attention to what was getting finished. He hardly noticed. In his brain, he was essentially rewarding what WASN’T getting done, far more than the finishing of things and the natural outcome of that was his productivity had slowed to a drip.
I have experienced this professionally and I have, from time to time, wondered if I’m experiencing this in my art, especially with this book project. It’s taken me so long—over FIVE YEARS!!! FIVE.
But my friends, I’m finished with my part. I’m not very good at celebrating things. It’s something I had to learn and practice. This book is about the journey of my grief. I feel so proud of how I channeled my grief. I pulled that trauma and devastation out of my body and turned it into poetry and art and made it into a thing. My late husband Dan always said I had to make it into a thing or it didn’t count. I did it. It’s a thing.
And now I’m putting it in the world so I can share it with you. I’m holding a celebration out at my old church camp. Where my identity first formed. Where I first met Dan and where we married. Where I held Dan’s service. My life started there and ended there and now a new life as an artist is starting there again. I want to honor this beautiful circle of life and I want to share it with you. Please consider yourselves invited.
Finishing this is worth celebrating. I think Dan would be incredibly proud of me. Edwin (my now husband) sure is!
How do you celebrate big milestones or achievements? I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what happens when you reach a milestone and transitions and that’s part of where my art business came into play.
I think we need reference points. Something our brain can hold on to, so we don’t forget, so that feeling of achievement doesn’t fade. Sometimes a story is enough, but I’m a big believer in surrounding ourselves with visual reminders of our successes. I’ve done this for years. A painting serves this purpose beautifully. Life milestones like births, deaths, sobriety, and moving—all bring great lessons that you don’t want to forget. What’s better than a piece of art that will give you that feeling or remind you in your daily life?
Remembering what we’ve learned is vital. These are expensive lessons. Remembering what achievement feels like, what it feels like when we overcome hardships is so important in preserving our energy and building resilience. How do you celebrate and memorialize where you’ve been in your life?
