Like most people, I feel grumpy when my life gets way too busy but I get even more grumpy when a caller claims that he has detected that my Windows computer is broken and he will help me "fix" it. All I have to do is give him all my banking information.
KNOCK KNOCK
Don't misunderstand me, busy is very good. I love painting, creating and working with Vic and keeping in touch and seeing the important people in our lives but when the day starts with phone calls from the nuisance and criminal telemarketers who ignore our number on the Do Not Call List, I get very grumpy. These shameless telemarketers start calling at 5 am and don't stop til 10pm at night.
If it isn't the telemarketers annoying me, it's a group in suits with Bibles or a rough looking guy knocking at our door and trying to sell me "fresh" frozen meat. More times than I like to recall, I have turned away many young idealists who knocked on our door. Recently, a Green Peace kid kindly asked us to donate money to their very worthy cause which sounded something like Save the Aardvarks with Anxiety and Gluten Intolerance Disorder campaign.
With every knock or every phone call after 9 am, I am optimistic it will be someone we care to talk to. But now, all I can think about is setting up a force field around the house that can detect the bothersome callers and visitors and repel them quickly into outer space. This force field of course, would welcome and allow access to the good folks we actually would love to see and talk to.
RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY
Sadly, I don't have a quiet studio retreat in the woods and on occasion I will definitely escape if there is too much noise invading my studio.
Our well loved gardener, who wears ear protection, has many gardening devices and a lot of those tools I am sure are powered by nuclear fission and jet engines. Each power tool is shrill and is ear piercingly loud. If turned up to 11, one of these loud tools during war time could have possibly brought any country to its knees in one hour. As our gardener whistles as he works, his weed whacker, power mower or leaf blower noise blasts its way through the yard, into our house and right into my head.
Since the noise is too much for me to bear, I will head out the door with my painting and supplies and jump into my roomy Volvo station wagon. Escape is all I have in mind and I will drive to the park, the seaside or a neighbourhood area that I am currently painting. I find peace and quiet as I set up my mini studio and paint comfortably while well protected and out of the wind and the rain.
Reality
I like to watch a good movie or show but regular cable TV programs these days are not for us and jammed with too many lame reality shows and noisy commercials.
Being what it is, the daily news is often so upsetting and has its negative side effects on me. It only informs me of the harsh realities of the world at large and extremes of human behaviour and the many unfortunate victims. The news truly makes me feel our world is going to hell in a hand basket.
I finally came up with a solution to rid my day of those noisy and bothersome irritants in my life, I have recently welcomed "escapism" into my daily routine.
ESCAPISM 101
5 steps to Escapism PRACTICE ALL STEPS DAILY
1 Don't watch the news
2 Reduce your stress by writing down 5 things that overwhelm you about your daily life and then write down about 25 things that you are grateful for.
3 Figure out how you might reduce or eliminate the stress in your life. After you have done that, go to the office tomorrow and tell your boss you are quitting your management position. If that's too radical and you don't have a pension you can fall back on, say goodbye to 5 of the 7 organizations you volunteer for.
4 Find a way to get rid of any guilt that stops you from enjoying your life
5 Get ready to have some fun. Clear out a private corner in the basement or garage for your new de-stressing hobby studio or wine making room
HOBBIES 101
Hobbies are good for escaping the need to check your endless work emails or escape the non stop worries about your home maintenance list and dreary domestic duties. Hobbies can redirect your energy which can give your life a creative purpose.
Your new hobby can easily start today by watching a YouTube instructional art video, going down to an art store and selecting a set of acrylic paints, brushes and canvases or signing up for a course in quilting or soap stone carving. If you are an overachiever type and like a challenge that is similar to learning to draw in the neo classical style, sign up for a 4 year university BSc course in At Home Brain Surgery courses.
Hobbies are a perfect solution and will genuinely give your life new meaning. Plus your new interests will be educational and keep your mind off telemarketers, the daily news reports or drown out the inner voice reminding you of the ongoing office politics.
Your new enthusiasm for life will allow you time to make new choices like - skip laundry day, hire Merry Maids to clean the house once a week, pay some eager kid to mow the lawn. You might report that helpful telemarketer scammer who wants you give him your banking information which will allow him to effectively "fix" your broken Windows computer.
MY PERSONAL SOLUTION
To reduce the discomforts and the noise during my life, I have stopped watching the news, got Netflix, bought two cordless phones with call display and put a sign on our front door saying NO SOLICITING!
Most importantly, I have taken up two new hobbies -
drinking red wine and making silly bumper stickers.
Yes, I have found the perfect way to relax. It's creative and fun. I like the idea of having a nice glass of wine as I write meaningful messages for all people to contemplate while they are stuck in traffic. A bumper sticker has the power to share humour, wisdom or just plain old weird thoughts.
Here are my some of my New Bumper Stickers for
Artists, Deep Thinkers and Wine Lovers
* Art gives meaning to our lives and wine makes it look better
* Drinking wine is the path to living a healthy and happy life sshhtyle
* I have run away and joined the circus
* Wine + Wine + Wine + a Designated Driver = Bliss
* A Random Act of Kindness - tell your kids you are damn proud of them
* Inspiration for Artists = how much wine they have in the cupboard
* Be Cool - Buy Art
* Take your Mom and Dad out to dinner tonight
* Red is the Meaning of Life
* A Random Act of Kindness - send an artist a case of red wine
* Make someone's day. Write them a loving letter and post it.
* Hug an Artist today
* I stop at all places where they grow grapes
* Support Your Local Artists :-)
* I like Red
* Enjoy Life - Sing, dance, dress up in ladies clothes!
* Buy Art ... it is often cheaper than dinner and a movie
* I love Bumper Stickers
Next
Meet Harold, our new wine tasting enthusiast
Harold recently followed my advice and quit his job as an Air Canada Customer Service Agent. He was on permanent stress leave but has since joined the Escapist Club. Harold proudly has fulfilled his life's dream and found a new hobby - cycling and wine tasting.
"Harold Knew in His Heart That Wine Tasting Had Become His New Hobby"
Digital Montage Art Print by Victor Bosson
image size 9 x 11.6 inches $ 39.
image size 9 x 11.6 inches $ 39.
copyright 2014 all rights reserved by Victor Bosson and ArtLife Editions
Harold is a new digital montage art print created by my partner in life and art, Victor Bosson.
See Victor Bosson's Joy of Drinking Series art prints and other cool artworks through his online gallery
Bumper Sticker Purchases
If you like any of my bumper or window stickers, please contact me at e-studio@shaw.ca for more information on how to easily order any of my sticker titles.
Thanks for reading my sometimes funny stories about my life and art.
Please share with your friends.
Cheers,
Barbara Weaver-Bosson
All stories, artwork in this blog and bumper sticker slogans are
copyright June 19th, 2014, Barbara Weaver-Bosson, ArtLife Editions and Victor Bosson
