It’s the beginning of Spring and a great time to make a new start.

I’m starting over personally with a new home on the horizon. My friend Laura is buying a house and has invited me to move in with her! I’m happy to be part of her dream and to soon grow a garden and maybe even get some chickens. I’m also looking forward to the opportunity to host parties and to sharing my daily life with three roommates (and a dog and two cats). Laura will be getting the house in April and I expect I’ll move in no later than May.

One nice thing about sharing a large house is that I will have space to have an art studio, which will help me start over in my professional life. After much heartache, difficulty, and consideration I have finally left my position with Whole Foods. Although I loved so much about that job and the people I worked with, the company and my team had changed in ways that left me feeling unsupported. This may have been just the push I needed to pursue my dreams.

Now I’m working on a plan to support myself making art that will benefit causes I believe in, like nature conservation. My goal is to begin making landscape paintings and sell them with a portion going to protect the environment. I’ll also be applying for artist in residency programs around the country. But first I need to get into the habit of regularly making original art and get myself to galleries and farmers markets to start selling and building relationships.

It is really scary going after your dreams. I’ve always wanted to paint, but always told myself that it wasn’t realistic. I told myself I wasn’t good enough or that it is impossible to make a living selling art. Reading “The Artist’s Way” helped me see a lot of this thinking for what it is: self-sabotage. This book has come up in a lot of my conversations lately and I’ve been sharing it with friends. I highly recommend it as it has been a positive influence in my life, making it clearer to me what my purpose is and what my strengths and weaknesses are.

One step at a time. This week’s goal: get on a routine.