How to Disorient Yourself

Greetings from New Jersey. Since April '05 we've moved roughly every 6 months or so, with an occasional inter-city move more often than that. Though we've had an overarching plan, I can't say that any of the towns or cities we've lived in in all that time were planned ahead of time. Typically, the actual location has been an 11th hour decision. Always, the location has been fortuitously pleasant.

For instance, 2 weeks before arriving in N. Cerney, England, we had no clue where we were going to live in England. 3 weeks or so before we moved to Asheville, we were actually close to signing a lease in Charleston, S.C.. Less than a month before arriving in Frigiliana, Spain, we thought we might move to Ronda. In each of those last cases, the alternate choice was also fantastic, but it ends up that something always steers us elsewhere last minute.

While the travel is fantastic, it does start to disorient you after awhile. In all those places, the only constants have been painting and jogging.

Both painting and jogging require a lot of discipline, discipline that is best gained through sheer willpower and force of habit--once your willpower gets you moving, inertia keeps you going. Having these constants has allowed me to fairly quickly establish a weekly rhythm, an anchor of scheduled activity.

And it's good to have them, because this particular layover is shorter than usual. So here we are, in suburban NJ, a short train ride to NYC. The goal then is to move to NYC soon, and stay put for awhile, which will be a bit of a relief. Expect more Museum Strolls as we explore the rich art collections of the region, and hopefully some more Figure Drawing, as it seems like NYC should have a ton of opportunities to partake of. I'm also hoping to step up my Plein-Air painting a bit. You may also see some posts about jogging, as I am training for my first full marathon this fall (gulp!).

But, for now, back to the artwork!