Glad I listened to my excitement about this idea and didn't talk myself out of it when i worried if they'd find it too silly. They ended up playing with me!

Gail Kelly @gail-kelly-1069 27 y/o plein air painter in the northeast

Who can you recognize? :) ( it's Deb!)

I learned that lent was tacked on to Venus retrograde cycles by the church back in the day. Venus' retrograde is always 40 days and 40 nights. Folk had been observing these cycles for ages before Christianity came on the scene. And what became giving up vices to be closer to God actually makes logical sense to me without the disempowerment of the individual! Here's an excerpt from the cafe astrology website: "Venus rules our sentiments, what we value, and the pleasure we take in life. Grace, charm, and beauty are all ruled by Venus. Through Venus, we learn about our tastes, pleasures, artistic inclinations, and what makes us happy." Our senses, our ability to hear and feel ourselves and thus get information can be clouded by many things. Our senses/bodies adjust to input to an insane degree. You can easily build tolerances to medicines that were once very strong. Our senses are both very resilient and also have the ability to be finely attuned. What is the value of attuned senses for an artist?? How could having masterful senses be valuable? I can see so many ways. You? The idea: Practicing austerity for the self empowered purpose of re-sensitizing, recalibrating our ability to align our practices and experiences as artists. I can think of a few easy ways to re-sensitize: 40 days of no phone in the morning 40 days of not looking at peers' artwork 40 days of not always having a book or podcast in your ears Obviously the classics are probably good too. No gambling, or cigars! Where is it too noisy? I've already started experimenting with moments I can feel the cup of noise overflowing in my body. This upcoming retrograde doesn't align with lent, but many do. - October 3, 2026: Venus stations retrograde at 8° Scorpio. - October 25, 2026: Venus backs out of Scorpio and re-enters Libra. - November 13–14, 2026: Venus stations direct at 22° Libra.

During the last creativity club I confessed the apathy I've had of late regarding my art. The resulting conversation revealed I had forgotten entirely about how to rest - I also discovered after further reflection that I was no longer grounding myself at the easel, embracing the energetic fields around the work, giving things the space to mature - I was primarily showing up in the studio because I thought that was the central aspect of my job and trying to force feed the paintings. The art became stilted and the sustainability/full circle aspect of my creative process (in expending energy, creating something that in turn invigorated more) was disrupted. I've realized that my job isn't just showing up to make the art - it's tending that flame at the center of it all, and that happens in many ways outside the work space. I've lightened my days the last couple weeks, more time just sitting on the deck or my yoga mat, wandering in the woods, lingering with my books, hopping on my bicycle, just because these things call to me and not thinking about return on investment. I am not forcing what I define as the work part (both the business side of things as well as the creative process), doing the bare minimum computer/maintenance wise. Yesterday a couple things slid into place in an effortless and delightful way (like they used to), I got that familiar partial visual of something super exciting in my head, a third party (stranger to me) unknowingly pointed the way, and today I got a lovely few hours with my paints chasing it down. I'm taking it slow and it feels right. Here's to getting back on track and staying focused on what matters.