Valentine’s Day draws nigh. As a recently and content single male, I promised myself I would be OK with being alone this year. I hate to admit I do feel a little anxious and lonely.  There’s the worry that those emotions will be amplified the closer we get to Valentine’s which is but a week away. Sure, I’d accept a nice heartwarming romance especially this time of year but the peace of mind that comes with being single warrants its own appreciation. We’ll pull through and as gracefully as we can.

Yesterday was full of social networking, updating the homepage, and looking for opportunities to plant my flag. I’m polishing the pages I use most frequently and attempting to find a few just to hang a couple of pictures, you know, to put myself out there. There are approximately a dozen sites, not including my home page, where my art or name are found. All the social networking is cute and nice and charming in its own way. However, when the need for likes, +’s, or followers begins to gnaw at me the way crack gnaws at addicts, I can only conclude it’s time to take a step back. I can promise today and tomorrow will be dedicated to art and real life with much less emphasis on networking.

I have art. I have lots of art. The temptation, especially now, to put it all out there in a bid for attention hovers in my mind. I discipline myself to stay my hand. It is far more important for me to be consistent than to display my productivity in a single, poor intentioned bid at procuring attention or respect. No, better for me to be patient and stay the course. It’ll all come in time, give it time.

An idea that’s been rolling around in my head is to thumb down the art production and reallocate my attention to developing and finishing the poetry for the book, or books given the art stockpile. Instead of spending hours a day painting, I’d just do one or two hours then use the rest of the day to be a poet or book designer. I have this weird hankering to do portraiture. The portraits I’d do, they would be of followers or participants to the website or some such, ultimately, the aim would be to keep the drawing skills sharp and advertise at the same time. Right now, the idea is still in concept stage, but it does give me a sense of excitement to ponder upon.

Enough writing for today, I have my work to do and it’s time I get to doing it.