I heard something recently, on television (gasp) that truly has changed my thinking.  I very rarely watch television, and when I do watch it’s because I’ve purposely TIVO’d something and finally have found a few minutes to sit down and focus.  Typically my TIVO’ing includes Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, Project Runway, LA Ink, Miami Ink, and London Ink.  The first two are because I dig the ‘paranormal’ stuff. I had an experience when I was younger and I’m a complete believer.  Plus, Paranormal State is based on the group here at Penn State and that’s just neat to watch.  Project Runway and the ‘tattoo shows’ are for my artist side.  I love watching the designs come together in Project Runway and I love the tattoo art in the other shows.

The ‘mentor’ for Project Runway is Tim Gunn, and Tim now has his own show as a spin-off of his success with Project Runway.  Tim’s show is called “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style”.  I watched it once, and I hated it.  I hated it because it does the exact same things those other “oh GOD are you REALLY telling me this is how you dress on a daily basis. GOD HELP US with this makeover!” shows do – they humiliate people and enjoy it.  I just don’t dig that. I don’t like to see people laughing at choices other people have made because they didn’t know better.  You’re there to help -  so help. Don’t make fun, don’t humiliate and don’t act like you’re better than they are.  Having ranted about that, when I watched Tim’s show he said something that seemed small at the time, but I have found it resonating in my head constantly since then and it’s really beginning to affect the choices I’m making and the way I think about things in my life.  Tim said, “You should never have anything in your closet that isn’t soul-stirring.”.  He’s right.  Why on earth do we all own clothes that are ‘ok’, but not amazing.  We all know how we feel about ourselves when we put on that one AMAZING outfit that we have that makes us feel like we can take on the world.  Why are ALL of our outfits not like that? Why do we settle for less?

My feeling is that we shouldn’t stop with clothes.  I don’t know why I have *anything* in my life that isn’t soul-stirring.  Maybe it’s because I’ve just turned 39, or maybe it’s because it’s the start of a new year and I’m pondering resolutions and ‘changes’ for the new year. Maybe it’s because I’ve just recently gotten a new job that all came about because I was passionate about things that truly mattered to me – things that stirred my soul and now I see that good and amazing things have come from it.  Maybe it’s all of those things together – but it doesn’t matter.  If something or someone doesn’t stir my soul, then I’m beginning to question why I would spend my time there.

The first thing I’m eliminating from my life is one of my Second Life islands.  I currently have two and only one of them touches my soul.  The other was just more space for things that would lead to more income and didn’t come with any emotional ties or connections for me and as time goes on, those emotional connections haven’t materialized and although the sim is certainly a ’success’ in terms of revenue and income – that’s where it stops.  As I think about what I want from Second Life and my time there, the one island doesn’t fit into the plans and so I’ll be selling it soon to free up myself and my time to focus on the one area that does matter to me.  It feels good.

-s

This is step one toward goal #1 for 2008. In an effort to become “centered” in my life, art, and relationships, I have decided to create a new blog.  One might think this would only serve to make me feel even more fractured, but actually this is a blog that pulls all of the other areas together and hopefully will serve as the center of my online communications.

I am still Micala, Pixel, and the other versions of those avatars, but I am also me – Shannon Ritter and here.. on this blog, I can be, write, and create as all of those people.

Starting on January 1, 2008, I will be kicking off a 365 project with my husband and best friend on http://www.1k95.wordpress.com and posted here as well.  That’s just one more project that seems like it would cause more stress, but I like the idea of being forced to focus on one thing every day and do it no matter what.  My project will focus on self-portraits.  I’m looking forward to starting it.

-s