Diligence Please

Sometimes my best teacher is an 8 year old girl that lives in a pink bedroom upstairs. My daughter and I were having a social studies chat the other night when she told me that all the great people she was studying had a very important quality... diligence.
As some of you might have noticed, my blog has been quiet this week. That is due to a large pity party I have been holding for myself. I have spent much of the week wallowing in frustration with my lack of direction. I have also managed to find many ways to procrastinate effectively. I finished "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo." I gave myself a pedicure complete with blackberry polish. I ate an entire box of Girl Scout Samoas. I also cooked a lovely beef stew in my new pressure cooker. I did not put a toe in my studio. I think I was mad at it.
Then I heard a little person tell me all about diligence. And I realized I was on my way to giving up.
So, today I got back into my studio and decided that part of the problem was the studio itself. It will never be completely neat. But I have to draw the line when I can't find the supplies I need. Then frustration sets in. Then I start the pity party back up. And the whole cycle starts again.
Today I decided to get back on the path I am supposed to be walking. I started small, by tackling one thing that is driving me crazy. Today, it was the ribbon bin. This was the current state of the ribbon bin. If you pulled one ribbon out, a mound of other ribbons would come out with it. The ribbon bin also contained about 15 empty cardboard ribbon spools. The entire thing took up half a shelf.

I spent a good part of the afternoon pulling out each ribbon, winding it into a neat bundle and placing it in a small zip-lock bag. Once done, I arranged all the bags by color and loaded them into an antique Pepsi bottle crate. Ahhh. Pretty to view. Easy to use. Easy to keep organized.

It took a while. It was not exciting. But if I really want to make art a crucial part of my life, I need to make it easier to do the work. I need to set myself up for success. It matters.
It is worth the effort.
Diligence:  constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken. 
Cue the Rocky theme.