Yesterday I talked about the challenge of keeping up with my art practice while traveling. Today, I want to say a few words about returning.

At home, I commit to creating every day. I try to draw every day in my sketchbook at a minimum, and on good days I also work on art projects in the works—and recently, I’ve added blogging to the mix.

It feels great! It took years to find my way to both the commitment (i.e., this is important to me so I’m going to make it a daily practice in my life) and to the systems (intentions, goals and routines) that keep me creating and moving forward.

And then, I go away on a trip and not only do I struggle to create on the road—which I know requires doubling down on commitment—but I completely lose momentum when I get back home to my art practice.

No, not just momentum. I can’t even remember what I was working on! I look around my art studio and my mind goes blank. Sometimes it takes days or even weeks to find my way back.

I know this about myself, so I also feel increasing anxiety before I leave. Inevitably, I always seem to be in the middle of exploring something new and exciting, with all kinds of ideas about what else I want to do—and then the trip comes up. The work has to stop until I get back and I know—I just know—I will have lost the thread.

This is exactly what happened the week before last. I was in the middle of several projects, and I had just hit upon those abstract collage sketches which led to several new project ideas—and then it was time for the trip to Ventura.

Ugh—but not ugh? I mean, I was looking forward to that trip, and I ended up having a lot of fun. I don’t want to NOT travel.

But I don’t want to lose creative threads, either. (They’re often golden!)

So I think I stumbled upon a solution.

My Everything Journal of course!

Tuesday, on my first full day back from the trip, I opened the journal to April and found a lovely summary of my current art practice goals and list of projects. Now, I can’t say I instantly jumped back to where I stopped. I spent the whole day working in a dazed, haphazard way, but today I feel back on track—which seems to have decreased the lost time in the studio considerably.

It turns out that my Past Self gave my Future Self directions—and my Present Self is grateful! You might want to give it a try.