My creative self has been struggling.
Hard.
I have been consumed and obsessed with the state of our country and planet> My desire to write has been stifled. I feared perhaps killed.
But that isn’t the case.
I don’t think I’m alone in this fear and anger.
Fear and anger have their place, but apparently, it’s not a good place for writing words.
I’m good here on my blog, although I feel everything I’ve written for months has been strained. I keep waiting for the creativity to come back around.
Anyway, I expressed this feeling to a Facebook writer’s group. My dear friend, Elly Lonon contacted me and asked for my address. By the way, Elly wrote a graphic novel called Amongst The Liberal Elite. You should buy it. She is amazing.
So, a few weeks later, I received a painting that Elly created for me.
She wrote a lovely note on the back reminding me I do too create. I still paint. I garden. I still make pretty things. I love her so bad and everything she said was exactly what my tired brain needed to hear.
The colors in the picture are perfect for our bedroom.
I see this picture every day and am reminded I am loved and reminded that art is art.
I know I’ll find my way back to myself. I know I will. I know life is hard right now. But this is what life is right now. We all have to cope.
I decided to push myself a little bit.
I performed an open mic a week ago. I had fun. I got laughs.
I wrote new words and I’m going back next Monday.
- Make something pretty.
- Cook some good food.
- Write someone a letter.
- Put art out in the universe.
We need it so bad right now.
You are so, so right. And you know what? It’s okay to take a step back from everything. We all can’t be on top of everything all day, every day. So if we take time for self care when we need it, know that others are stepping in to keep up, keep on, and keep going. Once we’ve rested, we’ll be back in the fray as well.
Yep…I am burned out so bad.
Thank you! I think I needed that !
I think we all do a little bit
Amen, Michelle! Keep making til it feels better. I’ve been on an earring spree.
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159256594482837&id=699247836&set=a.497387332836&source=11
Holy shit, those are AMAZING!!!!
I love the colors <3
And I love you and understand your struggle too much.
And this is why ignorance is bliss…
*sigh*
Elly is a Luv and a hella pillar of strength <3
Thank you for letting us absorb some of that through you 🙂
I am happy whenever I look at it.
I <3 you so much right now.
I went back and watched your 2016 Erma performance. You're good! I bet you killed at Open Mic. Every time you create anything, even something you feel is strained, it shows the real toll of the life we are in right now. It works for you, not against you, to show that effort.
I've been following Tiny Pricks on Insta, I think you'll like the spirit of their creations, http://www.tinypricksproject.com
Thanks for the words, they help.
Create!
I love you right back and thanks for the link! XOXOXOXO
I think this is how I can keep going right now. The best way to help our world is to be irrepressibly, do what *I* do, and hope it helps at the local level. Nature generates bottom-up, no matter what the viruses are doing. I’m off to hang my first show and not worry about all the things I could have done better.
Good luck on your show! All my fingers are crossed!
Well, I’m taking a writing class. I’ve always been an artist but now want to learn how to write better for my blog. i’d love to be a Nora Ephron, but I don’t think it will happen. I’ve been working on creating a garden. So there’s still art out there in many forms.
So many forms. Good luck with the writing!
That painting Elly made is amazing, as is her reassurance to you that you’re still creating. You are an artist, and because of that you have a talent for channeling your feelings into creative endeavors. Sometimes there’s just a lot to channel, so it takes a lot of different forms.
It is gorgeous. And yes..I just needed a reminder of that.
So true. You are amazing and with all of us here, you are never alone. I am very thankful for finding your blog to follow. Sending you a virtual hug!
THANK YOU! XOXOXOXOXX
I have to write. I would go crazy(I’ve) if I didn’t write. But I completely understand because while I do write I don’t do it as often as I used to. However the muse still plays around in my head and eventually I have to let it out.
You’ve been letting it out in ways you didn’t recognize at first. I’m glad you had a friend to point you in the right direction.
I hope life gets more normal soon. I emphasize the word more but every bit will help.
Thank you. I hope it does, too. So far, no..but things always change, don’t they?
“In a world that is scary
and hard to endure
if you make art at all
you’re a part of the cure”
-Sara Barilles and Josh Groban at the 2018 Tony Awards.
I’d link to it, but they took it down from YouTube when they started selling DVDs of it. It might still be up on Facebook, though.
Sara is my homegirl, from Eureka, CA, and expressed this perfectly, in my humble opinion.
Might there be a recording of your latest stand-up? Color me interested.
My new housemate Beth reframed a painting I did in 1987 after a Pink Floyd concert this week, and it is hanging on the wall as I type this.
She’s fighting a bitter divorce from her narcissist ex who is trying to get us evicted from this house even though she paid more for it than he did.
The art does seem to help, and I believe in the proximity effect: when my mental state is deteriorating, it always seems to help if I do something to improve my immediate surroundings, and making something beautiful does fall into that category.
There is a video on Randy’s phone, but he missed the first part and the video is terrible. We’ll try again. I’m so sorry about your housemate, what a freaking nightmare.
Agreed. Thanks for the book rec. Self-expression is a principle of democracy. When artists are censored and budgets are cut to the arts, it’s a bad sign. Thanks for bringing some attention to art–broadly defined as it should be.
It is such an awesome book, too. XO