I’m a planner. Not quite in the pinterest way, the color coded calendar way. My planning is rehearsing tragedies so I’ll be prepared. My planning is counting calories so I don’t change in size. My planning is saying I’ll be doing something by a certain age, and when that doesn’t happen I feel anger. So,[…]
A place for over 250 of my blogs on living fully, creating from your heart, and being a good human.
Making amends with the pandemic
Botanical drawing by me, Rose Candela. Check my shop for other available original art! A few days ago my husband, son, and I were on a vacation, visiting a science museum. It was a joyous time. And, at the same time, I felt a tinge of grief. The grief (that day) was about all that[…]
What if death was part of the gift?
What if death was part of the gift? I received this exquisite bouquet of flowers, and today shared with Jason how I was having lil anxiety because, well, the flowers were falling away. But what if contemplating death was part of the gift? I know it’s unsexy to talk about how we’re going to die,[…]
But I miss the carrot cake, too
Recently, I was laid up in bed sick (not with covid) and was on tiktok for entertainment during those weird stretches of not wanting to read, watch a show, but…tiktok. I noticed this interesting trend. I’ll call it “I miss her”. What you see at first is an image of a mother and her baby,[…]
Have you heard the news?
I went after a dream of mine, one that has been seeded for about 15 years. I applied and was accepted into an accredited Master of Library Science program, and I’m over the moon thrilled. I had been intimidated by a few things about returning to graduate school for a while, but finally things just[…]
Studio structure made easy
One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is this: how do you make time to make art? While I wish it was a simple as having some sort of time management system, but truly the answer is this: I have all my supplies easily accessible and ready for when the time presents itself.[…]
On grieving the things you’ll never know
I recently finished the book The Last Story of Mina Lee, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. This book got me with it’s story of immigrantion to the US (reminded me in so many ways of my own family), loss, the unknown, and most of all: finding yourself in the story that is never told. I often[…]
Claiming myself as an artist, part 2
Here’s the catch, as I tell my story. There is not a part 1 yet. Part 1 is a bit much for me to tell. I don’t have the reserves for it right now. It includes a traumatic experience at the age of 16, and then a few years later breakup with my cheating boyfriend[…]
You’re more than what you do
It’s confusing to be here sometimes, isn’t it? You’re told to identify by your career or your status. As in, in your bio you’ll write: teacher, mother, wife…etc. Yet. You’re much more than what you do. Who you are isn’t how you spend your time. Because if who we are, like the core essence of[…]
They want you (not future you or past you)
On dealing with imposter syndrome, like we do… I have a theory that many of my readers consider themselves a highly sensitive person. Do you? And that within that, you may also deal with imposter syndrome. I’m not sure that there’s any data that links the two personality traits, but I can say that from[…]
