A Chance to Breathe

Does anyone else have those busy times when you don’t realize just how busy you are until you finally get a chance to slow down for a moment and the nonstop chaos of the past few days/weeks/months comes crashing in (along with everything you’ve been neglecting for said amount of time)? That’s been this summer, for me. Back-to-back conventions, revamping the setup to travel better, learning how to do outdoor events (and then throwing it all out the window to revamp AGAIN to fit the event theme), art shows, networking… and even a tiny bit of actual creative work 😅

We made it to September and I suddenly pulled out of the chaos to seven whole, relatively unscheduled weeks. Now, after a couple days of stunned reflection on the past couple of months (and the growing number of things I found I hadn’t gotten to sitting heavily on my shoulders), I’ve been back at it… but at a more even-keeled pace. Balance isn’t something I’m great at, but it’s something I’m working to get better at – and even after just a week or two, I’ve both checked a few urgent things off of my list and have felt more at peace than I have in months.

I don’t know if this resonates with all of you, or any of you. I know balance is a practice, and we won’t get it perfect every time, and that taking a step back to reset and try again can make a world of difference. If this does feel like you, know that I see you and I absolutely understand how challenging that balance can be.

Now that I’ve gotten to actually get back to creativity, I do have some new work to share and I’ve been looking ahead at what is shaping up to be a heckuva fall/winter. If you want to see some of what’s been happening or where I’ll be soon now, you can check out my events page or catch some sneak peeks on my socials. But I don’t want to actually fill this update with all of that. I’ll be back in a few days with a larger update. For now, I’d rather use this moment to check in and allow this to serve as a helpful reminder to all of us to take a moment to breathe, if you can. Even just a little. We’ve got this!

Image: Throwback to a sneak peek photo of the original Snaxolotl charcoal drawing, just after it was finished. Any time I need a little joy, I think of this happy axolotl and smile. I hope they can bring you some joy, too!