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This happy little guy hurt himself last week--he's healing up now, but his usually adorable lack of coordination made him fall pretty far inside his cage and he hit something hard enough to get a big bruise and a laceration. Since our vet visit he's been pretty skittish and nervous around us, but I think he's starting to recover. He was chattering away like crazy when I snapped this picture, and kept coming right up to sing to me even though he didn't want to be handled. I hope he continues to improve and get more comfortable again quickly, but either way, I'm so glad to have little Slightly around!
Somehow this quote from The Phantom Tollbooth always helps when things feel dark or confusing. Norton Juster, always to the rescue! #the100dayproject #100daysofgatheredtruths
Trying to be brave today.
Sure, this little nugget of wisdom came from a drunk therapist on a really bizarre (and incidentally phenomenal) TV show. But to be completely honest here, some of the most valuable, immediately applicable things I've learned this past year came from this particular drunk TV show therapist. The almost-always-sloshed Andrea from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt may have been totally drunk when she said this (and many other extremely helpful things that I'll share later), she spouts more wisdom drunk than most people do stone cold sober. Her unflinching ability to say it like it is is incredibly refreshing. Let me say it again: happy people value their needs as much as others. (Add the extra "es" for the full tipsy effect.) This statement *doesn’t* mean being selfish and ignoring other people—that would be valuing your needs *more* than other people. There’s a difference. Value your needs *as much as* others. Yes, absolutely help others. Do what you can. But don't make others *more* important than yourself or you'll end up not seeing your own value--which actually makes you less able to truly help others in the ways that you, specifically, can. Always putting everyone else before you will make you feel like you've disappeared between the cracks of this world, and not even sure who you are. And/or resent the people you put your needs aside for. Don't be a pushover. Don't be a martyr. Own your needs. Value your needs as much as otherses. Listen to the drunk therapist, people. She knows what she's talking about. #the100dayproject #100daysofgatheredtruths
Whether it's your style as an artist or just how you do you. We're always becoming, always changing a bit, but whatever you learn, whatever you try, be you. Stop looking at other people and telling yourself you need to be more like them. You're you. And that's important. #the100dayproject #100daysofgatheredtruths
Sometimes this thought is terrifying. There are things we want so badly to hold on to in life, that we don't ever want to lose. Lately, this thought has been really freeing to me. If you look at it from a slightly different perspective, knowing that nothing lasts takes away the pressure to strive, to get things just right. It takes away the assumption that if you just achieved X, or if you only had Y, then your life would be...what? Perfect? Safe? Stable? At any given moment we have no idea what's coming around the next corner, and no amount of striving will make it exactly what we want. That doesn't mean we don't work for our dreams, or for safety, or for love, but it does mean we can hold them more loosely, knowing that it's not really up to us when things might change. A particular relationship, or a time of peace,or fill-in-the-blank-here might not last forever. But neither will a time of trial, or danger, or pain. Everything being temporary means that so much is possible, and more importantly that we can let go of our unconscious belief that once we've achieved X, life will be perfect and will stay that way forever. That's one lie we don't need to carry anymore. #100daysofgatheredtruths #the100dayproject
A little experiment on my new toned tan sketchbook! I love trying new things! I wasn't planning on using any gouache for this one--it's not really the paper for it, but it took it pretty well. I need to limit myself to graphite and colored pencils next time, I think, but I thoroughly enjoyed testing it out!
Sometimes it's good to take a step back and notice the beauty of humanity--not to evaluate based on looks or even wisdom. Just to see the beauty in what humanity is. More accurately, I suppose, what humanity was meant to be. But that peeks through sometimes, and it's glorious--glorious for completely different reasons than we might otherwise think. There's a kind of magic in humanity--in bodies connected with souls. In how we interact with each other. That we can love, and care, and laugh, and cry. That we're even alive in the first place. Social media makes it really easy to see how we as humans constantly judge--ourselves and others. We're always comparing to see where we line up in the invisible hierarchy of society, based off some honestly pretty arbitrary things sometimes. Stopping to really appreciate just what people are, separate from all that, is important.
I don't know much about Doris Lessing, but she was clearly a very wise person. I don't think we're ever fully ready, fully prepared. If you know what you need or want to do, just go for it. It's never the perfect time. #the100dayproject #100daysofgatheredtruths
Don't overthink it. It seems really obvious and silly, but it's not. When you're faced with a choice for something, especially something big, it's all to easy to get distracted from the longer term goal. Keep it simple. Stay focused. Where do you want to go? Do what brings you closer to that. #the100dayproject #100daysofgatheredtruths