Hey y’all! With help from a friend far more tech-savvy than I, my new site is live! I blundered through many former attempts at a website, trying to figure out how exactly to build a little nest for myself and my work on the internet, but was never satisfied with the limitations of the various plug-n-play site builders. Now that I have a self-hosted and built site, I’m hoping it can grow with me and my work instead of having to uproot and start over anytime I need a new function.
The past month hasn’t been super great for me health-wise. After carefully avoiding it for more than two years, COVID finally caught me. While my husband luckily bounced back pretty quick, I’m having a hard time kicking it out of my system. And just when I felt like I was finally getting better I ended up with a lung infection. I’m no stranger to being sick, but with the precautions everyone’s taken over the pandemic I hadn’t been sick in such a long time that this illness has been exceptionally frustrating. I don’t often have time away from work, so it’s maddening to be forced at home for days without the proper strength to do anything creative or productive! My husband loving reminds me that rest IS productive, and though I logically understand that and am trying to rest, emotionally I just want to DO SOMETHING!
To satiate my creative needs and give myself an outlet for some of these pent-up sick time feelings, I’ve had to treat myself to small moments of making throughout the day—just a little bit of time here and there to keep my hand in the game. I have to listen to my body—primarily my lungs/breath—and bounce around different tasks according to what I can physically do. It’s been a learning experience, even as someone with chronic illness, to figure out a balance of action and rest. I take a lot of cat naps these days.
So what have I been working on? Here are some of the various projects that are propelling me forward in this shaky time:
Home Decor: I’ve been building pinterest boards for ideas/inspiration, window-shopping things like paint colors and statement pieces for the various areas of our apartment.
Knitting: I finally taught myself how to knit! I’ve been a lifelong crocheter but knitting was always a mystery that made my brain hurt each time I attempted it. But I finally made a washcloth and am currently working on a sampler scarf to learn some different stitches (more on this in a later post).
Sketching: There’s a bit of a secret project I’ve been working on for the past year that is coming along slowly but surely, and now that the research phase of the project is complete, I’ve been trying to work on some thumbnails when I have the energy (there will DEFINITELY be more on this later).
Journalling: It’s been very helpful to jot down the ideas that I don’t have the energy for right now as well as write about the various emotions prolonged illness brings up. My records aren’t always super frequent, but I have a book at my desk I use to keep track of longer term goals and projects I’ve made sure to update as well. It’s been nice to read through things I’ve written in the past couple years as well. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that 2020 is firm reset of a lot of my priorities. The pandemic revealed for many of us the frayed parts of ourselves that needed more tending to. There are things I’ve learned about myself and built into my life in the past two years that I know I will carry for the rest of my life. And it’s been illuminating to see that stark contrast present in my journals.
This website! As mentioned earlier in this post, my website history has been a frustrating and fraught journey. Luckily I have a friend, Moon, who helps build websites for folks as their job! I am determined to eventually learn how to do this by myself, thus have cobbled a lot of the site together myself only to have to call on them to help me fix it. Trust me, they have saved me from hours, possibly weeks of torment and helped me rescue some very badly made pages. As this site fills out, I’m sure I will need to tap their shoulder a few more times before I really get the hang of things! If you want to learn more about my friend Moon and their work, check out their website!
That’s about all I have for now, but I’m excited to post updates on some of things above as well as the things I had to put on pause while I’ve been sick. Hopefully each time you visit this site there’s something new for you to find and explore! For now, make sure to check out my about page, and if you have any ideas, comments, or just want to say hi, check out my contact page!
