No. 87 - Let's party
My four-year anniversary
Hello.
Where does the time go? I moved over to Substack from TinyLetter, and now four years have slipped by. I was hoping to have taken over the internet by now, but strangely that hasn’t happened. What is amazing though is that over 800 people have deemed Feed the Monster interesting enough to subscribe to, even if a large chunk of them never open the emails I send. That’s okay. It’s the thought that counts.
THANK YOU to everyone who has subscribed!
On the world stage things are catastrophic like never before, but in my little world it’s not going too badly at the moment. Of all the unsolicited advice I’ve seen online about how to deal with the shit that’s going down, what makes most sense to me is to take care of yourself and your own little corner of the universe. Stay present in your life (NO DOOMSCROLLING!) and create things, or whatever it is you find nourishing. It’s so easy to lead with fear—boy don’t I know it—but if you can breath yourself into your present moment, it can help.
Let’s hang out
It’s all I really want to do at the moment. No pressure. Just hang out vibes for birthday No. 4.
The cover of my current journal. Yes, I was into drawing these teary faces last summer, which is when I started this journal. But I’m not crying now.
It’s a Midori notebook from Japan. I love unlined Leuchtturms and Moleskines as well, but the Midori has the added advantage of having a plain paper cover that you can draw or paint on, if you’re so inclined. The face above is drawn with brush and ink.
This is a mind map that I did in my journal back in August, when I was still wrestling with how to bring together ALL the things I love into some glorious unified gem of a newsletter. I wanted to incorporate journal writing material into Feed the Monster, but not in any prescriptive way, or in any here are your weekly prompts way. Wrestling, grappling, straining, struggling to figure out how to do this, haha.
I still want these things, but I’ve let go of worrying about it. I’ve also let go of worrying about when I’m going to start the artwork for the graphic memoir I wrote two years ago. I’m doing what I can, goddammit… these things will come together when they come together. I’m focusing on taking care of myself and my nervous system. To that end, I’m still doing the cyclic sighing, meditation, and two-handed drawing practice that I wrote about last month:
Recently I’ve posted a couple of hyperlapse videos of the making of two-handed drawings on Instagram. Would you like to see them? You’ll need the sound on.
My first in-person journaling workshop
On February 11th & 18th I presented my journaling workshop Taking Note: Creating Ourselves Through Journaling in person for the first time. It took place at the warm and welcoming Aunty Collective, an Indigenous creative practice hub run by my good friend Sarah Rhude, among others. It was four hours spread over two nights, and it was intense. It was for me, at least.
The workshops would not have been the same without Sarah’s Indigenous welcoming and closing ceremonies, which were beautiful, calming, and unified the room. During the closing ceremony on the second night, people took turns speaking while holding part of an eagle’s wing, which you can see casting an impressive shadow on the table in the photo below. Everyone seemed suitably humbled by this.
I think I might still be processing those two nights, somewhere in the back area of my addled noggin. Certainly there was a learning curve for me with regards to some of the writing exercises I had people do—one in particular. More on that in the future.
It was a room of eleven people, together yet alone with their journals, each going through their own experience of exploration and digging and sometimes bringing up big feelings. It was intimate, but also respectful I think because there was certainly no pressure to reveal anything you didn’t want to.
I think what surprised me the most was that at the closing of the first session, more than one person said they felt more at peace than when they’d arrived. I’d been afraid that the material was going to be exhausting for people, but that was not the case. I also felt in awe of the variety of personalities in that room.
Speaking of workshops
I’m very excited to start hosting workshops at my home here in Victoria, BC! I’m starting with a recurring, once-monthly collage workshop/collage hang-out. Maybe painting workshops and journaling workshops will come later…?
For now… COLLAGE.
The first three dates have been decided: April 12th, May 17th, and June 21st. More to be decided! Come to one, come to all!
You can get more info here. As I wrote on my website,
Collage is fun, relaxing, and gives you calming respite from your pesky brain. It can yield beautiful, mysterious, and sometimes hilarious results.
I would love to create a space where people feel unfettered and free to play around—God knows we could all use some of that right now. I’ll be there to give any instruction desired, but people can also just go at it if they already know their way around a collage table.
If you’re a local yokel, check it out.
Back to the studio
Below is a brief tour of my mess of a studio. One minute and a quarter of pure, unadulterated, out-of-control normal life:
And in conclusion!
Please enjoy this brief slow-mo of my husband David at the dump, pitching away a painting I started of him years ago and recently rediscovered. Again, sound on!
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Wow and thank you, you've made my day, brought a much needed smile to my dial. Loving your chaos, now mine feels OK too 😁
Happy anniversary, love your mind map and these peeks into your journals!