I think for many people the year 2023 was a big challenge.  It certainly was for me.  
This is evident in that my last blog post was nearly a year ago in April 2023.  
I went silent from my creative self. I road tripped for a while after that post. 
Perhaps I was clearing my head of the life notices and circumstances which occurred in the first four months of 2023?
Perhaps I was subconsciously preparing for the series of Very Big and Deeply Personal Traumatic events that were to come in the future months?
Perhaps I thought taking my hands off the figurative sticky wheel of some parts of my life would alter their trajectory?
The solo road trip remains epic in my mind.  More on that another time.  

I cannot, Cannot, CAN NOT possibly ever, Ever, EVER convey the gratitude and love I have for my family, network of friends and community I have in this still-new-to-me hometown of Colorado Springs. Combined with my remote support system from around the world, this group supported me with food, hugs, shoulders, laughter, distraction, notes and phone calls at just the right time.  As if orchestrated by a grand karmic source these amazing souls in my life worked as one big team giving me soft spaces to land when I desperately needed something, anything and didn't recognize the need on my own. 
If you don't have a network like this already, build one. 
Build it with purpose and intention. 
Be vulnerable and trust others to care for you.
Be open and make space for more to join your network. 
Give it your attention. Cultivate it. Breathe life into it. 
And don't you ever dare take it for granted.  

How will all of this show up in my artwork?  I don't yet know.  As with almost everything in my life for the past few years I'm gonna put that shit into the hands of the Great Karmic Orchestrator and let it take control of the Sticky Wheel of Life.  I'll just say "yes" instead of "perhaps". 

​XO - Melissa