Hi, y’all! I’ve spoken to a couple of people who asked me to give an update here on the blog. So, here I am to do that!
After quitting my job, and breaking up with my partner, life is looking a little different to say the least. I’m trying to embrace the scary parts of not knowing what’s going on or what direction I’m going in, and so far I have to say it’s been working. Turns out when you’re not tied down by anything, the world is really your oyster.
I’ve done a lot in the past few weeks, and I’m happy I’ve been able to explore Savannah more, as well as learn new skills and allow myself to be creative. I’ve been reading more, I learned how to embroider on a machine (thanks, Carol!), and I’ve been going to a lot of events in the city. I’ve also visited family, and I have a trip coming up in March to visit some friends.
I’ve been going to the Wildlife Refuge and have taken a lot of pictures of all the beautiful wildlife Savannah has to offer. I’ve been writing more, and I’ve been making a LOT of art. I think creative people have to create or you end up dying a slow death. I think maybe that’s what was happening to me. I loved working where I worked, I miss the friendships I made there, but I don’t think I’m the type of person who does well in a really strict corporate environment. You live and learn, I guess.
It was scary to think about making so many life changes all at once, but sometimes you get to a point where you wake up one day and you can’t take another single second of it. For months, I hemmed and hawed about if these choices were the right choices, but now that I’ve made them, I think they were. I don’t want to be the type of person who wakes up one day when I’m older and realizes I have more regrets than I do contentment.
I think about how, in the entire history of my family, I’m probably in the only generation of women who has been afforded the opportunities to do what I’m doing. Sometimes I feel like a square peg in a world full of round holes, but maybe that’s the price we have to pay for being different. I think I can be okay with that.
I believe that we get one life and the point of it is to learn everything we can possibly learn, and grow. I’m really challenging myself to embrace that and just jump into things with both feet. Some days it feels overwhelming having so many options, but I think that’s beautiful, too. So many women, even today in other parts of the world (and even here) don’t get the chance to do these things. I’m incredibly grateful.
This summer, I’m moving to Michigan. I don’t know what it’ll be like up there, but I think at the very least it’ll be another adventure. I promise I’ll keep you updated on all the shenanigans I get into wherever I go.
I’ve included some pictures and videos of what I’ve been doing. Mostly the wildlife photography and the embroidery. Let me know what you think!
This is an Anhinga that I caught resting. I watched him hunt for a little bit after this, and it’s really funny how their heads bob. They swim so fast! Down below is a HUGE alligator I saw. I’m telling you, he had to have been at least 8 feet long.
This is a design I embroidered onto a tea towel. I’m currently doing a collection of designs inspired by American Traditional tattoos. It’s been a lot of fun to work out the kinks and figure stuff out as far as ditgitizing designs goes.
I also made a little video of some other embroidery designs I’ve been doing. I even embroidered the panther onto this patch jacket I have. I’m so grateful to my grandma’s friend, Carol, for teaching me and loaning me a machine to play with. I hope I can pass the knowledge on to other people one day, too.
Outside of nature and embroidery, I also made a few digital art pieces. I was listening to NPR in the shower one day and they were interviewing someone about a podcast they’d made about companies knowingly polluting our drinking water systems with PFAS. Forever chemicals that stay in our bodies. It made me so upset, I made these pieces because I couldn’t help feeling like these people at the top of these companies couldn’t care less what happens to the Earth, our ONLY home–or to us. I hope to make more pieces and maybe have a whole slew of dinner-party-themed art.
The cake piece is the sentence “Let them eat PFAS” over and over, even the filled in portions. Every single bit of it was made from that sentence. Something’s got to give. We’ve only got one planet and we only get one body. We can’t allow these companies to get away with poisioning us for the sake of profit.
I’ve also been reading the book “Elderhood” by Louise Aronson. “Old age” is one of the longest times of our lives. Life doesn’t end when you hit 60. These days, we’re living longer and longer. It’s been a very good read about the physical and social aspects of aging. If any of my readers from The Marshes would like to, I’ve been thinking about doing interviews with people in their Third Act (as Louise puts it,) so feel free to reach out! I love to learn about and listen to other people. Life looks so different for everyone. No two people ever seem to go down the same path. It’s endlessly fascinating to me.
I think that’s all the updating I have left in me. Until next time, stay wild!