I am a New Yorker through and through. I moved here at the very end of the 20th Century. I have never been more proud to live and be a citizen of New York (the city and the state). No where else I have lived has felt like home to me including my hometown where I was raised. So as a proud and conscientious citizen I downloaded the NY Forward book to stay informed and make sure I know what to expect/do going forward
November 2019August 2019
The section that hit home to me was the new normal. Now I’m slow on this particular uptake probably because of denial. It states in there that our old way of life is dead. I went through this with 9/11 here in the city and travel. Things changed but not on the intimate level that this pandemic has wrought.
It reminds me of when my Mom died. It’s that life before with her and life after without her. I am familiar with the life before and after and the profound changes that it brings which lead me to realize I have been in denial and I am now grieving our old normal.
Was our old normal perfect or equitable no, can our new normal be better and can we strive for more … of course. But we humans like our routine and large scale change is terrifying for our primitive part of our brain. Logically it makes sense but our primitive brains are huge drivers to our daily lives. Logic is good when we have our constants, but many of our constants and routines have been chucked right out the window maybe gone for good.
May 7 2020
Understanding what you are dealing with is a start. I am grieving for a way of life lost in what feels like a blink. I have been in denial envisioning an old routine and existence. Even though it’s been two months plus that this has been occurring I still feel like I just turned around and it’s disappeared. A vaccine can help bring back some mundane ways to us, but I have been profoundly changed by this historic event. I know from 9/11 and my mom’s passing that I won’t view the world or my life with the same lens that I did in 2019.
I need to remember to be kind and forgiving to myself for a bit and remember to take a breath and that I can sort this out too. There is so much in our lives that we have been programmed to expect instant gratification, but these things take time, love and patience to yourself and to your fellow human.
May 7 2020
I won’t have any answers soon on how I am going to envelope this new way of thinking, feeling or living. I know I can do it…I have done it before. There is a sense of comfort in that but daunting too as I know what is to come at least for myself and my world.
I’m listening to an audiobook and my mind totally drifted off into another subject matter from the book. Bear with me while explain my thoughts here. This is a bit of a stream of conscience post and needing to write out some thoughts.
Well maybe not entirely…during this covid epidemic, my mind has been wandering more than it has in years. I’m not sure if it’s because I cannot focus on the task at hand because of worrying so much about our way forward and I need my daydreams to escape. Or maybe it’s because I’m spending more time at home on my own. No exhaustion from commuting or being exhausted by people. I am a huge introvert.
I began thinking about art and how important it is to focus the eye and lead the viewer around the piece/scene/object/visual. This is important for a static and motion graphics/art/illustration. We are telling the viewer something correct? We are wanting to communicate our idea whether this is successful or not is how we communicate it correct?
Communication is (I believe) one of the most important skills living beings posses. Success in any relationship…familial, friendship, romantic, begin a pet owner…on and on it goes. And it’s not just in a social setting even alone you are communicating with yourself…when you read a book, listen to music, taking a walk in the woods. Telling yourself you love yourself. Always communicating…I even believe dreams in our sleep communicate to ourselves. Then socially communicating when you share that dream.
So as a creator and I use this term in the broadest sense possible because a lot of create everyday. I am going to focus on visual communication and leave writing to the writing experts. I am a visual storyteller. I produce graphics, manipulate typography, 2D & 3D illustrations, presentations, videos, for my day job. I also mess around in all of these mediums in my free time for personal projects and I am a crafter. I knit, embroider,etc.
Knitting is my number one stress reliever and craft as you might have noticed in other posts here. With knitting my focus is the garment but not the whole story. The color or colors I chose to make it with. The style I chose how tight or loose I knit and when in the item I created. What I created it for and why.
At work it’s vital that I express the ideas to the best of my ability. We have clients and a team that is working on an idea that we want someone to buy into…nature of selling ideas and services correct? I put this in there because wether or not you believe in a capital system this is the end result of that system and most of us work in that system. So how do you get people to visually understand and get what your saying.
As it has been written a million times with a story/a journey of the ideas. Technology brings us new ways to express but the fundamentals of visual storytelling should not be forgotten.
You find your focus and the theme of what you want your story to be about. Buy more soda, this is a great building to build, this is the next big thing in fashion, this list goes on infinitum (seems like it anyways).
A digital portrait … I did as a gift for a friend Art Nouveau Mermaid
These are two pieces I have done and pretty sure I have share both previously, but regardless this is what I have been thinking about. I’ve been writing more and creating little bits here and there more. I can definitely go on for several more paragraphs here but I am hoping but writing this down and sharing it will help me to find my focus in writing these posts and what I want to say in my visual art.
Thanks for reading and taking this circuitous thought process with me.
Hope you are safe, finding ways to relax and being creative in what ever form that takes
I have had this recipe on my menu planning list for a couple of weeks. It has two perks it’s a burrito bowl and it’s a one pot meal :).
I found the recipe on Pinterest It’s called the one skillet sweet potato burrito bowl from copy me that. This is a great recipe for vegetarians and omnivores alike. It’s a delicious combination of sweet potatoes, beans, rice and spices. You could definitely put this into a tortilla or over greens as well. She gives suggestions for add-ins of guacamole, cilantro (yuck), jalapeños, etc.
I made a few variations to the recipe I thought I had black beans in the pantry but only had chickpeas so I used those. Additionally, I used tarragon and oregano and left out the chili powder. Also I added onions. I sautéed them with the sweet potatoes.
I made my meal in a Dutch oven rather than in a skillet and this was good idea and the skillets i have though large don’t think they would have accommodated all of my ingredients. I am not a food photographer…so just check out the photo in the link above on Pinterest. I tried taking several photos and they don’t look great so go to the author of the recipe:).
The meal turned out great and I have plenty of leftovers to get me through the weekend. I will definitely be adding this into my meal rotation.
During this time of us #stayingsafeathome I too have struggled with the surrealness anxiety, disorientation and monotony of remaining indoors. Days bleed together. The long time we must all face being apart from so many friends and family. The need for intimate contact from just a hug or just holding a hand.
I have taken much needed solace in my lifelong companion books. These days I consume them by listening. Listening to the stories first came about as a way to occasionally listen while working but became a daily thing by my newer companion knitting/fiber. I began knitting on a daily basis 5 years ago. I learned to knit 15 years ago. We in the knitting community who relish the yarn or fiber working in our hands as a necessity as being a knitter with a capital K.
As I became an avid knitter I was spending less time reading and more time knitting. As I did so I felt that void of reading growing and felt its loss terribly. I am not one of those people that can knit and read at the same time. I tried but could not get the full pleasure of either while doing so. Audiobooks was my answer.
In this post I am going to share a few books that I have found to be great distractions that don’t require much focus as I have found has diminished during this Covid pandemic. We all have so much on our minds today especially those who have lost loved ones, work or have become furloughed. Trying to follow an intricate plot can be hard when the mind wants to wander into so many worrisome directions. I am not a psychologist or anything.
I am just sharing what helps me get through today, the past 6 weeks for me and the days ahead. I know this is not a harbor for all but I know it is one for me and many who love reading and crafting as I do.
My Reading Distractions List
On my blog yesterday too…. Dianne Duvall’s Immortal Guardian series
SE Smith writes a ton of series. The one I am reading now is the Alliance series
Nalini Singh’s PsyChanling series
Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series (ok a bit more attention to pay here but this is for the non romance fans)
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series (don’t watch movie – I haven’t but talk about miscasting)
Sarah J Maas’ A Court of Thorn and Roses
A Reread of Harry Potter is never a bad thing
Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniel series
Kathleen Woodiwiss – not yet available on audio but read these years ago and will sweep you off your feet
Molly Harper’s books
Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One
Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum – a good reread of say first 12 books
Janet Evanovich’s
Jessica Elliot’s Murder in an English Village
The Wind In the Willow
JD Robb’s In Death Series
Kim Harrison’s Hollow Series
Books by Elmor Leonard
Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter Series
Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods
Ruth Reichl Tender at the Bone
Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars
Becoming Quinn by Brett Battles
Beatrice Small
Honestly I could go on and on. Now not at complete list of my reading history you can find that on Goodreads here.
Artist/Knitter/Reader (total bookworm) 