How It Is

It has been a tough week.

 

I have been, for a very long time, a tough chickie when it comes to dealing with stress. It's just how it has been. I firmly believe in the idea of "sink or swim" when it comes to adversity. And I'm a swimmer.

 

Right now, though, I am treading water.

 

There's just so much going on in my life and in my head. My stress and anxiety levels are much higher than normal, and that is, perhaps, why I'm finding it harder to deal with as I usually do. I guess I am taken aback at how my stress levels have spiked and at how my normal methodologies aren't working.

 

Still, there is some peace to be found with art. It's not enough to stop the migraines or the insomnia, but in those moments when I am creating, I can just breathe and my brain can be still.

 

I didn't create much this week, but what I did was important for me...

 

 

iPhone shots are a quick fix to start my day:

 

Homeward Bound (I Wish I Was)

 

Long Road to Go

 

I also did some "real" photo processing, as well. I have to admit that is very, very good for my soul. It was my weekly challenge, and while I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked, for those moments while I was able to process some images, my brain was quiet.

 

Winter Home

 

Shelter from the Storm

 

I feel like I could get lost in those landscapes, just for a little while. Perhaps that's why photo processing is so therapeutic...

 

Another temporary therapy I've found is cross-out poems. I've been working through a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Purloined Letter" and finding poetic bits. This is my favorite find so far:

 

It Is Not Possible

 

Telling, no?

 

I also started a new, large-scale project. I have no idea what I'm doing. It may not turn out as grand as I have envisioned. But it'll still be beautiful and important:

 

Memories

 

Yes, in my delusion optimism, I am attempting to make a patchwork quilt of some of the little guy's baby clothes. Some of them are just outfits that I loved to see him in. Others have important memories: the shirt he was wearing the first time he walked, his first favorite shirt, special gifts. It will be a grand keepsake if I can pull it off!

 

And now, we see what happens. Wish me luck...on all fronts! xoxo