Cat Cuddles, Bear Hugs, and A Sprig of Hemlock

Three good things from November

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Has anyone else had a bad case of the brain scramblies the past month? I’ve been riding a rollercoaster of emotions lately, unable to stop myself from doomscrolling or throwing myself into work to think of something else — or more often, nothing at all.

My day job as an art camp manager has been busy lately, so that last part is unavoidable sometimes, but I did delete Twitter from my phone to keep myself from checking it constantly, hoping — praying — for crumbs of good news.

Tweets can’t sustain me but processing my feelings through collage, watching movies outside of my comfort zone, and getting lost in music sure can, so here are 3 good things from November:

Keeping my hands moving eases my anxiety so I watched another Introvert Drawing Club replay. This particular Zoom session was about something we could all use — Hugs!

And lots of ‘em. There were many lovely and some hilarious photos to choose from, though hugs are surprisingly tricky to draw. Even still, cat cuddles (now a sticker!) and bear hugs sound really nice right about now.

Collaged before and after election night

You can also watch a preview of me collaging one such hug below. Paid pals got the full process video with a chatty voiceover last month if you’d like to watch me glue tiny beards and rant about collaging hands.

Is this a safe space? Of course it is because I created it. But can I tell you a secret?

I don’t like musicals.*

I would even go so far as to say I hate them most of the time. If I was the type of show watcher who skipped episodes, I would skip the infamous “musical episode”. Having said that though, I do enjoy a good musical dance number and Wicked had plenty of those!

Wicked was a pleasant surprise of a movie. Where I had expected drab color grading and book references I wouldn’t understand, I got a beautiful story about friendship and the different ways power, and often greed for it, can transform people.

My final thoughts? Would watch it again — all 2 hours and 40 minutes of it!

Finally saw Wicked!

*Except The Wiz, the best Wizard of Oz movie yet. If you haven’t seen it, don’t walk — run to your streaming service of choice and rent it for movie night! Trust me, it’s worth every penny. Don’t believe me? Ease on down to IMDB and watch the trailer.

Lastly, I’ve also been listening to Hemlocke Springs and her album is the definition of feel good music. I’ve added Sever the Blight and a few of her other songs to our Desk Jams — go on, treat yourself to a shoulder shimmy. This one’s on the house.

Fun fact: Hemlocke Springs apparently came up with her name from a random word generator. Hemlock the plant is poisonous but its ability to grow in damp conditions symbolizes adaptability and strength.

Wishing you all of that and more this holiday season. 🧡

Until next time,

Jade