Below The Sun

This is a strange holiday season. I started early this year in preparing my gifts, but it seems like I have more gifts to give for some reason. I am still late in getting them all out, and Christmas is this coming week. Oh well, late as usual.

Down here in New Orleans, it has gotten up to 80 degrees this winter. It has also snowed. Everyone locally has turned into a prophet of doom, insisting that this is a sign of the apocalypse so to speak, the impending next big hurricane that will once again wipe us off the face of the earth.

I, unfortunately, have also inadvertently fallen prey to this manner of thinking. Logically it doesn’t make any more sense than anything else, it just so happens that the last time it snowed, Katrina was to follow on the next hurricane season.

That winter was particularly cold, if I’m not mistaken. This one was uncharacteristically warm, even for New Orleans. It’s only human to get nervous though. We are all still a little traumatized.

As far as work goes, I think I might be close to capacity for the time being. That is, through the next month anyway. It’s a good feeling. I’ve got an artist website to finish building, one contract signed to begin designing, and another contract signing on Monday to begin designing next week. It will be difficult to juggle, but its nice to be busy.

It’s crazy, I have been busy ever since I stopped working full time. I am amazed at how life is working out.

I come from a long line of artists and entrepreneurs, so I always knew from childhood that I would be able to do my art and be my own boss. I just never knew how it would all fall into place. I came to a certain point in life where I decided I would sit back and float, explore my talents and take only the best opportunities offered to me. I floated this far, and finally I am exactly where I always wanted to be. I don’t even have to be rich, as long as I can continue to be creative in a comfortable atmosphere and have the time to continue learning new things, I will be happy.

I always worried that not having a college education would set me back, but so far I’ve come out ahead. I’m probably one of a lucky few that this works out for, but I am young, I have no debt, and I am able to do something I love for a living. I have had the time to get years of hands-on experience, and the major benefit of creativity is that it drives you. Creativity drives you to learn, to explore and to express, and that is the single most important thing I have in my life.

The holidays are upon us, which unfortunately means a lot of rain and cold weather.

Luckily for me, I live in the south. Every couple of days it warms up enough for me to wear a tank top and jeans, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In order to maintain the summer time level of happiness through the indoor season, I find it’s best to keep busy and social.

Yesterday we had some friends over for a craft party, we made weird christmas cards and drank wine (well, the guests did, I don’t drink) and had a good time. Then followed it up with a rock show at a dive bar down town. It’s nice to surround yourself with people that are happy to see each other.

The move from full-time to freelance is working out well so far. I have a lot of time to see my friends, I have time to work on my photography, I have been continuing my ceramics classes, and I still find the time to sneak some design work in here and there :)

My father came in town from Milwaukee to visit early in November. We don’t see him very much due to the geographical differences but it was nice. My dad and I spent the day riding bicycles, eating lunch, and hanging out at the park. Later on, my sister and I brought dad to the Red Elvises show at the Dragons Den. My sister and I are twins, albeit very different twins. We are pretty much the exact opposite of each other in a lot of ways and very similar in others. She is a massage therapist and also teaches massage therapy.

Later on in the month I went with my mother to Kansas City to visit her side of the family. I have a couple of uncles and cousins who are musicians, so we all got together and played for a little while.

It’s nice having a family full of artists. It’s hard to explain really, but there is a strange feeling of continuity in the bloodlines. Both my mom and my dad’s side of the family are all artists and all work with their hands. As a result I have to feel absolutely everything to every extreme. I have to constantly be stimulated or else I feel depressed. Luckily I am very easily inspired and amused.

Being around so many creative people on a regular basis kind of makes keeping up on my own creativity a little bit daunting. It’s a bit of a double edged sword, because it makes you want to create something beautiful and magical but at the same time it makes you start to question your own talent and skill. I definitely stay on my toes, but sometimes I tend to spread myself a bit thin.

I have found a couple of ways though to buckle down and focus.

1) Sketch it out. Any idea, be it writing, a design, a painting, a photo, a song, map it out somehow. Even the most basic of outlines will keep your project somewhat on track.

2) Eliminate distractions. If you must have the television on, mute it. If you must check your email, your myspace, facebook, etc set up a schedule, only check it once every 2 hours or so.

3) Manage your time. If at all possible, task yourself with phases of your creative process, and don’t be overly ambitious. Go through all of the tasks in order, and never stop mid-task. Finish the task at hand before coming to a stopping point so that it’s easier to pick up when you come back.

4) Finish it! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten to the middle of a project and decided that it would be a better idea to stop and forget about it. Terrible idea. Even if you dont feel like it, finish the project you already started. It will give you a sense of pride that you followed it through, and best case scenario, it could come out even better than you imagined.

This post is a little bit of a stray from the norm, thus far. It’s about how to deal with being belittled… be it by friends, family, or professional associates.

This is a feeling I have had to deal with a lot in life. I’ve always been one of the youngest people in my immediate group, I’ve always been a girl, and I’ve always been small framed with a quiet voice.
It can seem hard to overcome at the moment in which you are experiencing the belittling but its important to remind yourself that these obstacles are never insurmountable.

I had an interaction with a coworker in which I felt I was being dragged into a very malignant relationship between he and his wife. Long story short, for months I was uncomfortable going into work every day and going to work related events involving spouses.

I wish that I could say that I had the answers to resolve this kind of situation, but the truth of the matter is that I still feel uncomfortable every day that I come into work now, and every time the company has an event where people may go with their spouses especially.

I’ve seen plenty of other people in less drastic though very similar situations..
An associate tells you that they feel you are overpaid or would not have hired you in the first place..
A coworker down plays all of your ideas or dismisses them..
Being made fun of, harassed, or abused.

You don’t have to put up with it. I am very passive so I ignore it, but I always keep in mind that I am the bigger person for not sinking to those levels.

You can overcome these obstacles by fortifying your confidence in yourself.

If you keep in mind everything in life that you are happy about, and how these things may correspond to the situation, then you are armed to fight it head on.

When it comes to my coworker, I always keep in mind that he was only promoted out of desperation, not based on merit. I keep in mind that I am lucky to have friends who like me, people who don’t need to prove their worth over mine, I don’t need to flaunt my money or accomplishments to prove my own worth, I have a happy and healthy relationship, a family full of wonderful and interesting relatives/stories, and a overactive imagination full of creative ideas and finally the ability to communicate those ideas and share them with others.

I keep in mind everything that I have to be proud of and vow not to let those ego usurpers get one ounce of my own, and that’s how I cope with being belittled.

Boris with Merzbow - Flower, Sun, Rain

I recently went on a vacation to Arizona, well, by recent I mean over thanksgiving and the week following. I went to Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tuscon, Flagstaff, Sedona, Jeroma, and of course the Grand Canyon. It was odd there, the juxtoposition between nature and suburbia. Our home base was around Glendale, which was nothing but Strip malls and condo developements.. but all along the outside were mountain faces with hiking trails and natural preserves. I liked being in the desert, there was something comforting about the landscape. Being surrounded by mountains is vastly different from the flat planes and swamps of Lousiana. It’s a good feeling to get away, to feel able to drive around and explore a whole state without having to worry about waking up in time for work, or the daily hustle and bustle of normal life.

It was a good stress relief to feel like I could take my time, take some pictures, and I even left my cell phone at home :)

Here are a few pictures I took in Arizona. As I finish resizing and editing they will all start to show up in the right side over there as thumbnail links.

Christmas came on like a tornado, and just as quickly it was over. Now it’s time to be able to settle down, edit the vacation images, get back into the mode of working and get some writing done. That is, until mardi gras starts next week. Haha. There is never a break from holidays in Louisiana.

That said, I have some tips to keep the holidays and festivities stress free.

1) Pot luck. Big dinner events are always stressful if, like many, you are the one hosting and preparing the meals. Pot luck means everyone brings something, usually this is coordinated loosely ahead of time and then you end up with plenty of food, a good party, and very little preparation. make sure everyone brings home their bowls or brings the food in disposable containers so that cleanup may be just as easy.

2) Start Saving Now. This is essential if you are celebrating with a significant other on top of family and friends. I, along with many other people i know, make it a point to start putting aside a couple of dollars out of every paycheck starting in about august. this way when december comes up you do not have to go broke on the last minute gifts for those you “accidently” forgot to shop for :)

3) Save your Costumes. Im not sure how important this is for people in other cities, but in New orleans there is a reason to costume or masquerade every other month or so it seems. A lot of us keep a costume box or a shelf in the closet to keep old peices and parts and accessories. We have Halloween to kick it off, during which we costume all weekend and then whatever day halloween actually falls on, so some people go so far as to have a seperate costume for every day, topping it off with halloween day where it is the most involved and intricate as everyone tries to compete with eachother. Then there is new years eve, where some dress up and some do not. Then shortly thereafter there is mardi gras where once again everyone breaks out the full presentation. Then comes easter, st. patricks day, etc. so it’s just best to always have something to fall back on or recycle parts from.

4) Pick names. Instead of getting gifts for every member of a social group or every member of a family, it sometimes may be easier to draw names so that each person will only have to buy one gift. You may not get as many gifts this way, but in many cases the gifts are either never used or re-gifted anyway. which brings us to:

5) Re-gifting. Sure, it may be taboo to say out loud, but everyone does it. If you aren’t getting any use of a gift and have someone in mind that would appreciate it more, why not use it for a birthday gift or future christas gift?

6) Re-usable fabric bags. you could even call this the part of the gift that actually does keep on giving. To minimize trash, give gifts in re-usable fabric bags. anyone who receives one could use it for their grocery shopping thus cutting down on their over-all bag consumption throughout the year, or use the bag to send gifts to other people that may use them. Eventually the fabric bags could cut down a lot of trash for a lot of people, and will be not only economical but also environmentally sound. A much appreciated gesture by many for years to come.

Here are some nice mellow tracks to listen to while working or driving, they are good to ease the stress from the day and wind down a bit.
Maps - To The Sky
Le Loup - Planes like Vultures