:::sheepishly types:::
Remember me?
Argh it's been so long, but I wanted to check in. I'm doing ok. I'm living in that post-cancer-treatment world, though even if all goes perfectly, I'll still be in hormone therapy for nine more years. If you know anyone with cancer, you know that "scanxiety" never goes away. Labwork and "let's just do an ultrasound to make sure" scans lead to the wildest feelings. I didn't even think I was nervous about a result a few weeks ago, until I saw the caller ID and I almost threw up with fear. It turned out to be fine, but it reminded me that cancer is a trauma.
My kids are amazing. We've been homeschooling for a variety of reasons, but a huge one is that I feel like they've just experienced too much over the past few years -- caring for three cancer patients, seeing two of them die. Toss in a global pandemic, and I just want them to relax and have space to be children. We've already completed their official curriculum because they're whip-smart, so we spend our time together going down rabbit holes, writing, playing music, checking out our limit of books at the library pretty much weekly. (Did you know the Louisville limit is 50 books per library card?)
My Patreon page is keeping me going - both financially and mentally. Knowing that there are people out there like you who understand that $1/month to an artist is important ... that art is important ... well, it just makes me not want to give up. That's a good thing because I've come to realize I cannot exist without creating. Whether or not anyone else pays attention doesn't really matter -- i just have to create.
I've gotten into TikTok, entirely because, as a business, I needed to find younger and new fans. It's been good, but I'm trying to balance content creation with art creation. They are different, but I enjoy them both.
I've been constantly trying to think of new income streams, since CD sales aren't a thing, and live gigs aren't a thing. I love brainstorming business stuff, and i've got notebooks full of ideas ... but I really dislike implementation.
And I've been painting. I'll leave you with a painting I did for a Patreon member. It reminds me of happy pre-pandemic times.
Hope you're well! I would like to write more and spend more time on the ol' blog in general. Thanks for being here.
ways to support & fun links: brigidkaelin.com/links
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