Creative Chaos

Pro-tip from someone who has had to self-isolate for health reasons on several occasions. 

Don't keep telling yourself that the coming days/weeks (months?) are going to be hard.  If you keep telling yourself that they will be hard - they will feel even harder.  The words we tell ourselves matter.  Keep them positive.  It's ok to feel sad, but don't get stuck there.

I get it.  You  miss your friends.  You miss the events you were supposed to attend.  Some of you will be missing income - and that?  That actually will be hard and I'm sorry.  But I would rather people tighten their belts than die.  Just saying.

Some people will be able to work from home.  Some will have to find other ways to bring some income...in.

If you have the means, I suggest supporting some of the workers in the gig economy - the artists, musicians, writers.  Most of these have product that can be purchased.  Support them through Patreon or just send them cash via Paypal if that's an option.

This morning scrolling through Twitter there was a sponsored tweet showing a group of Canadian musicians coming together to cover a Blue Rodeo song called Lost Together.  One of the musicians was someone I had not heard of previously but I loved her smoky voice.  Terra Lightfoot if anyone is interested.  A quick google brought up her website where I was able to purchase a CD and digitial download for immediate enjoyment.  I'm hoping I can figure out how to get it into iTunes and from there to my ipad, but if not the CD will be arriving shortly (if the post office stays open, which I am hoping it will as an essential service.)

As a coping mechanism, stay in touch with friends and family remotely.  Remind yourself daily (hourly, minute by minute if necessary) that this is temporary.  It is necessary. 

For myself?  I finished the warp yesterday and am now in the process of getting the next one beamed.  I am also cutting/serging the warp that just came off the loom and will wet finish as soon as they are done so I can press and add them to the hemming pile.

I am waiting for a yarn order so I can weave more samples for Tien Chiu.  Plus there are warps still in the queue ready and waiting to go into the loom.

Right now I am not weaving at the rate I used to and never will again.  But a friend insists that I am  more productive on a bad day than most are on a good one.  I don't know about that - I only can compare myself to myself.

And I am no where near as productive as I used to be.  I could moan about it but I choose to focus on what I can do, not what I cannot.

Some days you have to scrape really hard to find the silver lining in the cloud, but a friend summed it up very nicely this morning:

We are not at war, no matter how much battle language is used.  We are not being bombed.  Our roads are still passable and truckers and railroaders are still delivering essential goods to the stores.  We still (most of us) have drinking water, electricity and heat delivered right to our houses.

And spring is returning. 

Stay focused on surviving this pandemic, not on what you are having to cancel or postpone.

We will get through this together.