Self Care September – Theme Reveal
I don’t have to tell you that this year has been challenging. Between the pandemic, learning new terms for windstorms like “derecho” (which is a land hurricane, if you hadn’t heard it before, and occurred in Iowa and left devastation in its wake), the fires in California, not one but two hurricanes in the Gulf, shootings and protests and rioting, it’s a wonder that any of us can sleep at night.
Which brings me to my theme for this month: Focus on what I can control.
I can’t fix the weather, and I’m not a doctor so my job as regards COVID is to stay healthy and stay out of the emergency medical system to the extent that I can – which means, wear a mask, social distance, and avoid travel. I haven’t really left the house since March other than to walk, go to the community garden, and essential shopping – and I’m stir crazy!
Which got me thinking: I can’t be the only creative, highly sensitive person out here with these challenges! I suspect there are a lot more of us than any of us realize, partly because when we’re overwhelmed we don’t communicate as loudly about our personal reality as we might during times when things aren’t falling down around our ears.
And thus, the image at the top of this post. Did you know, there’s such a thing as “faux calligraphy?” Here’s how it works:
- Write out a phrase or statement, leaving extra space between the letters than you normally would.
- On the descenders of the letters, draw a second line next to the line of the letter and then color it in – I used the same color for my letters but you could get really fancy and color in the spaces with different colors, even using a colored pencil!
- When you cross the “t’s,” be extra intentional and make a wavy line. You could even add flourishes if you felt called to.
- Voila. Calligraphy. Who knew it could be that easy?
- If you try it, please link me to your Instagram or other place you share your images; I’d love to see!
And in the meantime, tell me in the comments – what does “self care” look like for you? And I’m not talking here about mani-pedis, necessarily. I’m talking about really caring for yourself. What does that look like?
And be sure to come back throughout the month while I share some ideas, challenges, and suggestions so that we can make September a great month together. And on September 3rd, I’ll be back over at Delilah Devlin’s blog for a guest post – watch for the link to come visit with me!
Your “calligraphy” looks amazing – but you obviously have lovely penmanship anyway, because without the second-line-and-fill, the writing is still pretty.
Aww, that’s so kind of you to say! Lots and lots (and lots!) of years of practice. I’ve been a calligrapher since I was about six, and professional since thirteen. I stopped doing it for about twenty years in college and after but came back to it and realized, I love it, I’m going to play with it every day even if I’m not monetizing it.
I remember seeing on FB somewhere something about late stage capitalism and not letting your passions turn into side hustles and it really resonated for me.
Noony, if that’s what you call “faux” calligraphy, I can’t even imagine how spectacular your REAL calligraphy must be! What you’ve written is beautiful no matter what it’s called.
By the way, I have to say that I think the caution against “letting your passions turn into side hustles” is extremely wise and more necessary now than ever. I’ve come to believe that the most pleasurable and fulfilling activities in most people’s lives are the things they DON’T do for money (or any other form of external gain) but purely for the pure love of the actual “doing.” Of course, I realize that it takes a lot of privilege for people to be ABLE to do something entirely for their own enjoyment. But I’ve been saddened over the years to see friends who attempted to turn beloved hobbies into money-makers. None of them earned enough money from their “side hustle” to significantly improve their lives. ALL of them lost their joy in the hobby that they used to love. Seeing that happen has made me wary about the urging to turn what you love into a way to earn money.
Aww. Thank you!! I’ve been doing calligraphy for many years, so I’ve had a lot of practice.
And I agree with you about the losing of the passion. That happened with my calligraphy, and it’s why I don’t have an Etsy store. I thought about it and even went so far as to draw up a business plan, but I realized that I didn’t want my craft to be ruled by my business brain.