Reawakening

Bonjour, mon amis! J' etudie la francais et travaille un peu.

I have not been feeling myself for a while now. The funk was a period I needed to experience I guess but I'm glad to report that it is definitely coming to an end.

The universe works in mysterious ways. Something stares you in the face and even though you choose not to acknowledge it, eventually you will have to.

Recently, I made a decision that was somewhat impulsive, somewhat thought out: I quit my job at AT&T where I had worked for the past 7 years. A decision had to be made. It was affecting my life, my health, my mentality, and I could no longer ignore the ill effects of this chosen profession. Some jobs are like a drug addiction. You know it's not good for you; you know there are ill effects, but you get something out of it (good pay and benefits) which keeps you going back for more of the abuse.

I simply could not take it anymore and put in my notice. I realize that with the recession this was the worst time to do it, but I had to choose me over money, mind over money. I will not lie, there are some days I regret the decision, only to the point that I should have saved a little more money and realized how much the insurance would have cost me.

But do I regret the decision...Never. I have had time to take care of me, my house. I did some major overhauling in my house, purging of a lot of things I never did or no longer used. I painted a room in the house that had definitely been needing it. I work every day at getting my studio closer and closer to where I want it to be.

The end result: I now have less money to play with but I am far from destitute. I've always had two jobs at least, so now I am fully supporting myself with my second job, which allows me to work more hours and take care of some of my business. I've been writing again. I've been creating art. I've been getting an etsy shop up and running and working on supplies so that I will be able to sell some of my artwork. I already have a place of business in town that is willing to put up some of my artwork on display. I'm hoping to one day be able to make some money off of my love of creating inspirational pieces of artwork.

Every aspect of my life has improved drastically, yet I still do not have a 40/hr week job that I am used to. But I realize that no matter what words are coming out of your mouth, it may be the wish of your heart that is answered. So I am not working full time, but I now have time to do all of the things I love that I never had time to do when I was working so much: write, create, learn to cook, keep my house clean, etc.

So I'm not going to let it worry me. What is meant to be will be. And deciding to quit a job that was causing negative affects on my life and well being was the right decision. So it is one that I will not regret.

Now, the possibilities are endless, and I awake each morning renewed and looking forward to what the day will bring - which is what I needed for a long time now. I've been missing writing in my blog but everything has its time and place and I guess I had to work out some things before I could get back to it. I'm hoping that this transition will lead me back to being a regular blogger again. I definitely have the time now.

Here's a copy of my newest pieces of artwork:

12 X 12 Mixed Media on Canvas Titled "Believe in Yourself"

12 X 12 Mixed Media on Canvas Titled "Dream the Impossible"

The Winds of Change is Upon Me

Here's my newest illustration friday pages - Tango:

I wrote for the first time in what feels like forever. When I stopped dealing with my WIP I was having a problem with plausibility since the age of the character changed after writing over 90K words. Well that shifts everything that came before it and that I imagined would come after. Finally, after all of this time I could see the fix. It was crystal clear and just what I needed. I wrote 700 wds in 10 minutes and it felt sooo good.

I'm working on my art until more words come back to me, counting the days until the new semester starts. I am not looking forward to any more French classes but I don't really have a choice do I.

I'm setting the ball rolling for making positive changes in my life. I have no idea where this will lead but I know that I will be so much happier when I get there.

Hugs!

Illustration Friday - Hollow 7/12/09

Bonjour, mon amis.

I have been away, mentally, I guess we can say for a while. Problems at work has me digging deeply into my art journals and digging into my feelings...well...kinda scary. So anyways. I've been having fun with my art journals and I'm going to try to get some art done every week. There is something called http://www.illustrationfriday.com/ where they post a challenge word for the week every Friday and it gives us a chance to interpret it however we wish using art.

That seems pretty easy and I should be able to handle that even when the semester starts. So I'm going to take the challenge and it will also get me blogging again. This is my second week, but I'll post only this weeks for the challenge.

Journeys and Life

Bonjour, mon amis.

I was recently reprimanded for my lack of blogs. I don't know what the deal is. Since February I've been a bit disconnected from my own life. Learning French took up a lot of my time. I stopped writing for a bit to fully immerse myself in the language. The car accident, well what is there to say about that. Nothing has been the same since. I guess I jangled a couple of things in my brain or something.

Well here's a recap of the missing months. I enjoyed my French class immensely and cannot wait to learn more of the beautiful if not aggrevating language. I made friends with my classmates; a first for me. I have been in school for a very long time but I never mingle with my classmates. I hope these friendships stick.

I went on Spring Break to Philly, DC, and Arlington. We saw some things me and my traveling companions:


Aren't my girls just beauties??? We laughed, we wanted to cry (lol), and we walked for dayssss. It's a miracle we made it but we did make it. So I brought back some great memories of times and travels with my sister, Stacey, and my niece, Lauren. (I realize now that the comedic personality is strong in THIS family of mine!!)



But what I bring back with me of all the wonderful sights, sounds, etc of the trip is this one perfect moment as I sat quietly among the Japanese magnolias, remembering my childhood and dreaming of the future I so desperately yearn for. I could have spent days on this park bench writing and dreaming:


This picture will always take me back; and I look at it often!

I celebrated my big 30th birthday with family and friends. We ate sushi at my favorite Japanese restaurant, Shangri La with my favorite waitress. Here's my BFF Crissy and my handsome baby brother, Jason :


This is the first bday celebration Jason has joined us on. Us Blanchard women have a long history of Mindy's Bday celebrations: partying for the 21st, male strippers for the 24th, etc. And finally Jason joined us on this one!!!. I hope we have many more to share. We celebrated at the club where I spent a lot of crazy nights of my 20s, Graham Central Station, which was a fitting place to spend the LAST night of my 20s. We had fun. The drinks and laughter were flowing. It was a great way to start this new period of my life known as my 30s.

I haven't been writing. Even though the semester ended with my wonderful A- (yes the minus breaks my heart - apparently I am a horrible French speaker - well I can't be awesome at EVERYTHING!! LOL), the jobfront has me in such a state of disgust and disappointment (at myself) that I cannot find the words or inspiration to get back to my writing. My novel and my character sits constantly in the background. Nalia simply looks at me sighs, paints her nails, does a bit of primping and filing and waits patiently for me to get my act together so that I can get on...with her story!

When I can't find my words, I go to my art journals, and usually something comes up! Well I now have 4 journals prepped and ready for my personal decorated covers, 32 pages of scrapbooked and art journaled pages in about 5 art journals, 10 pages of backgrounds waiting to be scrapped and A LOT of personal reflection, inspection, whatever...still no words.

But I refuse to lose hope. If I am anything I am determined. That will usually get me through just about anything in my life. And I have started a new journal: one of reflection and forgiveness. A way for me to pour out my hurts on the page and cover it up with the wonderful memories and characteristics that will hopefully help me get over the wrongs of my life. I'm hopeful that this will help me heal, because I am tired of being bitter and jaded and all of those other negative characters that we all know me by. I'm ready to be free!!

Here's my latest creation. I recently started playing with watercolors and oil pastels. Here's my first whimsy girl in watercolor:


And on the last day of my 20s I did this page for my dad. Completing this piece was a breakthrough in the start of the healing process. It took me 10 years to talk about him after he died. Its taken this long to commit my feelings to paper. But I'm not afraid. I'm dealing. I miss you, Daddy, every day. Til we meet again:

(The treehouse is an original design by Gil Zaunbrecher. He and his beautiful wife, Tanya, are amazingly talented architects and good friends of mine!)

Music: Linger by the Cranberries (I love Pandora.com!!)

Dried paint (and blisters) lingers on the tips of all of my fingers.

I live in hope that today marks the beginning of many great days!!!

Mood: forever hopeful