Trish in Transit

I’m tempted to explain and expound on this article-that-is-not-really-an-article, to write down every step of my thought process – on why I’m posting a photo of a sketch of a teeny cup of coffee without a handle and what this “safe place” is all about. But to do so would defeat the purpose. The point of all this is really to get myself to stop overthinking. I have gone on a long vacation from writing and making personal art. It’s time to come back.

I started this blog in 2013 as a place to jot down my thoughts and as a promise myself to keep practicing, to never stop learning. Most of all, it is a place to be free, where I can talk about my dreams, my failures, and emotions. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of why I was keeping this online journal. I grew self-conscious and afraid and insecure – ingredients that make for a very unhappy, very unfulfilled artist.

So here I am, back at it. This time, I’m just aiming for consistency. I want to build momentum and feel that same thrill when I started my first few entries. I’ve started a sketch-a-day habit, and I’ll be accompanying it with some writing. I plan to do a LOT of writing (already the skeptical part of my brain is asking “Are you sure about that? Aren’t you just setting yourself up for failure? What happens when you–” SHHH DOUBTING TRISH). I’m not sure if the pieces I come up will be good or not; I just want to get past this massive creative block that’s been bothering me for months now and find my voice again.

This is my safe place. It’s one I created for myself and no one else. I mean, if people read it and find it useful or nice then great! But sometimes – OK, a lot of times – I have to remind myself that it isn’t my ultimate goal to please others. So here’s my promise: to keep creating art that matters to me and to keep pushing myself even through the bad days. More importantly, I will be kind to myself and learn to see my failures as opportunities to improve and learn. 

Well, I’m on the verge of overthinking, already going through each sentence to see what I can edit out. So I’ll just stop right here.

This seems like a promising start. Here we go: Day 1!