Art and Arthritis

Strange title for a blog post, I know. What could art possibly have to do with arthritis--except if one is so arthritic that it becomes impossible to do art? Fortunately, I'm not (yet?) in that situation (thank the goddess!)

This is more about moving, believe it or not---the trials and tribulations of an (aging) aspiring hippie artist who will soon relocate to San Luis Obispo, CA.

The cold days and nights here in Sandy, UT, have been causing my joints to creak, explode in pain at times--especially if I overdo the packing thing--and generally cause me misery. This means more drugs, which I'm really loathe to put into my system. Blah, blah, blah--I know that in the grand scope of miseries in the universe, I have no right to complain. Suffice it to say that I'm very much anticipating warmer weather year-round in our new CA home.

Managing the move, packing, dealing with all the myriad details has become my full-time job, drastically curtailing my ability to just settle into my studio with my fur-child, Flynn, and paint. So along with the arthritis pain and lower-back muscle spasms, I am depriving myself--willingly yet with regret--of surrendering to the temptation to just start throwing paint onto paper and working out some emotions. Hence the "art"--or rather, the art deprivation--in the title of this post. Moving entails a bit of personal hardship on both fronts.

I've got about a month left to get all the packing done and all the other details associated with the move, so I've decided to try a bit of art journaling / blogging to compensate, and to also help me work through the stress and emotions I've been feeling in the last couple of months or so. If I'm not too embarrassed about what I end up producing, I'll share some stuff with you in this blog. Stay tuned!