Humbug Country

The holidays can really tend to magnify what we feel is either currently "right" or "wrong" in our lives at the moment.

The good is great,

and the not so great-

well, there's no mincing words,

it's really shitty.

But if you're feeling overwhelmed and humbuggy-

it's always a good time to stop and remember that it's just a date.

Every culture has a festival of lights to bring a time of celebration and togetherness during the time of darkness and cold to bring comfort.

The light is the focus. 

Just as in any time of year, 

dwelling on the darkness will stir up an emotional shit storm. 

Having dark thoughts?

Stop that mess. 

Run yourself a hot bath, make a hot cuppa, pour a glass of mulled wine, whatever you need to do.

If you are really missing loved ones,

find ways to honor them.

Take the funds you would have used to purchase gifts for them and donate to charities,

or volunteer your time at orgs that need you throughout the year. 

(Most shelters are pretty good on help during the holiday- picking another date can be even more helpful.) 

It's okay to have a pity party, 

but show yourself some love and find ways to recognize the light.

Party.

Party hard. However it is that you party, do it.

You deserve it.

Celebrate the awesome parts of your year,

and celebrate the end of the crappy parts. 

It's a little hectic with the holidays,

and I haven't been blogging much.

This is also a reminder that this weekend is the last chance to order signed prints or originals from my Etsy shop and have them delivered via USPS Priority Mail before Christmas.

If you're a H.S.T. fan, or a reader of gonzo lit, you might get the reference, 

and you might be surprised to know that H.S.T. actually had a soft spot for Christmas.

I drew it up last week for a customer that ordered one of my Turn Pro prints, as part of the OOAK mailer sketch special I was running.

If you like the Hunter S. Thompson inspired sketch,

head over to my Patreon for two printable PDFs. 

(It's free for Patrons, and there's also a special 25% code for patrons.)

I hope your holiday season is going well, 

and you're steering clear of any Yuletide blues.

What do you do when you find yourself in humbug country?

Passion Flowers

 My entire life, it seems like I've been made to feel guilty for my gusto.
When I am particularly "on fire" for something, it's inevitable that someone will make a negative comment on my feistiness regarding said subject or cause, and trust me, there are lots of them:

The special needs population (intellectual and physical disabilities)
poverty, sexism, gay rights, military personnel, animal rights, animal rescue, ecological preservation, (this list can go on, and on, and on...)


 People that feel deeply are used to being told how "sensitive" they are.

Passion Flower work-in-progress

It's perceived to be a bad thing. But think about it, most often when people are chiding someone for being sensitive, it's a way of dismissing the "sensitive" person's feelings or reactions to justify their own actions or to subdue the "sensitive" person.
Any time someone criticizes (or praises!) someone else, it's usually their shit that they are addressing.

 Therefore, I don't bristle (too much) anymore when someone comments on how sensitive I am or how focused I can get on something. Most of the time, I take it as a compliment.

 But just yesterday, insights on my facebook page  told me that someone took the time to
 click "hide all posts" after I shared this photo and link.

Driving with Colleen

So, um, whoever did that... really?

Seriously?

I'm still posting fundraiser things in memory of someone's dead mother to help cancer patients.

I do not care if you like it. It's my page, and you are a stick-in-the-mud. 

 I post all kinds of stuff on my art page that isn't exactly my art, but it's all stuff that I'm passionate about. Because that's what my art is about. 

 I am also able to be a passion empath. I can take the energy of someone else and amplify it into something even brighter and louder.

I am able to share my knowledge and help their passion and enthusiasm make it out into the world. I am proud to be passionate about something that totally deserves to be lauded and have the ever-loving light shared out of it.

There's a reason your heart skips a beat when you come upon an awesome inspiration.

You were meant to live your passion.

I came across wild passion flowers on my trail run one morning and was so overcome by them I had to stop and marvel at their strange beauty.

While the name comes from Christian missionaries, I feel the untamed coronal filaments mimic actual human passion so well. They can curl and crawl every which way but they radiate out from the center and work to nourish the flower as a whole organism. 

Passion flowers have been used as a calming remedy in folk medicine. For the creative, getting into your “flow” does just that. Chasing your passion actually is a kind of zen.

Look for your passion flower. Let it drive you to great things. It will bloom where you are needed.

Passion Flower

Yes, passion can be a messy business.

It's a sloppy, wet thing that's taxing and sometimes crude, but sometimes it's the only thing that keeps us going. 

Passion changes the world.

What's yours?