Hi @caitiebeals

Yes, I am with you, and I'm sending you a gentle hug. I so miss studio practice, and even more taking care of myself. A nice long bath, art openings, a reason to get dressed up.

Please let me know if you'd like to participate in a sort of Artists Collective for folks like us. I realize it's not quite the same, but drawing and painting on my iPad has been helpful.

I'm with you in spirit and I feel the weight of not being able to take care of myself, practice art, travel, and....

the fact that you can trace your issues back to your teen years really resonated with me. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 14 (not HPV related - inherited from mother who also had this, and she died of Lupus at aged 47, this makes me nervous, but i digress)... followed by hemiplegic migraines and PCOS and as you mentioned - mental physical emotional... That damned Descartes really set things on the wrong path! Spinoza, Leibniz- scientists during baroque era who proved him wrong - everything is connected - and for me, the feedback loop, or vicious circle, between chronic pain and mental health , specifically depression, is really tough to navigate - in any case I'd love to keep in touch with you and I'd love to invite you to form a collective where we can still find ways to be creative even host openings online and such.

Sending gentle hugs and digital love your way. Your message was so emotive and impactful. Thank you. Went straight to the heart, and I am so moved. Thank you for letting me know you're out there, and you're dealing with the same things that I am, and that you can connect the SFpN to multiple chronic health issues as far back as aged 16. This pattern is something I have only recently revisited, after being told at aged 25 there was nothing to it - but I'm sorry - one body, it's all connected.

In any case, I hope you do something kind for yourself and I'm so grateful you took the time to write.

< 3 NMM