Studio Journal - 07/2025
JULY
Moments captured, audios listened to, and books read in & out of the studio in July 2025.
July found me in some tender feels …
July tends to be a sparkly month for me as well as a month of reevaluation. Not only does my birthday fall in this month (heyooo!), it’s also a little over halfway through the year which lends itself to moments of celebration and also reflection.
I reflect on how I’m feeling in my body and life. I reflect on my business and next steps that may need to be taken. I reflect on the wins big and small. I reflect on the losses.
And boy howdy was this July reflection a doozy!
It’s difficult to run a creative business when the world feels like it’s on fire. The utter shame and grief I feel towards my country’s complacency (and in some cases down-right support) of a genocide is overwhelming. So much destruction and lack of care toward people and planet both close to home and afar.
Who am I to try and put art out into the world and aim to have it be my livelihood while others are starving? How does one keep working toward a creative path in a capitalistic culture that does not value artistic endeavors as productive? How does one keep creating under the crippling collective grief that so many of us are feeling?
I have no answers.
I’ve been clinging to my recent mantras “Keep showing up” and “Cherish the time.” I cling to the knowledge that we are not alone across time. I’ve also been surrounding myself with voices that I trust - especially the voices of great leaders and poets featured in Krista Tippett’s Hope Portal series.
Hope has always been an active choice of my life and the key element in my artwork. But hope is a muscle that must be stretched and developed and my hope muscles are feeling a tad weak at the moment.
May we find support in one another and know that we are not meant to walk this wild human life alone. May our hearts bend toward justice and working toward bringing beauty into this world whatever that may look like.
And may we move into the second half of 2025 with strong, ever-growing hope muscles.
