Sick As Heck – But Still Making Art!

For over a month now I have been the sickest I have ever been in my life. What started out as the flu mutated into another strand of the flu, then shaped shifted into a debilitating case of pneumonia. Needless to say, I basically stopped doing everything — from working on my business to sharing on social media to changing my clothes or brushing my hair…..but, I still found a couple ounces of energy to sketch.

Though, I was sick, sick, sick, SICK. (And still am not feeling quite myself yet either.)

The crazy thing is that I am deeply grateful for this experience of being totally knocked out and smacked down. If it wasn’t for the flu bug, I wouldn’t have noticed how desperately my body and soul have been trying to get my attention. I wouldn’t have seen what things, patterns, and habits are literally killing me — physically and spiritually.

For that, I am truly grateful and ready to approach life differently from here on out.

Though, I don’t want to simply whine about how sick I’ve been…there’s something really special that happened as well I want to share.

One night, when I couldn’t sleep because of the continuous coughing, I picked up the closest book on my nightstand and read these words by Clarissa Pinkola Estes:

“Wildlife and the Wild Woman are both endangered species.”

I have read those words at least a million times before — but this time they hit me hard.  They went straight into my marrow and started to tango.

I literally haven’t been able to stop thinking about this one line for weeks now.  It seeps into my dreams even.

I keep thinking where is my wild woman? Is she still there?  What is she longing for? What does she need? How can I help her from becoming extinct? What needs to be released? Let go of? Changed? Resurrected? Loved back to life again?

Frida Kahlo — who was a wild woman to the core,  didn’t let her failing health stop her from painting in bed. Noway! So as sick as I was, I too picked up the brush, my new sketchbook, and some ink and created intuitive simple sketches from the solace of my bed.  It was one of the most healing things I did for myself this past month.

And well, these sketches feel really personal, but I still want to share them with you — that’s why I created a video for you below.  I start with a flip through and end with a peek into my sketching — hit play and happy painting!