2023 Week 32: Drawing

In a reading slump after Lady Chatterley's Lover. I've been sampling noncommitally, nibbling on bits of books, in particular Epictetus' The Art of Living and Julie Smith's Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Both are useful for my present state of mind, which is: confused, anxious, easily wounded, inexplicably prone to sadness.

I made Jon sit down and do some exercises from Why Has Nobody... with me. From a list of 20+ virtues, we picked out the ones that spoke to us at this point. Mine: curiosity, kindness, caring, creativity, adventure, loving. From there I came up with a list of things I felt called to do at this point: 

• Try writing poetry
• Draw every day
• Write a series of essays about the things I've done to try and find meaning outside work
• Create a pet services website (this has been on my to-do list since November!)
• Choose 1 area of study and research and write about it

Let me take a moment to say I'm grateful I don't have a job or family obligations that suck all my energy, leaving me with just scraps to work with. No - I am in that rare scenario where I have too little going on in my life and could stand to take on more challenges.

I've been drawing a lot this week. I realised rather late that it's so much easier to draw from photos than real life. Here are the 2 bunnies, Chappy and Orange, that I groomed on Sunday:

Another thing I've been doing is sketch my day, especially the days I worked in the bookstore. 

It's been really therapeutic. I feel like drawing gives me a chance to turn negativity (like the one above, one of those days where I did everything "wrong") into something funny/enjoyable/even nice.

I've also decided to pay more attention to how I start and end my day, with the help of a notebook and pen at my bedside. Right before I sleep, I write down Three Good Things. And then when I wake up I jot down whatever thoughts are in my head (dreams, worries, etc.). I've also been reading poetry over breakfast - currently Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson. These things sound a bit silly but I hope they help me start and end the day on a positive note.

As for what I did during the week,

Mon: yoga and lunch, meet neighbour from Olio

Tue: drawing at Bishan Park, bought groceries and cried, lovely dinner with Van in the park

Wed: work day, then went stationery shopping

Thu: took bus to Jurong East, had lunch at IKEA, bought lint roller

Fri: work day

Sat: collect bookshelf at Pasir Ris with Jon

Sun: rabbit grooming all afternoon, then cousin's housewarming

Noticed that I've been feeling very sad when travelling around and realising places that I used to love have turned into construction sites. Could also be dehydration from the heat. Overall the week was too busy for my liking: I need more time to rest next (this) week.