Lifering at Muskoka Wharf © 2011 Michelle Basic Hendry
Moving is considered one of the top 5 most stressful events in one’s life.
I know I put myself here. I dove into the water and I have gotten over the initial shock of cold and yet I am still in the descent, not yet at the nadir of the arc of my dive. The water gets darker before it gets lighter and the bubbles rise ahead of me in slow motion.
I am not one of those people who vents their struggles on canvas, my work is too calculated for that. The emotions I bring to my canvases are in direct relation to the subjects themselves and all of this chaos is like a jam in the frequency – I just cannot feel them. I am tempted to grab the life ring and hang on for dear life.
Everything surrounding the event is enough to keep me up nights (It’s 4:00 am). Certain people circle like vultures waiting for someone to hit a stress limit and then take the opportunity to push them off the edge. Perhaps I more likely got blown off the dock and into the frigid waters today. It is not good for my creative mojo.
While I won’t get into the details that are preventing my utterly exhausted body from sleeping, I will say that I hope I never have to do this again. I feel like I am holding my breath.
This photograph was shot last evening and it is the perfect metaphor – it’s just too bad I can’t use the ship in the background for a getaway vehicle. I am looking forward to the storm clearing so that when I return to the surface, I return to the sun…
i hate moving! it seems like its all we did when I was younger, and I think the 6 years I have been here is one of the longest times I’ve been in one single area. its just so stressful, getting packed/cleaned up/organized/ etc, its just not fun. but then when its all done, people tend to forget how much stress it is once they are in the new place making it another home.
there are a few options if people are stressing you out: 1. remind them that you can easily find the sharp knives now that you know where they are packed away. 2. you have lots of tape and can tape their mouth shut. 3. steal the boat and sail away :p
hopefully you get some sleep soon and don’t have too many more night up at 4am :/
LOL! Thanks Jennifer Rose, just what I needed to hear… And I haven’t packed the knives yet and still have lots of tape!
There is a time when we need to soldier on with our art, and not allow ‘mood’ or ‘I don’t feel inspired today’ as an excuse, and then there are the other times, when life really does get in the way, and change is in the wind, and you just need to accept, step back and away and do what you have to do.
So its okay to put those paints away for a bit, and get your move done. Maybe you need a very secret scribble pad (a little moleskine perhaps?) for the venting. Or maybe a really big pad of newsprint, some charcoal, and a bonfire for the results so that you can REALLY vent.
Hope you get through your move with the least disruption, and feel better soon.
Yes – the venting on paper and the bonfire sound good. Quite often, my emotions can get the best of me and I would hate to do something irrevocable. I actually got some sleep last night and I must say I am hopeful things won’t get to me today! 🙂