SEP. Secret Sketches + Hike Photos! ♥

Half secret sketches, half journal entry. Please flip through each image for short descriptions!

Hi you, I have been very occupied lately with moving (this Friday!), trying to stay on top of work, researching to begin tattooing, and taking time off when I can. Technically, I really do not have the capacity to take any time off at all right now, but I know that would be...inhumane. So even if I fall "behind" on work by a couple days, I still try to take a little bit of time off. It is worth it for my health, mental and physical.

I apologize that the sketchbook spreads are photos instead of scans. I am currently writing you this from a starbucks and wanted to get it out this morning! 

In the last weekend of August, I did a short weekend-long backpacking trip on a 9 mile stretch of the Appalachian trail. We went out and back (9 out, 9 back), and camped at the top of a mountain. To all of our surprise, the light pollution was so little that we got to see the milky way with our bare eyes once the sun was completely set. We were freezing (the top of the mountain got very windy, very wet, and very cold that night), but we still stood outside of our tents for a while and stared up in silence, huddled together for warmth, sometimes pointing out satellites. Occasionally, deer would graze near our tents--at one point I heard one brushing up AGAINST the tent and Colin popped his head out to confirm that, yes, there was a deer literally an arm's length from us.

There are the not so wonderful things that I do not go into in posts like this, such as the awesome UTI I got after exiting the trail, the struggle to get medicated for that UTI which included pain and some angry crying, the complicated work schedule and immense amount of pressure I am putting on myself, etc. I wrote out an essay earlier today, coming to the realization that most of the pressure I am feeling is all self induced. I checked in with myself and realized how my inner voice sounds, and my lack of self compassion, and it made me pretty upset. I would never say some of these things to anyone else, so why was I talking to myself that way?

I listened to the ologies podcast about happiness this morning, and it brought a lot to the surface. I highly recommend it. My goal moving forward is to practice more self compassion. More self-grace. 

Anyways, getting off track here, my point is that I know it's easy to judge your own life when seeing someone else's. We think in relativity. I want to be transparent that I am struggling. But I'm also doing my best. Every day I'm learning and growing. And so are you, so are all of us. So I'm right here with you. I hope you get to see a deer, or the milky way, or write a journal entry that helps you to realize something helpful. 

Talk to you soon!

-JG