Among the many things that may be said about 2016, the
most hellish is we have been subjected to several heatwaves—endless days,
stretching into weeks, of heat indexes in the three-digits. Heat and humidity
rose to almost inhuman levels of discomfort, trying to kill us…
This has made it difficult to breathe, to move, to think!
Creativity takes a back seat to the deep moan your soul lets out hoping the
heat – or you – will break and make it stop.
That’s life without air conditioner. I do not recommend
it.
As much as Mother Nature has tried to knock us down and
leave us gasping for air like beached whales, in between “spritzing” I have tried
to work on two things: learning how to manipulate images and strip them into
line art, and rekindling my love of drawing.
Right now, I am just practicing drawing and doodling on my
tablet. Reacquainting myself with lines and forms, etc.
Ultimately, I want to do the equivalent of an
illuminated manuscript as well as a coloring book. Or ice cream, ultimately I want ice cream (that may be heatstroke speaking).
I have no topics in mind right at this moment, but this
is a long run goal. The final product could be a cookbook as easily as it may be
a children’s picture book.
I still have a translation to finish, a fantasy novella
to edit, a collection of stories to complete. None of these things will get
done as my brain is half mush. I need to save the lucid moments in between
misery for paying jobs.
Of course, I’m half joking. My brain is not a slushie,
it just feels that way occasionally (you know, like July and August). It does affect your motivation when you
spend a better part of your day trying to find ways to cool off--your creativity is taken over by such serious choices as "put head in freezer," "shower, again?" or "more ice cream!"
All that is left for us to do is to just outlast summer,
cruel and unyielding as it has been, and fall into the loving embrace of autumn
as soon as it reaches us.
That's just me, right now, how are you faring?
