MOVING TO KEEP MOVING

Doing my best to get back to walking 10 miles a day. Time on the road, looking at the clouds, it helps me deal with the loss of my cat. For seven years I revolved my life around being home at 4pm to feed that little bugger, and usually it was around 2pm that the screaming and yelling would begin, when Blue would awake and start demanding to be fed.

Tonight it’s chilly. A rainy, cold night. The college kids are notably absent, too, so it’s quieter than normal. We would have settled in nicely this evening. Maybe made some tea, which he’d always sniff and recoil from the smell. Then he’s burrow between my legs and sleep like it was his job.

So seven years of that… of a familiar presence when I was home, going about my day. I didn’t realize at the time how much that little buddy felt like home.

BLUE IN PRINT

From Raj Kaur, “Blue is immortalised in my sketchbook, from a session with wonderful Beth Spencer.”

I submitted a photograph as source material for Beth’s online drawing session, and this is from Raj’s sketchbook. I took the file and sent it to a local printer, and they made me a nice print.

I miss my buddy.

REMEMBER THE MAGIC

Tonight, a friend walked me around their space, showing me the works of art left to her. A precious, sweet remembrance of a dear friend.

Tomorrow, I drive to upstate New York to visit an aunt in the hospital. She’s not an artist by definition, but she made people laugh and smile. What else is art but joy?

Remember the laughter, the smiles, the experences along the way. Celebrate the sunset, the dinner together, the conversations that flow like music into the evening.

GROWING WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

Just got off a call with Deanna Seymour, talking about my work with Social Media Escape Club.

When talking about “how I find new people” since I’m not on social media, I just said I meet new people all the time and do cool stuff with good people, like the podcast we were recording!

I then explained that a few of her listeners will hear my interview and go, hey! Seth seems cool, I’m gonna go check him out!

Deanna then hit the nail on the head, then, reminding everyone; “a few.”

Me being on one podcast won’t bring in 1000 new subscribers probably. But hey, maybe 3 or 5 or 10 people over a month, right?

Stop thinking of posting on social media and the infinite reach. Put value in showing up for 10 people.

HONOR YOUR OLDER WORK

The work we create doesn’t has an expiration date. The photo books we make, or the poetry chapbook, the music video, the demo tape, the essay, the course, the piece of art. Most of our work is timeless yet we let it expire, starving it of attention as we move onto the next thing.

“Well, the last thing didn’t take off, might as well work on the new thing,” we say, even though maybe 100 people saw it the first time.

What happens when 25 more people see it?