Well hello there! I’ve been working around the clock the last few days, and I’m a little bleary-eyed, so please bear with me.
Rebuilding the website has been fun, and has exercised all the tech muscles I left thought I had left behind some years back. A lot of changes in life over the last five or so years. In 2014, I had a little bit of fisticuffs with cancer, resulting in surgery that was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. (I’m fine) partially because I was also dealing with the onset of arthritis and diabetes and all sorts of things. (Co-morbidities anyone?) Each new disease added to the cornucopia of Things That Could Kill Me. I must say it was the cancer, though, that made me think, you know what? You better stop waiting for tomorrow to see if you can really make it as a writer and artist. Time to use your creative voice, learn to speak up and speak out.
Other situations added to the mix, no need to go into all of it here and now. The point is, like so many people who question their choices as they get older, it was time to reevaluate what the heck I was doing to myself, and how I could change my work into less tech, more art.
I’ve made attempts in the past, but was always fitting the creative stuff around the edges of my work in information systems. While that was a rewarding career for me once upon a time, it just wasn’t “it”. I just kept hearing “don’t leave your day job” in my head (oddly, with my father’s voice). So I put it off and put it off until my body finally rose up and said “Enough! Your job can’t be the only thing you done when it’s time to leave the planet.” It’s taken a while, but that’s the new voice in my head. And it’s my voice. And I’m finally listening.
I’m winging it (isn’t everybody, really?), but man, it really feeds my soul. And I’m actually blending the tech with the art now. It’s my job to keep this web site going and growing. And I’m creating more artwork than I ever have in my life, and working on a book (or two or three…).
I almost didn’t make the transition from old life to new. A lot of changes I wasn’t prepared for (gory details can be found at my other site, perceptivision.org, if you’re curious). It took my family and friends to keep me going and lift me up, including the two owners of Grey Heron Studios, who just happen to be my sister and brother-in-law, Jackie & Jim. I quite literally would not be on the planet without them.
That’s my origin story. That’s why I’m here. I’m going to be writing a lot for this website, trying to share things we learn as we move ahead in this creative journey. More importantly, we’ll share other people’s work we find along the way.
So keep an eye out, maybe you’ll learn something too. And please tell us about your journey in the comments. Or contact me (use the “contact us” page, I’ll get the info, don’t worry). And if you want us to link to your site, show your work, or tell people what you’re up to, I will do what I can to help amplify your voice, here and through instagram, twitter, and anything else that’ll help
I’m in this to support and encourage anyone else on a journey to find and use her/his own creative voice. We’ve got a lot of interesting projects in the works around Grey Heron, and we’ll be sharing more as fast as we can.
One thing I’ve found out through all the battles life can bring to your door, you never fight alone. Tell us your story, we really do want to hear what you have to say, however you choose to say it.
Now get out there and create something.