Upgrade

Upgrade time.

Was thinking of getting yet another camera for this upcoming trip but decided on a new phone instead. Haven't had a new one in quite a while and in the spirit of downsizing for this travel, it hit the mark.

What I didn't expect was the tirade of how much my sales representative hated Key West while waiting for my phone to get programmed. I really should have been paid the phone programming fee since I had to listen to a lot during that hour or so. 

Strangers like to tell me a lot of things. And I guess I listen, so more flows out.

How do people move here not knowing what its like?

I mean come on. 

Also mainstream northern people don't seem to know what to do with themselves. Not all but I'd gather to say about 80% of America. Unless its easily served up to them in a multiplex of stores and entertainment sources.

As I listened to complaint after complaint about the parking, bikers, pedestrians, cost of everything, etc. (I think I was in shock when he mentioned this place should be more car friendly). I just felt grateful.

I really like living outside the norm. That includes not watching a shit load of crappy reality TV.  (I do like to get my Project Runway on though)

My really good friend Toni came down for her annual visit. 

Whilest hanging in the house the first day she started mentioning TV shows I had no clue about. Seriously, sometimes I feel like I live in a hut (and I like it)

Naked and Afraid was one. When the logo came up with an XL after it, I asked if it was going to be about a group of fat people.

It was a group of naked people dropped off in the jungle with one tool to survive. Seriously? After we started watching them pick ticks off each other I asked if we could turn it off.

Junk food. Junk TV. Do you know how it truly affects you? What mindless static you allow in? 

Watching other people trying to survive in bizarre situations. Social, physical or otherwise. Hell, even politics and the commentary along with it, have been just as bad. I can't watch.

Americans are so angry and afraid.

So on the most recent tirade from this guy whom I just bought a phone from, I tell him there are some really great people down here. "What do you like to do for fun?"

The only thing I could get out of him was trivia games. Everything else I told him about he shot down with "I hate that" or "I can't"

A lot of people can't handle living in the Keys. You do with less, you don't have the same stuff as up north but you get so much more. 

Everyone needs a tribe and I've found some great peeps to hang with down here. Be it 5 minutes or 11 years. We've all had a history that led us down to the end of the road and a  good majority are happy here.

Maybe its cause we didn't fit in up north. 

Talked with a friend who's moving back up and asked if he was nervous about heading back into "normalsville". He was a bit but has a growing family where there will be more for them up there.

He asked me what I've figured out so far living here. I told him I know I didn't fit into 9 to 5. The gray cubicle that felt like jail until I felt natural light on my face as I walked out.

I don't need a career or title, I just need a job to support what I love to do.

I don't need much to be happy. A good cup of coffee, a swim, a bike ride, yoga, paint, photos, a book that blows my mind, great friends, a bunch of stupid laughs.

After visiting with my friend recently and talking to this guy yesterday, I wonder. I wonder if people need this reality TV crap to feel like they are in a better place.

Watching people in survival mode on all levels does it make you feel like you're alive? Watching someone suffering as much as you are, does it make you feel not so alone? 

In reality, I think it just numbs you out. Kinda like eating a giant bag of cheetos.

Don't let yourself be numb. Find something you love to do (however small) and enjoy the hell out of it. Push yourself to try something new just for kicks. Connect.

Just try. 

That's what's on my mind today. I keep feeling like Florida is fully flowing through my veins. (been seeing a bit of Bloodline lately and it resonates) All of it. And I wonder if I'd ever be able to go back to "normalsville"?

Or at the very least take a bit of out of the norm back to normalsville.

Been trying to check off all the little details I need to do before I leave on vacay, but made time to go to the beach this morning. 

Sit and breathe with eyes closed. Do a little yoga, get in and swim. Going back to the yoga studio too cause I miss my tribe and am ready to not go solo anymore.

I felt like I was dying up north before I got here. Don't let those everyday cycles spin you out. 

Live.

Its a lesson I don't want to ever forget. Got a good reminder  of it while purchasing a phone.

Acceptance and GO

"to be free means to be free to satisfy one's preferences. preferences themselves are beyond rational scrutiny; they express the authentic core of a self whose freedom is realized when there are no encumbrances to its preference satisfying behavior" 

- Matthew B Crawford - the world beyond your head

So I haven't been writing much these days.

A funny thing happened with the mural. A quick weekend or two in Miami with artsy friends was a realization of the life I've always had in front of me... but denied it.

Denied it because I didn't think I could make a living at it. Denied it because I needed something "more solid". Denied it because I was afraid to be seen. 

But its been there the whole time, ever since I was a little kid and it makes me happier than I ever realized.

Have you ever thought about what makes you truly happy? The one thing that you want to do without any limits, expectations or worry about failure?

I'm most alive when I'm exploring and creating. And why can't life be exactly that? I mean, who cares what kind of job you have as long as you have time for what you love. Time for what brings you to life.

I liken this realization to a slow moving car crash. 

You brace for the impact, holding on for dear life, tensing up with each tick-ing movement. Then when you hit, a release. 

It wasn't so scary after all. It was the bracing, the holding back that took all your energy and effort for an outcome that was going to happen no matter what.

I've been in Key West for about 11 years. In that time, I started out marketing artists. Writing about them, discovering how they became. In a way, I think it was to help me figure out my stuff and feeling a part of art without the fear of rejection.

I dabbled in it myself. Had big plans, marketing and selling. But the work couldn't flow. After those Wynwood weekends I found myself really enjoying just doing the work. Not worried about the outcome but more curious of how it would turn out. Or what turn it would take.

So much JOY.

Add to that some great conversations and laughs with other people that like to do weird things. I came home thinking I don't care how much I make, or if I even become successful; I just want to keep doing THIS. 

This is the life for me even with its uncertainty. And it was acceptance that made it break open and flood in.

All I want to do these days is paint, draw, put weird images on board. 

I can't stop the images from coming. Yoga has even taken a back seat to it a bit but I still find time to stand on my head (cause it feels good).

Life feels brighter. Even on tough days at work I look around and feel really grateful for what I have. 

Getting ready to take another big trip too. The Greek yoga retreat that was born out of a night in a basement Hong Kong Irish Bar with two yoga teachers doing shots is happening.

The retreat should be amazing but I'm also going to see my Tio Luis who's not doing so well these days and am most excited about this. He's 99. 

Spain was my first big trip to break open that artsy part and I'm going back to say thank you and see him one last time. Even found a little surf house to stay at not too far from the farm. 

Throw in some Barcelona time, a day in Italy, Germany and its on. 

For now, its painting, figuring out how to pack a backpack for the trip, getting back to the yoga studio, updating and upgrading my phone for better travel pics and getting excited for more images to come.

Even time to hop a Greyhound to see my friend Toni in Key Largo for a weekend. Adventures in life in every form! 

Gotta kill that curiosity one weird adventure at a time.

Charged

"You seem...Charged." a regular patron tells me as I enter the restaurant after my first weekend in Wynwood.

"I am!" and that is the best description of the finish of a few really really good weeks.

Who knew just a mere weekend or two off would change my whole perspective. It really stretches back the night before my birthday and a vegetarian cooking class with a bunch of girls I didn't really know.

Bookend Stock Island krunk fun to Wynwood krunk. Or Krunk to Krunk as I like to call it.

At the cooking class I found out one of the girls worked in the library. I've always wanted to secretly be a librarian and so I not so stealthy cornered her to find out what its really like while listening how we should cook vegetables.

In the midst of finding out how to properly slice and dice our veggies I gave up and told her how I've always wanted to work in a library but never knew anyone actually working in one. The flood gates were open for questions at that point and bonus, she actually worked in the archival section which is even cooler and my inner nerd rejoiced.

We talked all about her work, how she got there, where she wants to ultimately go with it and does she ever get afraid of ruining really old stuff. And there was one sentence she uttered that summed up my obessession with running away to the library world for work.

"Yeah, I like to learn too."

That's it. That's why I want to be a librarian. And why the library has always been a sanctuary for me in my toughest times. It may not be the job I'm looking for so much as the environment and ability to learn at all times. 

Steph, an old college buddy rolls into town the day after my birthday. Most of my college friends have families and 9 to 5 jobs and all of them have not made it down here. Yet.

She got a great gift from her hubby (also a college buddy of mine) to come down and visit. I warn her that we'll be kicking it in my studio apartment like its 1995. At first a little embarrassed by it. 

You tend to compare your life to your friends in "normalsville" and wonder if you're not still a college student who's in their 40's. 

Thinking mostly of her sprawling house and yard in comparison to my one room apartment. But in the end I really love my place, where I'm at and am happy to share it with her.

We get some bikes and roll about town. As she calls it the wine and bike tour cause that's exactly what we did. My favorite part was the sailboat/snorkel day in which we got in and swam with all the fishes. Something I vow to do more often cause I miss the reef and open water.

We swam with a big ole sea turtle and nurse shark that whizzed by. I kept popping up and pointing to make sure she was seeing it all.

Key West home isn't so bad when you have all this beauty to enjoy. Sometimes it takes a friend coming down to remind you of that very thing. 

Onto the next week and a trip up to Miami to help my spirit animal make a Wynwood mural. Marlene is one of my yoga teacher/artist friends who is fucking cool as shit. And even cooler when you find out she was on a call list to pose nude and that ended her up at a cocktail party naked painted pink serving David Bowie a drink.

I remember seeing her artwork before I actually knew her and asking the gallery owner "Who is that???" 

Her work spoke to me immediately and later finding out she's a trip to hang with as well. Her, me and her nephew are on the team to make this wall happen. And bonus points for all of us not knowing what we were doing since it was all our first time but it just flowed.

The ride up to Miami was so fast as we all talked constantly about everything. I forgot what its like to be around artists. Fast, excited, conversation over a myriad of subjects and how to tutorials.

It was already a great trip. We primed the wall the first day and scoped it out. While waiting for the second coat to dry we got some animal masks in the costume shop we were painting on.

In between had great beers at the brewery, amazing food at Kush, and met other creatives in the neighborhood. I was in heaven and it was only the first weekend.

We finished up this past weekend staying in a krunk town airbnb place that was kinda perfect too. Complete with three huge banana tree spiders that kept the bugs away.

Everyone in Miami was so kind. From the couple that let us use their scaffolding. Right down to the security guard who let us into the Wynwood walls cause Chase wanted to take a pic of one artist's work. It totally changed my view of Miami and let me know there's a place I can get my creative fix if I need to. 

I need to be around other artists. It just adds something to the work and is a damn good time. 

Food truck eats, an MTV food show shoot while painting, walking around the walls trying to figure out how other artists did what they did was awesome. 

Marlene is talking about starting a mural business and I'd be totally fine with it. I don't even care how much it pays, I just want to keep painting. It was so fun figuring it all out and with a wall that big you can't think about screwing it up. You just gotta get paint down and quick. Details come later.

I see it already changing my work which is what I hoped this excursion would do.

Shake things up a bit, give yourself some space, see where it leads. 

The artist community is how I fell in love with Key West. It's good to see it alive again in another form.

And the biggest learning of all came yesterday when I got a rush of ideas for new paintings. I am not a marketer.

I started taking off the marketing tag on descriptions of me in my social media a few weeks ago. It didn't feel right anymore. 

I got some requests for files from the new web designer of an old client and realized I have used marketing as a shield to be what I am. An artist.

It was a way to stay creative, make money, have a respectable title. It was safe.

As an artist, there's no guarantee you'll sell. You may have odd jobs, and there's no traditional pathway to success. Its a total crap shoot.

I chose marketing cause it was safe and it almost killed me. Yes, I learned how to MacGyver the shit out of anything and make it happen on a shoestring budget but I got crushed. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

I choose art. I'd much rather use my marketing tools to spread art out in the world than beer, shoes, tomato sauce, credit cards, and soda. 

Its where my heart is and always has been. I don't think I truly realized that until this weekend. I don't think I truly knew how marketing blocked me from being that until now.

I choose art. I choose my heart. Even if I'm not quite sure where it leads.

I started a new portrait yesterday and have some really cool weird ideas for more. Having fun with it I decided to post a pic to my personal Facebook page to show people. 

I've always compartmentalized that piece of me not comfortable to show it to everyone. It took a long time to just show my paintings to people I knew and cared about. I didn't hesitate to show it now. 

As we were cleaning up last night and one of our busboys  was mentioning I've been gone too much as of late. Our manager made light of it in a way saying, "Don't you know, she's an artist now..."

"Yes, I am. Damn straight."

Hello

Hello!

This is what you see when going to a friend's house to get your haircut. 

I love spring. Always have and always will.

Space...

A little space make a world of difference.

Traded a shift for a co-worker to have a night off. That left me with one day on, one day off work week. 

I had no idea how much that would change my mood and am excited to have more space this upcoming month with a friend coming in town and the mural in Miami.

Things have been softening. The need to breakthrough lessening. Learning to really be in the moment whatever that entails.

Overall, listening to my heart more and my mind less. I highly recommend that.

Enjoyed my unexpected evening off with a sunset sesh at the beach and subsequent beautiful bike ride home.

Death

Friday morning I had a kayak tour of 24. Friday night I waited on 70 people. 

Woke up early to meet a friend for a birthday breakfast. And wandered around town.

Next day, a wall of flu. 

I just got a following on Instagram by a cemetery which is right on par cause I feel like death.

Oh well, at least I get another day off. 

Drinking a whole container of Oj wondering if spring break is over yet.

And just like that...

Two days ago I felt like I was in a hole. A depression I haven't felt in a long long time.

Yesterday I picked up a crystal that made me feel weird in a good way. I promptly paid for it and headed home.

Today, I had a standing morning coffee and donut date with my spirit animal that was totally what I needed. Artist Yogi extraordinaire who is a great mentor as well as friend.

A gentle nudge from two friends in two days to start letting go of the restaurant work so I can let something new in. Knowing they are right but not sure how without totally freaking out.

Didn't realize how much of a machine I've been working in until now and how much I've been resisting letting it go since its been the only thing I've known for work these past years. All the resistance and depression is how I know its not working anymore.

Time to start living the art/travel life in the foreground like I've been talking about since I moved down. And that means letting go of what I know. Trusting and creating space for something new to develop.

And boom. An offer to help create a mural at the Wynwood walls pops up from my spirit animal. She's never done something like this before and I immediately offer my assistance cause I wanna learn (and have some fun in Miami)

I just might need to give up a shift at the restaurant for a bit to go up each weekend for the next month. Uh, yes please.

New tricks. New exploration. Inspiration. Less restaurant.

"We're gonna Thelma and Louise the shit out of this!" was my comment when she excitedly accepted my offer. 

And a counter offer that we could possibly tap each others talents to expand and sell our wares. 

New art fix. New experience. Travel. Yes, yes, and YES.

And maybe I'll buy a car up up there too.

So excited! Happy Lunar Eclipse Ya'll!

Be the Change

Be the change you want to see in the world

Haven't had too much to say lately. Mostly been thinking about things and trying to feel it out. When that happens... I get quiet.

Went home for a long overdue vacation and to see the parental units. Dad's been having some health issues and of course refuses to wear his doctor ordered monitor so they can figure it out.

When I go away, I delight in all the cultural, physical, and food options that don't exist in Key West. Not to mention a bit of shopping as well. 

When my life was in a serious nose dive years ago, I moved to Key West. I was so sick of not fitting into the boxes that defined success "relationship, home, job, etc". They were not making me happy and even in my distraught state, I yearned to be free. 

So I dropped out. Hence the residence in Key West.

No more relationship, no more home, no more cubicle.

That drop out allowed me to heal, think, feel, and find my bearings. Do you allow yourself time to feel? Do you allow yourself the space to see? 

I finally saw what I'd been given on this recent trip home and what might be awaiting me if I ever decide to leave this island. Which is what I find myself increasingly thinking of.

What it gave me. 

The space and community to discover who I was and what I want. Something I will forever be grateful for. 

Places I travel to usually involve a sense of seclusion (i.e., Bali, the desert, Peru, Spain (communication seclusion) Removing yourself from all the noise and distraction is a powerful tool. 

You begin to realize you don't need a lot to be happy. I definitely see this in third world countries and am amazed at how unhappy everyone seems to be in the States.

We accumulate things to make ourselves feel whole. People, jobs, cars, homes. They never really do the job. We need to find ourselves in order to find what truly makes us happy. Limiting your accumulations can help you discover that. Doing something that totally scares you can launch a new life.

I'm watching a couple of friends go through the engagement/relationship portions of their lives. In between pole dancing class.

I see the confusion of wanting to do the benchmark life event but not really sure of what it means. Just knowing that this is what you're supposed to do. This is the goal, without knowing if you really want it but the train is going full speed ahead.

I don't miss that question mark. In fact I'm relieved to have experienced it and know I don't need it to be happy.

Would I like a partner in crime to enjoy all of life's offerings? 
Of course, but I don't need to be married to him to cement my place in the world. I kinda like being fluid, in the moment and need someone to match that for it to work.

Always thought it was the opposite but see why it hasn't worked in the past. Must be why I finally brought home an art piece made by a guy I almost married. 

Had saved it for a long time in the basement of my parent's house. I really did love it but couldn't get past seeing him and the pain in it. 

Did not want him in my space so it sat covered up for years until I uncovered it every once in a while to decide if it was time to bring it in. 

You might think 11 years is a long time to decide but that's how long it took for me to finally see me in that piece. Funny cause its a giant lighted P with a dragonfly (one of my favorite spirit creatures). You'd think that wouldn't be so hard. 

Healing comes in waves with a lot of setbacks. I finally feel like that nose dive time is behind me. Especially when I come home at night and light the P. 

And it truly is complete with a set of anchoring tools to help me find my center if I start to nose dive again.

In St. Louis a friend took me to venture cafe. A place where a panel of speakers from the community talk to an audience of working collaborators. Young tech people enjoying free craft beer and eats watching as a panel of chef's talk about the up and coming food community in St. Louis. Wha????

Never in a million years would I expect to see this kind of creativity and collaboration in of all places - St. Louis. The food scene there blows doors off Key West mostly cause its so much cheaper to operate. But the creativity...

I miss that in Key West.

The whole reason I wanted to live here was the creativity. A bunch of outlaw people living life outside the box. It was an intoxicating mix coming from corporate america. Running away to join the circus is how it felt.

Now I see corporate America starting to conform to non-conformity. Something I so desperately needed when I was there and was reprimanded and fired when I chose it.

"Is this for real or is it just bullshit?" I asked my friend, hearing the jaded corporate self reappear. My UX design, artist childhood friend whom I've known since Kindergarten said "Its real."

She worked in advertising too and left it as well so I know she had a handle on what I was asking.

I was blown away. People were kind, sharing ideas, and worshiping at the altar of creativity. Started making me think that leaving won't be so hard when the time comes.

There's more out there. And I always thought I could never leave Key West for what it allows me in freedom to feel and the space to create but I see exactly that is awaiting me in a place I never thought I could live up north. And popping up all over the place.

Transformation to say the least.

I'm not saying I'm ready to leave just yet, but am thinking. 

Lots of bumps in the road this past year to start the process. 

The whole condo mess - I'm so thankful that didn't go through. Our restaurant had been turned upside down complete with finding out our beloved owner has stage 4 cancer. He's trying to fight it naturally with low doses of chemo cause he doesn't believe in the health system which I admire. 

Trying marketing again for it to crash and burn again. Finding I love the information architecture and design more than the actual marketing. Looking into a UX design degree or library science possibly to find my old lady desk job when I get tired of the restaurant biz. (and that is quickly approaching)

People are so angry these days. Its funny to watch these elections and hear everyone being horrified by people's behavior. Are you kidding me??

This election has been a long time coming. I see this shit in people everyday waiting on them. And most (not all) have been absolutely horrible this year. Angry, intolerant, intoxicated and what's the word? Oh yeah, Assholes.

Exactly what you're seeing at Trump rallies.

I get it. People are unhappy with their lives. Feeling squeezed and squashed but taking it out on others is not the way. Something I've felt lately a lot in the restaurant gig.

Take some responsibility. Unplug and find out what what makes you tick. That's my suggestion but we live in a society that doesn't want you to do that. The whole advertising industry is built on you not knowing who you are so they can sell products you don't need. 

Booze, pop culture and stupid reality shows are the brain numbing that we choose to escape our own reality show. 

But if the past 11 years have taught me anything its that knowing yourself is quite possibly the most centering, powerful and loving thing you can do.

It has shifted so much for me and yoga has helped cement it which is probably why I'm slightly obsessed with it.

I know that whatever comes my way, I can work with it or at least try. Flexibility in everyday events, that I am reminded by when i move through asanas. We create our own environment and energy with every moment.

I'm seeing Key West disintegrate as I first knew it and it saddens me. Is it the place that's changing or me I wonder? 

I see it being devoured by greed and waves of unconscious people who drink till they release whatever anger or emotion they have in them.

The drinking has been scaring me more these days too. So much that I'm considering attending some Al-Anon meetings to help deal with it.

Everyone feels so out of control, angry and hopeless. 

Especially on my trip back to Key West when I got bumped on a flight. Watched the crowds at both airports just wail on the flight staff. I tried to be a human to the gate people and ask questions instead of get upset. I got a free bottle of wine, a rescheduled flight and my luggage out of being human.

Stayed overnight in Miami only to have slept through my alarm and almost missed my shuttle back to catch my next flight. 

In the rush I left my kindle and some jewelry in the room. Called the hotel immediately to see if they could retrieve it only to be told that housekeeping didn't find anything. 

Had to call the hotel back four times just to find out that someone probably stole and lied about it. Upsetting but I let it go.

Come home and stand in a line with a bunch of complaining tourists to catch a cab. Tried to sleep off the last 24 hours unsuccessfully before work and found my bike had a flat 15 minutes before I had to be there.

Waited on a cab and forgotten for 45 so I could drop off the bike to get fixed enroute to work only to pick it up at 1:00am on bike rack after since I had a paddle board tour the next morning. 

And then waited on all those rabid tourists at work.

That kind of bumpy re-entry hasn't happened since I lived in NYC and it was the moment I knew I was leaving the city.

What helped me release was my yoga practice at the beach, laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, pole dancing class with a bachelorette party, reading and painting. I.e, becoming human again with a few days off.

So we'll see... In the meantime, I'll enjoy the ride down here and keep moving.

Mentally, physically, spiritually feeding myself to see where the path will lead. And excited for the possibilities ahead instead of fearing them.