A side effect of stress

You may or may not have noticed (I certainly have), that the amount of things I have made this year so far is incredibly small. I just haven't had the mental energy to do very much. I haven't been concerned because my interests do have wild swings, but I have made note of it. I think I have figured out a small piece of what's going on.

When I read the news today that the selling of public lands was removed from the Big Ugly Bill the amount of relief I felt was significant. I don't think I was quite aware of how much stress and anxiety I was carrying about this. While this issue is important, there are still so many others, not the least of which is ICE kidnapping people off the street, that are still ongoing. I think that there are many of us who are carrying weight the extent of which we don't fully realize. 

What I have been doing is reading. Copiously even by my standards. I'm currently averaging over nine books a month. It's been a lot of reading. Its also reading that requires an engrossing story. Anything too challenging I have put it aside, and I've put a lot aside as well. I think I'm using reading to tune out the constant horrible news. When I'm doing anything in my studio, there is too much space for me to think and the pervasive stress makes it challenging to feel creative. I have been doing some weaving because my current project is pretty complicated and I have to think hard while I am doing it. I'll need to think about what I need to change in order for creating things to feel restorative again. 

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