Maranda Russell's Blog, page 82

Forever Intertwined

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Does the popcorn

make the movie

and the beer

make the bar?

When you

willfully separate

that which has been

forever intertwined,

does the sum of its parts

create something new

or do you simply

destroy

all parties involved?

~ Maranda Russell

Sweet Freedom

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I finally have a car again! Since April of last year, my husband and I have only had one car between us. During the summer it wasn’t so bad because he doesn’t work, but when he returned to his position as a special education teacher this year, I started really getting feelings of being trapped at home and desperately wanting to get out, even if it was simply to run an errand or two or people watch (one of my favorite past-times).

We started looking for a car a few weeks ago, using some money I had earned from writing and some savings we had socked away. We only had around $2,000-$3,000 dollars, so we were definitely working on a budget. We finally found a good, reliable used car last week and bought it, but we weren’t able to drive it until yesterday since we had to wait to get the plates and make sure our insurance was covering it now.

So now I have a car again!  I don’t plan to go out and do a lot (my health prevents that) but I can run down to the local post office, library, dollar stores, and McDonald’s myself now! Of course, we live out in the country, so there isn’t a ton of stuff to do within a few miles, but hey, something to do is better than nothing! Due to my health problems, I try not to drive more than 10-15 minutes away from home (I never know when the fatigue may worsen, IBS may flare up, or vertigo may strike), but at least I am feeling a bit more free and able to do things for myself!

Relationship PTSD

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Everywhere I go

I fear I’ll find you.

I skulk around the edge

of each aisle,

scanning faces

to make sure it is safe.

I play out

our fearfully planned reunion

again and again

in my mind.

When the inevitable collision

happens, I consider

speaking Spanish

or pretending I don’t know you.

In every scenario

you see past the lie,

but you don’t always

call me out on it.

Instead, you give me

that knowing smirk

(the one I hate so much),

turn your head

and walk on by –

leaving me convinced

that a knock-down, drag-out

confrontation

might have been better

in the end.

~ Maranda Russell

A Few New Coloring Book Pages

I wanted to share a few of my favorite new coloring book pages I have completed. If you like any of these, they are for sale on my Ebay store!

I really like this creepy guy peeking out of a well….

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Who doesn’t love cats, hamburgers, and french fries?

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Black and metallic colored pencils are always a good match…

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Even simple trees can be creative…

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I Don’t Like to Read Anymore :(

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Lately I’ve hit the worst and longest lasting reading slump I can remember. For at least a couple months now I have struggled with picking up a book (any book) and reading it. I’ve tried a multitude of genres and subject matter, so I don’t think that is the issue. I’ve tried books of different lengths and even graphic novels and books with lots of pictures and still find myself throwing most of them to the side relatively quickly and just losing interest. I’m starting to worry this may be my new normal.

But WHO AM I if I no longer like to read? Reading and being a devoted reader has been such a huge part of my identity for so long that I feel lost without the passion for books I’ve always had. If you aren’t a reader, I know you will probably think this is a stupid post, but if you are like me and love to live in other worlds through print, you probably get my sense of despair and existential angst over this matter.

Courage

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It takes courage

to face each new day.

To wake up and say,

“I’m not giving up.

Not today.

Not tomorrow.

Never.

I’m in this thing

for the long haul.”

Plantar Fasciitis Flare Up

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The last few days I have had a bad plantar fasciitis flare up, the worst in quite a while. I have dealt with this awful condition since I was 19 years old, so for 16 years I have dealt with chronic foot pain. I wanted to take a moment today to explain what it is really like to live with this condition, especially on bad days. Here are a few descriptions of what I go through:

During a flare up, it feels like every step I take, I am walking with a huge, jagged stone piercing my arch, near the heel. After a few steps like that, it starts to feel horribly bruised and I start limping badly. Sometimes it feels almost like something in the arch of my foot “drops” and the pain starts then. It is a seriously weird feeling.
During flare ups, I find it hard to stand long enough to do even the simplest tasks. I have to sit on the kitchen counter while waiting for my pop-tart to toast. I have to sit on the floor or my bed while brushing and flossing my teeth. Showers are out, baths are in. Massages can help sometimes, but other times even that is agonizing.
When the flare up is really bad, even staying off my feet doesn’t help. The burning, aching, throbbing pain is constant. I do ice it and that helps a bit to numb it, but nothing else does a thing. Often I wind up in tears because the pain is simply unbearable. I hate to have to turn to narcotic pain relievers, but sometimes do. When the pain is constant and unyielding, I find myself fighting thoughts of suicide just to make it end.
Unfortunately, nothing really helps but staying off my feet and giving it time. I do take NSAIDS and muscle relaxers, but they take a few days to work (if they even do work). I’ve tried cortisone shots, but they didn’t help at all. I’m not willing to chance the risky surgery that can leave you crippled for life, especially when nothing else modern medicine has had to offer has helped.
Even when I’m NOT having a flare up, I have to be careful, because being on my feet more than a half an hour to an hour at a time can cause a flare up to occur. Even a day of regular grocery shopping can cause a flare up because of being on my feet too much. It truly is an intensely disabling condition for some people like me.

New Art Trading Card Paintings

This first new gouache painting I think looks kind of like souls trying to escape or something:

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This next painting was inspired by the “pizza painting” technique from the book “Drawing Calm” by Susan Evenson:

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Another painting inspired by “Drawing Calm”, an abstract version of their “Little Houses” prompt:

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And lastly, this painting was inspired by the sea and a collage I saw of paper strips representing the ocean:

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All of these mini paintings are currently up for auction at my Ebay store!

 

You’ll Regret It All

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I recently came across the following quote by philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, and it really struck me as deeply true, at least for me. No matter what I choose to do or choose not to do in life, there is always a part of me that wonders if I made the right choice and won’t shut up with the “what ifs”:

“Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both. Believe a woman, you will regret it; believe her not, you will also regret it… Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way; whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.”

Video: Art Insecurity

I’ve been feeling a lot of art insecurity lately, so decided to make a video about it: