(ORIGINALLY POSTED 3 JUNE 2018) I’ve had a trying week. My life was not supposed to be like this at this point, and I find myself lost and confused. Without my mom, what does anything mean? One of the things that has been getting me through this horrible time is the support of fantastic friends. You really learn a lot about who your real friends are when your life has been turned upside down. One of the best examples of kindness in my life has been Kerith. I have known her for 10 years, and in that time my relationship with her has been extremely varied. I’ve felt at times like I’m hanging on to something she’d rather not be a part of, and I’ve had times when I felt overwhelmed by her heart. One thing I always associate with Kerith is Moomins. She probably said she liked them at one point, and my brain filed them into the Kerith file, where they have remained since.
Moomins were created by the talented Tove Jansson, an artist whose traditional paintings are incredibly lovely to me. “Studio” is probably my favorite of her paintings. It feels serene and peaceful. So often I find myself trying to drown out the noise of family members when I’m working in my own studio, but that painting really captures what I wish I had, and so I guess I love it because I do not have it. I intend to spend a lot of time in my studio in the coming months; I will need the escape. I hope I can find a bit of that peace. And I hope I find a way to express to Kerith how important she has been to me lately, and how important she always is to me.