How has September, October AND NOVEMBER already come and gone? Every month feels like I’m a completely different person with completely different tasks and goals. I started typing out this post back in November and now it’s the middle of December??? Thank goodness I already wrote down some pointers for the previous months because my mental cache has already started emptying itself.
September was a big reset for me! I enjoyed some time off and went to Bali, caught up with family, celebrated my birthday, and got in plenty of rest and socialisation. I also went for my biannual dental cleaning! The feel of extra clean teeth thrills me! I spent 4 days 3 nights in Bali with Pk mostly lazing around in the room when I’m not stuffing my face with food. We also met up with our talented artist friend Devlin (check him out at linktr.ee/devlinputra) who brought us out for dinner and played board games with us at the loveliest little board games cafe. I should make a separate blog posts on the food that we had and the games that we played! The itch to draw came by a lot more when I had the space to feel bored too. It’s hard for me to find that balance between working my full-time job and having the mental capacity to work on my art because I only have one physical body and this body needs a lot of rest lol. It’s also difficult to find that creativity when every week is a repeat of the previous one.
October felt a little manic for me though, which was a huge change! Well, at least for the first two weeks. I had very overconfidently taken on two art challenges for the month - Peachtober and Jhawtober, without any prior preparation. Meaning no sketches, no real concepts, nothing. LOL. I had to come up with ideas and execute them each day, on top of showing up for work HAHA. I had to make up for missed prompts on my days off, making like 2-3, even 4 pieces in a single day, just to catch up. I managed to get through 16 prompts for Peachtober and 9 prompts for Jhawtober. 24 pieces of art / 31 days. Not so shabby considering I actually did all that by 18 October. It was basically a huge mess of studio time, teaching, and sleeping. My studio mates and I also stuffed ourselves silly with vadai, dahi puri and pani puri!! I tried dahi puri and pani puri for the first time this month and it was an explosion of flavours, textures and a huge delight! There is magic in this universe and it’s held in a pani puri.
I also started streaming on Twitch again at the end of September! Follow me on Twitch (twitch.tv/itspomy) to get notified when I go live! I used to stream on Twitch way back when in 2017 and then more regularly during the Covid lockdown era. I have been fairly regularly streaming each week through October and now into November. I used to have a lot of anxiety over streaming my art process, but I managed to do so for quite a few pieces in October! It was actually enjoyable to have people watch and comment on the art as it’s being made. The stress of creating something in front of others would have stressed me out so much in the past. Growth! How quietly it comes. Streaming has been a lot of fun for me this time round and it’s a good break from work as well. Socialising with so many people has also been quite lovely! I’ve had old friends pop by and I’ve made new friends along the way too. Although, art-making fell off a little for me once I stopped trying to complete Peachtober and Jhawtober. Maybe next October hahah.
Right now, I’m thinking about making prints, making more stickers and options for an online shop platform. I need to start working on art for the coming holiday season too! Managing the ebb and flow of creativity feels quite challenging, but I’m working on coming up with a routine that’s sustainable and helps me tackle chores and other administrative tasks in order to keep my headspace clear. I also need to find a better way to incorporate my planner into my life! The most difficult part of having a planner or journal for me is that I tend to isolate when feeling overwhelmed, going into what is essentially a freeze state, so there are always periods of blank pages in my notebooks. The more I’m working through this, the less shame washes over me. Learning to accept my highs and my lows has been so scary, upsetting but enlightening and hopeful all at the same time.
I’m always so grateful for the people around me who show me love in so many different forms and who are so special in their own ways!!! Very inspiring to be around!!!
Well, November seriously came and went so quickly. I streamed so much Stardew Valley?? It’s mad. I then started a separate farm for my personal enjoyment and went crazy for about 1-2 weeks just devoting all my energy to the farm. I was OBSESSED. I find that the end of the year feels disorienting and having something to throw myself into really helps. I was planning to pick up streaming again but I kept feeling weirdly under the weather with body aches and a persistent low-grade fever with no other symptoms and ??? November was over LOL.
December was a bit calmer, but I went to SG Comic Con and Mercury Fest on the same day and completely overexerted myself. I ended up feeling like a truck ran me over and my joints were all hurting, especially in my hands??? It was mad. I just stayed in bed and did nothing all day for a few days. The new academic year also started up at work, so it’s been a lot of adjustments and changes. The upcoming public holidays means that a lot of classes have been shuffled around and rescheduled. Keeping up with all the changes is a brain workout for real.
I hope the final quarter of the year has been treating you well and if you’ve been even a bit interested in what I’m up to, thank you!! I’m really looking forward to see how 2025 will unfold. I’m ready with my phone calendar, Hobonichi Techo A6, and Notion!!!!