The important dynamics of a varied friendship group

Ok – I’ll admit it… that title doesn’t sound like me. But it’s something I’ve spent the past few moments mulling around in my head and I just decided to go with it. In the past month that I’ve put together my new commercial studio space (which by the way – i’m 95% done with and it’s AMAZING!) I’ve met so very many of my sister’s friends, plus people in the building, and some of my friends have come to visit as well…. it’s been a month of PEOPLE. 🙂 And I say that with delight and joy – because after spending so very much time in my home with the quarantines, this new energy has truly been a delight for me and is helping when it comes to giving me inspiration with my comics.

Something I’ve learned this month tho, is that it’s so important to have a well-rounded group of friends. One of the things I cherish so much about my own friend group is how eclectic it is – we’re a bunch of misfits in our own ways- but if an outsider were to label each of us – they’d be surprised that we’re all friends. And everyone comes from a different background – some from all over the world – and everyone also seems to be at different stages of their own life journey.

There have been moments in my life when I wished I had someone who was on a similar journey as me. Thinking that perhaps then I’d feel understood. But what I realized this morning is that it’s because of the incredibly varied perspectives of those who I surround myself with that I feel free enough to break through the constraints that I had on me.

I had someone I was chatting with recently share their passion and drive for their career. At first – I glommed onto that and used that to carry the conversation a bit – and it was an enjoyable chat. But later, as I reflected on how nice it was to talk to someone who has a lot of drive in their career, I also reminded myself that that was once me – but i’m not in that place anymore. I no longer live to work. Not at all. I reminded myself how once upon a time, I would put a lot of weight on someone’s worth being tied to their job or their career accomplishments. And now? I just don’t care anymore. Are they happy? Are they content and healthy and balanced?

I’d have never changed my way of thinking if it weren’t for my diverse group of friends who were both kind and brave enough to share their own perspectives in order to widen mine. I’m so grateful to have them in my life – and am hopeful that I’ll continue to grow in these ways. 🙂

I do hope you are all doing well out there! Stop in and leave a note below and tell me what has been on your mind today? Happy Tuesday!

The people you meet and the things you see when you travel

So most of you know, I did a ton of travel last year.  Such amazing experiences.  I haven’t really documented much of it.  So I thought I’d share some of my experiences here.

Melbourne Australia

Melbourne was … amazing.  Never have I found a city that reminded me so much of Seattle.  The people were truly genuine.  So welcoming.  The amount of random conversations I got into with random Aussies about all manner of things.  Culture, the world, religion, life, food, love.

Something I enjoy doing when I travel is getting up early, hunting down a good cup of coffee and then finding a spot to sit and people watch.  You can learn so much about a place when you watch the way their locals wake up.  One morning, as I was fighting jet lag, I watched two vans pull up outside the hotel.  It was dark.  They were pulling trailers behind them.

  ImageThe trailers were hot air balloon baskets.  I watched as they passed out coffee to the sleepy tourists, making jokes and spreading their jovial moods around.  Wandered a bit more around the city.  Then came back to my room.  I opened the curtains, and look what I saw…

ImageThere floating above the waking city, with the sun coming up were those hot air balloons.  So beautiful. So calm and peaceful.  What a breathtaking way to wake up.

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The architecture in Melbourne was just amazing to me.  An odd mix of modern meets vintage.  And street art everywhere.  The creativity of some of the artists was astounding.  I couldn’t get enough pictures, I couldn’t seem to capture enough of it.  I wanted to somehow package it all up in my mind and heart and bring elements home with me.

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And the farmer’s market… OMG.  I think I could have spent DAYS and DAYS there exploring and tasting and talking to people.  Why do we as an American culture not establish and encourage more of this type of thing is beyond me.  Look at the Hawker cultures in asia.  Some of the best food you can eat in Asia is going to come from hawker stands right off the street.

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Hawaii, USA

Can I just say that going through some of my pictures from Hawaii this morning, I’d like nothing more than to blink my eyes and magically appear back on the islands.  I don’t always like hot and humid weather, but for this place, I didn’t mind.  It was just so beautiful.  The fresh fruit, the sea breeze, the salt and sand.  Everyone is more laid back on the islands.  If they feel like closing up shop to go surfing, they do it.  How businesses make consistent money is beyond me, but I can certainly get behind the Work to Live mentality rather than the Live to Work one that we seem to embrace here on the mainland.

Here’s a few of my favorites.  We did a little island hopping.  So you’ll see lush greenery with waterfalls, along with the barren volcano and more. 🙂 Enjoy!

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This year, I hope to do more travel.  I want to see Asia.  I want to see Fiji.  I want to see Mexico, as I haven’t been.

I want to see the world.  See Scotland and Ireland and have a Guinness in a pub.  Watch the sands blow over the pyramids in Egypt and smell the spices that linger in the air in Morocco.  I suppose you could say that I’ve caught the bug.  I think I caught it as a child, when my grandparents took me to spend a month in England visiting family.  I knew then that I wanted to see the world.  That although I love Seattle, and get recharged from being home, that I would never be content to just stay in my own little world and culture and not experience more.  If you could go anywhere this year…where would you go?