Back to Reality?
This week
We spent a few days with our friends on a road trip to Mendocino, California. If you don’t know, Mendocino was built on the edge of a cliff above the Pacific Ocean in the 1800s backing up to hundreds of miles of Redwood forest. It’s pretty spectacular.
Inspired by
We lucked out with good weather for this time of year—cold but dry. We got to scramble around several beaches, each with its own topography—each with its own beach treasures. Driftwood, sea-tumbled rocks, sea shells, sea glass…
I never know what will inspire me, but I can hardly go to a beach without collecting something to add to my treasure collection (which may or may not be getting out of control).
This time was no different. At the well known (and well picked over) Glass beach known for its sea glass of course, I found myself happily searching for the one color that was hardest to find: aquamarine. So satisfying.
Making
I happily continued with my Morning Spill practice while we were away, although I had far less time available. But that’s okay. My process has really developed into a good routine of mini sessions in the mornings to just “spill” what’s on my mind into my sketchbook, and then going back in later when I can find time to “fill” those same pages with more drawing and visual play until I am satisfied. Here’s a few pages I completed before the trip:
I also managed before we left to make progress on the Zine project I’ve been working on for weeks. This is the early stages - I’m much further along now. I can’t wait to finish and and show it to you—hopefully this next week when I get back to reality.
Thinking about
And there I said it. We all said this many times on the last day of the trip: Gotta get back to reality.
What does that even mean?
Dictionary definition of ‘Reality’: “The state of things as they actually exist”.
Why do we think about day to day life as “reality” while vacation is not?
I’m actually more present to reality on vacation. Free of the distractions, unshackled to routines of daily life not to mention the dark worries that weigh on all of us these days, I pay more attention to what’s around me.
This is at least partly because our human brains naturally attend to new or unusual “states of things” in our environments. But still. While away, I seem to be more engaged more often with “states of things as they actually exist”: what I see, hear, touch, feel, smell, taste—and sense around (and within) me.
I do try to be more present and engaged in non-vaca life, but I’m just more busy and distracted day to day…the never ending to do list, the busy calendar, the mundane concerns and of course, the big concerns - what’s going on in the world right now.
So is that the reality we speak of in daily life? The state of what’s on our minds?
I think so. At least for me, I’m way more often in my head instead of in my body and heart day to day.
But Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, whether I perceive so or not. And I do know that the more connected I can be to what is present, the more I can be present to all of what actually exists, the good and the bad, the joyful and the threatening—not unconscious and not frozen with fear, but available to solutions.
So I have to ask myself:
Am I coming back to reality when I come home—or going away from it?
Loving
Finally, here are a few of my favorite things on the internet this week. Enjoy!
“You don’t like what’s happening? Call your representatives. Join a protest. Run for office. Sign petitions, vote in every election, show up at town halls, get involved in your community, donate to mutual aid, grow a garden, stop buying so much shit, support independent media, boycott, and demand better from your elected officials and the media. Put on your cape and do it all. Above all, don’t let the bad guys steal your joy.” Theresa Reed
From the visionary Kevin Kelly, a really great article about the upcoming human population decrease you probably don’t know about—and the opportunity for humans to benefit from AI. It’s an interesting argument:
“If it is a job where productivity matters, a human should not be doing it. Productivity is for robots. Humans should be doing the jobs where inefficiency reigns – art, exploration, invention, innovation, small talk, adventure, companionship. All the productive chores should be handled by the billions of AIs we make.”
Want to know what you can do? Join the Americans of Conscience Checklist. Let’s take collective, step by step, action.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to connect with people without social media. Here are two really great articles on that topic:
Social media in 2025: why creatives are ditching 'rented' spaces for owned platforms | Creative Boom
Promoting Our Projects, Events and Values BEYOND Social Media
Oh, and I’m loving Seth Werkheiser’s Substack:
The latest post from one of my favorite blogs, The Trickster’s Hoard by Margerie Knott
… it’s worth remembering that the March hares are “crazy” during their breeding season. What follows is new birth, new life. What is waiting to be born in our world? Can we make a difference? Can we base our new ways on what matters most?
… what I seem to be reminding myself is that I must stay alert — experiencing the chaos not as a reason to quit or to despair but as a source of energy into which we can tap to create something better. We are in the middle of a leap. Taking into account what truly matters to us, let’s be careful how & where we land.
In other words, this is a time to especially be present to the state of things as they actually exist. I hope something I’ve shared here today helps, as I know in this time we are all in mid leap.