the petrichor system

If you have a specific artistic medium you'd like to see us try, send us an ask! We're currently comfortable sharing: writing, visual art (traditional sketching and painting), flute practice, color guard practice, short monologue performances, photography, and videography.

Oh my goodness... What a busy two weeks. I'm very grateful I got to go visit my girlfriend, though! Here's how my plan went these last two weeks:

Hi all! This has been a busy week. It was the last week of the semester at the university I work at, so in addition to my home life, work has been quite busy. At home, I changed my furniture and did a thorough clean of the apartment, so there's been lots going on. Here's how my plan went this past week:

I'm sorry I haven't been more actively posting my art recently - it's been all I can do to sketch or jot down a few lines and I don't really feel up to sharing any of that work. However, I have good news! The new plan seems to be working well. I also started reading Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit and, while I'm not following it to the letter either, the ideas are resonating with me more. Here's how my plan went this past week:

Over the past several weeks of our disability becoming heavier to cope with and the demands of The Artist's Way remaining uncompromising, we've come to a conclusion that many have probably already come to:

This book, this path, was not designed with disabled artists in mind.

Not only that, but there's little, if any, resources for disabled artists that are similar in function (a way to explore reconnecting with creativity without exacerbating our symptoms).

Instead of continuing on The Artist's Way as intended, we've decided to make a detour. We will be continuing to attempt to infuse creativity into our everyday life, but in a more accessible format. Our new goals are the following:

Once per day, in a new journal, take note of something in our living space, our work space, or the outside world that inspires us.

Once per day, in whatever way we can, create something. It can be as small as a single line, or it can be work towards a major project. The point is to try.

Once per week, attend to our artistic selves in a way that comforts and supports continued growth and inspiration (ie: a more accessible artist's date).

Once per week, reflect on any changes we've noticed.

Each week, I will revisit this plan and see if there's anything which should be changed to make it more accessible to me.

This was a rough week fatigue-wise. I had to futz with my schedule due to work and it made everything much more difficult for me. I won't lie, I definitely had the thought of giving up again. But instead, I want to readjust my expectations and keep trying. It's so hard. So, SO hard. But I want to be able to live the kind of life that makes the struggle worth it. Maybe I'm naive and this will backfire, but I want to try.

Artist's Way Check-In:

Morning Pages (adjusted to one page per day, with a second page for affirmation writing): 6 out of 7 days completed

Artist's Date: checked out a book from the local library that I wouldn't typically check out

Week Two Tasks: all complete except for the inner compass activity - I ran out of time and energy

Synchronicity: Didn't notice any. I could have just been distracted by my health though.

Hoo boy, that was a busy week. I didn't end up having much time to create new things towards the end of the week, but I hope you enjoyed my couple of paintings and photos. I'll keep posting those, but please let me know if and when you'd like to see anything else!

Artist's Way Check-In:

Morning Pages (adjusted to one page per day, with a second page for affirmation writing): 7 out of 7 days completed (I didn't always hit my page goal, but I made the effort and that's what matters)

Artist's Date: made fused glass pendants at the local pottery/glass studio

Week Two Tasks: all complete, but I'm probably not going to do the Week One Artist's Walk due to some health complications and time management issues

A night and day difference, in my opinion! Since I was unsatisfied with my painting of my betta yesterday, I tried again today. Here they are side by side. (Plus, the reference photo for today's under the cut)

Hey all! Thank you to everyone who followed/reblogged stuff this first week! I know I didn't have a whole lot to say, but it was so nice to see those of you who chose to come along for the ride. Below the cut are my Artist's Way check-in, my response to the poll results, and general creative work updates.

What I'd love to hear from you all: what's been inspiring you lately? How have you been keeping your creative juices flowing? Chat with me! I don't bite.

Hi everyone! This is my third try going through The Artist's Way. Third time's the charm, right? I was able to get further last time than I was able to the first time, so hopefully I'm able to make it all the way to the end of the 12 weeks this try. Even if I don't, though, I'll be happy with myself for trying.

As a disabled person with increased fatigue, I've readjusted some of the goals in the book to better match what I'm able to accomplish. My morning page length goal is one page per day, which can take me half an hour or longer, depending on how I'm doing that day. I'm also giving myself the flexibility to choose artist dates that don't require much exertion (I'm still going to try some stretch goals! I just need to do those on days I know I'll have plenty of time to rest afterwards).

I have a document in proton drive where I keep track of each week's goals (my page goal for morning pages, my artist date for the week, and that week's exercises each assigned to a day of the week). That's a holdover from my previous attempts - it helps me tremendously with staying organized. Below is a screenshot of what mine looks like:

This program will also be a lesson in pacing myself. I'm famously bad at pacing myself in a healthy way, and that has only become worse as my fatigue has increased in severity. Instead of dropping the program entirely when the going gets tough, I'm going to try to adapt it further to fit what I'm able to do. If that means dropping down to a minimum one-word morning page and an artist date of a nap, I'll take it. The point isn't to look like other artists. The point is to take care of myself physically, mentally, and artistically.

If I come across any specific advice or tips that have worked for me to get my creative juices flowing while pacing myself in a way that's fatigue-friendly, I'll be sure to post those in posts under the tag "petriblogs" - make sure to keep an eye out there for my updates on how the program is going! I plan to post once every Sunday, to review the previous week and discuss what I'm anticipating for the future week. Any additional posts will likely be artwork, writing, or videos of performances that I've created that week, posted when I feel like it. I'm going to be trying to limit how much of my work I post to help myself feel safer about being an imperfect creator.

If you've read all this way, thank you!