Thoughts on turning 30 and a 1-yr work anniversary and other things

Lessons my 20's taught me I'll be taking into my 30's & making the case for an artist date

Happy Almost fall! Is it fall in your neck of the woods yet? We finally have had a brief reprieve from 98+ degrees and it recently dropped to 60’s, which for us is coolish enough for soup, baking, football, and a backyard firepit.

I did a thing last month and booked a photo studio (more on that here ) with my fellow creative working mom bestie to celebrate two big milestones in my life this year … turning 30 and hitting my one work anniversary in my first fully corporate marketing job/role when this time last year I wasn’t sure if I would make it past the first 90 days 😪✨🫶🏼 a few of my favorite photos incoming below…

I have a mess of thoughts on turning 30, an 11 year wedding anniversary, our oldest my firstborn turning 10 🥺 panic attacks/ starting therapy in the past year ( and anxiety meds), deconstructing harmful beliefs, being a first gen college student and graduate , working a corporate job as a mother and person with chronic illness … but while all that’s processing a non comprehensive slightly reflective list of some lessons my 20s taught me I’ll be taking into my 30s📝👇

-healing isn’t a linear journey
-softness isn’t weak ( have you seen the ways the waves meet the shore?)
- love is choosing to show up day after day and moment by moment
- beauty and struggle are not mutually exclusive
- sometimes expansion is found in the tension between two things
-friendships and relationships evolve and change this is okay
-we are always growing and changing, this is good
- timelines are arbitrary
- anxiety takes you out of the present, presence is an antidote
- I /we/ you/ me have a 100% success rate of surviving our hardest days
- hard seasons pass, good seasons pass, all seasons pass
- your self talk matters
- you can really love something and it can still be really difficult, the two are not mutually exclusive
-healing is worth the work
-good things take time
-health is more than a number - it’s longevity and sustainability
- give yourself the permission slip
- you’ll never regret stopping to watch the sunset
- you are allowed to change your mind
- no such thing as too many books 📚
-nature heals ☀️
- a walk is always a good idea
- success isn’t one size fits all , we get to define our version of it
- keep creating, on the good days and the bad
-grace, always grace

What would you add to this list? What is the current decade teaching you that you wish you could have told your younger self?

Motherhood | woman | writer | mother artist | 30s |

Links and Other news:

I am hoping to include more opportunities for fellow creatives/caregivers and artists/mothers and writers in the motherhood/parenting community! Is that something you’d be excited to see more of??

• Literary Mama is open for submissions!

• Mother/Artist residency opportunity! More here. Apply at: https://www.kinhouseart.com/double-duty

• Did you know September 9th- September 13th is National Arts in Education Week?
  Celebrate National Arts in Education Week with Americans for the Arts! This September 9-13, 2024 is National Arts in Education Week, a time to highlight the transformational power of the arts and advocate for equitable access for all students. Let your voice be heard, here is how you can join the National Arts in Education Week campaign:
  • Join the Conversation: Share the social media toolkit with ready-to-use posts and graphics to rally your community download on their website here:
  • Advocate for the Arts: Use their resources to contact your local representatives and emphasize the importance of arts education.
  • Get Informed: Visit their website for essential facts and share them to help expand awareness and support.
  

• More on the topic of the creative economy

• More on the topic of art & healing and this quote:
  
  “The country is so wounded, bleeding, and hurt right now. The country needs to be healed—it's not going to be healed from the top, politically. How are we going to heal? Art is the healing force.” Robert Redford, National Arts Policy Roundtable 2012

• If you missed it my conversation with

  Lindsay Johnstone
  earlier this spring about the cost of caregiving and being a parent and a creative:

  In conversation with Hannah Lacy

  
  
  Recently purchased books:
  

• Let there be Havens By Liz Bell Young, This is haven: gentle hospitality.
  When one person reaches for another, makes an offering, and believes we all hold such worth. No matter what we have in our pockets or where we’ve been up until now, we take care of each other―whether we’re strangers on a sidewalk or families around a table. Each day, we create trails of beauty and connection. One open door opens the next. And then it happens: our streets fill with lamplight, our lives lift with spirit, and our homes become circles of gold.

• On my wishlist / in my amazon cart- Acts of Creation: on Art and Motherhood by Hettie Judah, Exploring maternity through the work of artists from prehistory to the present day, Acts of Creation addresses the abiding mother-shaped hole in art history.

• Under eye patches, I order monthly as a working mom under $20 because this is real life. It's not an affiliate link I just love them promise lol

  
  How are you bringing in the new season? What small things are bringing you joy lately? What are we watching/reading/ listening too or loving?