come as you are: emerging from pandemic life

It’s been more than a year of pandemic living, hunkered down here at home, and as the world starts to open up again, I find myself a tad hesitant to rejoin. I kind of figured out who I am during this smaller, quieter time. I wrote for Motherwell Magazine:

What if my goal, when I emerge from this cloistered time, is to stay exactly who I am? I hardly know what that means outside my little home, but I want to find out. I want to know how the world might respond to me, as me.

Post-Pandemic Life published at Motherwell Magazine

You can read the rest here https://tinyurl.com/TristaAt-Motherwell if you’d like to commiserate. And, if you identify with being an introvert or a homebody like me, I made you a sticker:

This bespectacled feline will guard your quiet time, by politely staring down would-be intruders from the back of your e-reader, laptop, or the side of your insulated coffee mug. Because even we introverts like to go out to the coffee shop to be among others, we just don’t want to interact!

However, for my more adventurous friends, as you boldly step out into the world, I made these stickers.

As you know from a previous post, I think rollerskating and skateboarding are super cool and way too risky for me! So, this winged roller skate sticker is for my adventurous friends, to recognize the way they handle any obstacle by keeping it steady and keeping it going. (And eventually dragging their reluctant homebody friends along!!)

Even though I am emerging slowly, I am hopeful that this tumultuous pandemic time has made us kinder, more accepting, more inclusive and generous people.

Speaking of kindness and acceptance, my friend Robin lives and breathes these qualities, and I am so happy to tell you that we will be teaching our “Opening the Creative Mind” workshop at the virtual Compose Creative Writing Conference on Saturday, May 15th. If you’d like to register, I think the whole conference is free. Here is our workshop description:

If you are feeling stuck in your creative work, if you wish you could finish (or revive) a creative project, or if your creative process feels scattered or overactive, this workshop is for you. Opening the Creative Mind combines simple meditation techniques with writing prompts that have proven effective for breaking through creative blocks and finding new perspective. We create a cheerful and supportive atmosphere for you to overcome blocks, clear mental clutter, and silence self-doubt.

Maybe we’ll see you on screen, and we can breathe-stretch-write our way into post-pandemic life. As always, thank you for your interest in my creative work and for following along!

–TRISTA